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Family Stories Life in Australia:
William Charles Lacey Stribley worked as a digger while the diggings lasted, but although he had runs of luck, he was like many other deserving pioneers, not very successful in the long run. Between about late 1852 and 1889 he, his wife, and family, which grew to 11 children, resided at the White Hills, Bendigo where he was well known and highly respected as a man of sterling honesty; and of a most intelligent, genial and kindly disposition. In 1889, owing to ill health overtaking him, he & Elin moved to Gladstone street, Quarry Hill and opened a small store in Mitchell street, but because of continuing poor health he was forced to give it up. He was a most interesting conversationalist and writer, and with his stories of "the olden days" often delighted his friends and family. He wrote his own history, which was published in the Bendigo Independent, Saturday, Supplements and included some highly humorous narratives. It was remarkable that suffering as he did severe and protracted miner's disease from 1894 he retained his cheerfulness of mind, his good memory and happy descriptive powers until he died. What follows are some of his stories, published in the Newspaper in Aug/Sept 1897, describing his first months in Victoria, which began as a Protestant bachelor. 'In November 1851 four of us started from Melbourne bound for Mt. Alexander. We had landed in Melbourne, from Adelaide, a week before. We could muster a few pounds each at landing in Melbourne, but when leaving, shillings were not very plentiful. I was offered £50 per month to lend a hand to discharge cargo from a ship in the bay, but no, I must be off to the diggings. We managed to buy picks and shovels, tea, sugar, billycan, etc., and started one fine morning in high spirits. I think we stopped and liquored up at a shanty not far from Keilor. The next halt was at Keilor where we made a short stay, then started again with a little rain, hoping to reach the Bush Inn. The rain came down heavily, and as there was no shelter, we had to trudge on until we came to the first and only refreshment place, situated between Keilor and the Bush Inn. Although my memory is not of the best, I shall never forget that first night on the road to the diggings. The shanty of palings and shingles contained three little rooms - the centre one the shop, to the right the boss's room for all purposes, to the left the bedroom to accommodate travellers with a doss down on an earthern floor. If you had no blankets you were allowed to do without them. The roof was leaky, and the charge for accommodation was 1s per night. I do not remember what we paid for the coffee, but the concern seemed to be carried on a teetotal and economical line. They sold tea, sugar, damper and soap. I know this because I saw the proprietor do so; then sweep the crumbs of damper, sugar and soap into a tin plate and put it in the boiler that hung over the fire. I thought while drinking my coffee, it was rather thick, but what must it have been for those who came a week or two after? Why, it must have been food, drink and medicine for them. We started about 8 a.m., at a good pace, although our swags were heavy, and during the day we met many diggers returning. Their cry was, "You had better turn back, mates. There is plenty of gold but no water". We trudged on, however, until we reached The Bush Inn. A few rests, and then we set off for Kyneton, which we reached in the evening, rather tired. We stopped at the Kyneton Hotel that night, but I did not sleep a little bit. The rooms were crowded; all the beds were engaged - swags in the corners, swags on the tables, swags everywhere. The only vacant place I could see was under one of the tables, on which there were a couple of swagmen. I managed to doss down about 12 o'clock and at first thought that it not so bad, but from the time I turned in until long after daylight, there was one continued din. It started with my two neighbors on the table over me, going in for a strong growl with one another. Then they got sick, and during their performance I was kept busy gathering my blankets together and protecting myself from the deluge. Some were calling for more drink, some wanting to fight, with an occasional scuffle in another part, some cursing the lot and telling them to shut up, and so it went on until after daylight. I was never so glad to clear out of a place in my life. We had a lift in a bullock dray part of the distance to Sawpit Gully and then trudged into the diggings. Our first night was spent with the sky for a roof and a few bushes at our heads for a breakwind, and so we lived for a few days. In a few days we had obtained 5lb weight of gold, of which, we sold a pound weight at £2/12s per ounce, bought a tent and other requirements; sold another pound weight and in two days that was gone - two working and two drinking. We sold another pound weight. Two or three friends called in the evening, and oh, there was a jolly night of it. In the morning the treasurer could only find two or three pounds out of his £30, and looking very glum, one of the mates standing outside the tent picked up three or four notes; in fact we found it had been swept out by the mates. Two of us then got a bag each, got some of the money and started for a shanty. They had not much stock on hand however. We bought all the gin, porter and ale and took it to the tent. All that I can say about it is that it was all drunk, and I had my share. The following morning I cut the painter, squared up with them, and left for Melbourne with a little over £100. If we had worked on steadily during the time we were there we should have done