William Stuart

The two-masted schooner Empress was built in Fremantle by Robert Howson in 1889. She made her maiden voyage before she was registered as number 3 of 1890.Her official number was 95366.She was 37 x 11.3 x 4.9 feet [11.3 x 3.4 x 1.5 metres].

Empress’ owner was Arthur Webster Anderson, the manager of the North West Mercantile Co. There are also some reports of owners being Chi and Co.

The maiden voyage began on 17 December 1889 in Fremantle. Empress was bound for Cossack under command of Captain John Thomas Brown, a reputable reliable master. Her deckhands were William Ross and William Stuart.

The weather was rough, and the voyage was uncomfortable from the start. As a new vessel, Empress sailed in ballast held in place with planking. The planking was not secured well enough. As the schooner was tossed by the weather the ballast shifted, causing the planks to give way.

Empress was almost lost. The shifting weight of the ballast almost capsized her. It seemed like an eternity and a miracle to her crew when she slowly righted herself. That was the only luck Empress had. The rough and heavy weather made her slow headway north hard won.

William Stuart was born in July 1863.He was 27 years old.He was granted a ticket of leave on 5 June 1868.In 1888 he married Eveleen Flynn in Perth. He was a sea man known to many in the coastal settlements along the west coast.

Empress’ maiden voyage was disastrous. William Ross attempted suicide and if it wasn’t for the intervention of Captain John, would have cut his own throat. John tried to care for William who was rolling drunk and agitated, talking wildly. As a last resort John restrained William below, and when he seemed calmer, John returned to the tiller.

William escaped his restraints and jumped from the stern of the boat. John and William Stuart anchored at Carnarvon to report William’s death. They had been unsuccessful in finding his body after he entered the water. (See the story of William Ross).

John and William continued with their voyage to Cossack. On 3 January they tacked inside of Enderby Island, trying to avoid some of the strong winds that buffeted them. The boom was taken by the wind suddenly, and it knocked Captain john overboard. He sank quickly and disappeared from view.

William turned the Empress to search for John. He saw two boats near Flying Foam Passage and hoisted the distress signal to attract help. The boats did not see him though, and as they moved out of sight, William kept searching alone. There was no trace of John, and he left the distress signal flying and headed towards Cossack. (See the story of Captain John Thomas Brown).

A distress signal when a crew member died was a flag flown at half-mast. The signal was seen before Stuart reached Cossack, wondering how he was going to be able to make the port on his own. Water Police Constable Wilson set out to meet Empress and help William to moor safely in the anchorage.

The timing was fortunate. Just 15 minutes later there was a gale force wind that blew for hours. William had a lucky escape in a most unlucky voyage.

William was feeling luck was on his side. In one voyage he had escaped death twice and witnessed two deaths. His luck was short-lived.

After the delivery of the Empress, William boarded another vessel. He experienced sun stroke and died on 13 January 1890. He was buried in the Cossack Cemetery.

Empress did not have a long life either. She became a pearling schooner. She was one of four boats that parted their chains at Cossack in a cyclone in 1893.She was driven into the mangroves.

She was refloated on a high tide and went back to work., but a second cyclone on 9 and 10 January 1894 sank her in Butcher Inlet with a cargo of pearlshell. That time she was unable to be refloated and two of her crew were lost with her.