well. Provisions were not so dear at the first of the diggings. Of course, the population was nothing to be compared to what it was a few months after. I remember the monster anti-licence meeting, one of the speakers against the £3 licences saying he was too little to fight and too big to runaway. His advice was not to pay the £3, and if the police came to trouble them, put them in their cradles and rock them to sleep. I was, however, off to Melbourne with a game foot, and was jogging along easily when two Cornishmen in a dray overtook me. I asked them for a lift. They eyed me up and down, and after a lot of palaver they agreed to take me down for 30s. My word they kept a tight eye on me as they were taking their gold down in their horse feed bag, and a good lump it was. In the evening we pulled up to give the horse a spell before tackling the Black Forest. Wishing to help them I went to get the horse feed. I then knew where they carried their gold, but was not fool enough to let them know it, or they would have left me behind. We got through the Black Forest during the night, stopped near the Bush Inn to boil the billy and have a spell, and then started again. Half way up the Bush Hill the horse jibbed. The two mates held a short consultation, and the result was that one of them picked up the gun, and as soon as the other mate had got the horse's head straight up the hill, he levelled the gun just above the horse's ears and fired. I don't think any horse before or since tore over that hill as ours did. He did not want to stop anymore. However, we reached Melbourne in the afternoon of New Year's Day, and so ended my first trip to the diggings and back. Knowing little about Melbourne I went to the house I stopped at before, The Prince of Wales, Swanston street. They were full, so after some hunting about I got lodgings in Wrixon's Sailors' Boarding House, Little Flinders street, at £2 per week, and slept on the dining-room table. A man out after dark stood a chance of being stuck up anywhere off the main streets. Everyone carried some kind of weapon for protection, and after 9 p.m. we always took the middle of the street, and looked sharp about when passing a corner. Still there were many dodges to catch the unwary. Here is one that caused a few of the boarders sore heads and empty purses. A woman would call late in the evening with, "Please can you tell me if John So-and-so lives about here, or do any of you know him? I have just landed from Van Dieman's Land. He promised to meet me, I am sure that I do not know what I shall do. It took all my money to pay my passage. My luggage is down on the wharf, and I have not had food for the day." "I say, Jack what do you think of her? She looks a nice decent-looking young woman", winking at one another. "Well, missus, we will see you through. Come on and show us where you left your trap", and off they go. Jack arrived home next morning early, minus his hat and purse, and his clothes looked as if they wanted mending and washing, and a big cut in the head. Shortly after the other one arrived, if anything in a worse plight, having been decoyed out and done for like many more. A fortnight in Melbourne was enough for me. So in January 1852, we made up a party of four to start for Mt. Alexander on shank's pony (on foot). We got through grand with the exception of having to walk a few miles through the smouldering remains of a bush fire, which made it hot travelling. We took the precaution of filling our billies with water, thanks to some men, who told us of the fire. We arrived to find the ground pegged out and worked in all directions, and plenty of men walking about. Opposite the Post Office there was a man selling lemonade, who must have made a lot of money. "Never mind money, mates, a bit of gold will do." And he was generally paid with a nice little nugget and was kept busy. Bread was sold at 5s per 4lb. loaf. Next day we started to a rush at Golden Gully, Fryer's Creek. Although the majority were doing well, there were plenty very unfortunate. We had the mortification of having our claim robbed by Harry Webb, 'King of the Fossikers', and gang one night, but had the satisfaction of doing them a kindness a few nights after. It came about this way. Most of the gang were pretty well known to most of the diggers. They would be loafing about their tents during the day, sometimes fighting, playing pitch and toss, and some sneaking about the holes to spot out the best to visit at night, with their drays with the wheels muffled with old bags and rags. We were fossicking out a little gutter just inside the bottom of the hole when we noticed a shadow over the hole. We peeped up and saw two men their faces turned side ways, listening to what we were talking about. We were talking about a nugget we had just dug out, and guessing what it would weigh. We had a lot of mullock to pitch up. We gammoned we did not know that they were there. We proposed loud enough for them to hear that we would not venture to put up any more washdirt that evening, for fear we would lose it again. We would throw up as much as the bench would hold, and leave the rest where it is. We added all the mullock we could break until knock off time. When we came up, "Good day, mates", said they with a leer to one another, "gitting (sic) plenty of gold?" "Not much", we replied (another leer to one another). And off they went. In the morning as we expected, all the mullock was gone. Everything was ready and clear for us to commence work again. I saw the two men a few days after this prowling round, and by their eyes they told me they knew that I was one of the coves that slewed them. What a change, two or three months made in the mode of working the ground. At first we sunk a hole, took the bottom off and then down with another hole, afraid to go in a few inches for fear the hole would run in on us. Having noticed some Cornishman driving under, and putting in a prop where required, it did not take us long to follow suit. It soon became general. Many a laugh we had and since it over our first working. If we only broke a dishful of washdirt from side or end, it would be, "Come up out of that, you'll have the Life Before Australia: William Charles Lacey Stribley was the third born in a family of seven children. The names of his siblings and their (birth years) were Mary (1823), James (1824), Amelia (1829), Eliza (1830), Thomas Lacey (1833) and Susan (1836). His father, Thomas (Born 1796) was the customs officer at the sea port of Fowey in Cornwall, England. It was in Fowey where Thomas had married Susan Bone on 22.1.1822. As a youngster, William used to cause more family mischief than the rest of his siblings put together. His favourite pastimes were fishing and boating, both of which he indulged in often when playing truant from school. The death of his mother in about 1837 didn't help to settle William. When he was aged about 9 and at Fowey quay he was employed for the first time, for 1/6, to help load an oyster smack from an oyster bed situated on the other side of the harbour. Although the water was calm when the job started, the incoming tide was accompanied by a stiff breeze and rough water, which made William feel very queer in the stomach. When the tide rose high enough to float the little craft, William was rowed ashore. He arrived home at 1.15 am and got a big dressing down from his father. He was a pupil at successive times at each of the three schools in Fowey. The reason that he parted company with the second school was because he hit the schoolmaster in the stomach with the corner of his slate. At the third school he was befriended by two older boys who were doing navigational apprenticeships. They introduced him to tobacco. Together they would go to the basement of the stone school building where two large furnaces were installed, and bean sticks and pea pods were stored. The school had flag stone flooring but with wear and tear the cement between the flags had disintergrated creating many cracks. One day William and his friends decided to light the furnaces using the beans and peas as fuel. This fuel quickly burnt like matchsticks creating plenty of smoke which rose through the cracks in the floor. Scholars started to cough and everyone thought that the school was on fire. The schoolmaster was furious; and made the culprits fathers' pay for the beans. Soon after this, for fun William persuaded the small school boys to chew on tobacco he handed them, resulting in over a dozen boys vomiting a few hours later. This was the last straw for the school, and William was expelled again. There were no more schools where he could be enrolled so he commenced a full time working life. He began in a ship broker's office but he found it too confined, but stuck at it until one unlucky day. After being sent down to the quay to deliver some papers to the master of a vessel moored there he paused to watch two men with a monkey and dog performing in the street because it was too good a show for him to pass. His employer spotted him and gave him a kick to the backside and a clout on the ear. William was ordered to the office but responded by chucking a paving stone at his boss' ribs. Finding its mark William won the battle, but lost his job. His second full time job was on a trial basis to see if he would like to become an apprentice ship and boat builder. After a fortnight the foreman connected with a blow he threw in frustration at William's work so William left the trade forever. His third job was for a fixed period of six or eight weeks as a saper in H. M. Customs @ 2/- per day, 9.00 am.-3.00 pm. Simultaneously he was developing his love of the sea from having made numerous voyages with relatives to London and Wales, and he decided that he wanted a permanent seafaring life. His older brother James was an apprentice on board of a West Indianman sailing out of London. Following each voyage James returned home to Fowey for about a week, where he was much admired by his younger brothers and sisters, but envied by 11 years old William. James tended to be too bossy for William's liking and eventually the brothers came to blows. This caused William to pack a bundle of clothes and walk twenty miles to a nearby port in a search for ship work. After staying one night with a friend he was hired as a cabin boy and cook on a vessel. However his friend's parents wrote to his father informing him of the whereabouts of his runaway son. Between voyages William stayed with this family, who one day took him to a vessel about to sail for Fowey, ostensibly to transact business, but they left him on it. He was surprised when reaching home at not receiving a scolding from his father who instead assisted him to find more ship work. This resulted in William joining an uncle on a trip to Newport, Isle Of Wight, Southern England. One trip was all William could handle, as this uncle was not nice. He then tried working for another uncle and went to London with him. After discharging cargo their vessel was loaded with grain for Sligo, Ireland. This vessel however was shipwrecked near Margate, and along with his uncle, aunt and the rest of the crew he became benumbed and nearly frozen to death so was repatriated home by the Shipwreck, Fishermans and Mariners Benevolent Society. Now 12 years old he did not fare so well this time with his father, who thrashed him after he swam across Fowey harbour and back again. He had been previously close to drowning two or three times. Now though he spent time playing with friends, enjoying nature, climbing old ruins and cliffs on the seashore from one hundred to three hundred feet high; although still yearning for a life at sea. Consequently his father wrote to a Liverpool friend who arranged an agreement with a firm for a four-year apprenticeship for young Bill. Dressed splendidly in new clothes, he received a fine send off from Fowey before boarding a schooner bound for Liverpool. He was disappointed - at his new job he was taught little and had too much spare time. So after talking to an acquaintance, a seaman of about three years experience, he decided to quit his bound apprenticeship to join a North of England brig loaded with rock salt destined for Shields on the north east coast of England. This brought on new troubles mainly from a mean, autocratic Captain. When this voyage ended William drew his wages and left with more confidence in himself than before as he had got his sea legs and was able to go aloft. He had a week on shore in cheap lodgings with a widow in South Shields before being hired for a brig heading for Le Havre, France, which bordered the English Channel. After arriving the brig was delayed and during the lull William cooked ashore as there were no fires allowed on board. Being naturally cheeky led to him being disobedient which caused the ship's mate to kick him. William responded by throwing a stone at him. He was soon looking for another berth and an acquaintance introduced him to the Captain of another English ship. He was employed but jumped ashore and bolted before it sailed because of among other things; being knocked down with a fist from one of his fellow sailors. The fat, old, annoying Captain sought help from a gendarme and William was caught and returned to the ship. It sailed for Sunderland (also in the north east of England) and when the opportunity occurred William ate raisins taken from the Captain's personal supply. When this was discovered he was summoned to the Captain's cabin where the Captain broke the raisin box on William's head, kicked, swore and tore until William escaped onto the ship's deck. Once in Sunderland he permanently escaped and went back to his widowed land lady in Shields with very few of his new clothes as most of them had been left in Le Havre. Now aged 13, he became acquainted with the steward of a barque loading for Uruguay. He went on board to meet the Captain and Owner, and both of them fancied him, so he agreed to a four-year bound apprenticeship. The barque sailed for Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1840 with two other experienced apprentices one of whom was a bit bossy. This led to two fights, with William receiving a dreadful beating in the first one, but matching his opponent in the second. Upon reaching port his protagonist left to become a mercenary in the Montevideo navy at £20. The Captain, Officers and other crew were good to William so he was now quite contented. The barque's hold was fitted out in preparation for a cargo of mules destined for Mauritius. This venture was so profitable that the Captain decided to fetch another load, this time from the Cape Of Good Hope, South Africa. Again successful, the barque undertook repeated trips between these three areas. Then it headed for Madras on the Coromandel coast of India. Here the ship was loaded with primary products such as ghee, rice and paddy before heading to other Indian ports to fill the empty spaces with more cases of ghee and grains. Near Colombo, Ceylon the ship was fully loaded and set on the journey back to Mauritius. The next trip was to Calcutta, India. In the Ganges River close to Tiger Island a storm caused damage that forced the ship into dry dock for repairs. It was long enough for the ship's company to be able to join in the extraordinary celebrations for the birth on 9.11.1841 of the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. William was experiencing sights unimaginable to his siblings back home in Fowey. Not far from the ship's moorings cremations were carried on in the open air; and dead bodies, floating down the Ganges, were an everyday affair. The ship's cook always used the River water for all purposes. Eventually a cargo of rice was loaded and it was off to Mauritius again. On return to Calcutta the news was freight to London was £5 per ton so the Captain decided to return there. Everyone was delighted at the prospect of being homeward bound. However William came to loggerheads with the Chief Officer before arriving in Mauritius for an overhaul of the ship in preparation for the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope. He decided to run away resulting in him spending about six weeks ashore. During this time he tried various jobs including cook, confectioner and racecourse worker. Then he was hired as an ordinary seaman on a brig loading sugar bags for London. It turned out that the captain was a madman and food was scarce unless you liked mildewed peas. Even though the ship called at St. Helena it took in only a few water casks and bunches of watercress. By the time it reached Cowes, Isle of Wight, in southern England, William was one of only three people not suffering scurvy, but he was feeling queer. It was just after Christmas in 1843. The ship eventually reached London and William went home for a month where he was fussed over. His father wrote to the owners of the vessel in Newcastle which William had run away from in Mauritius and had been apprenticed to; and they agreed to allow William to finish his time. However the barque that they arranged for him to join, sailed before he could get to the docks so he was hired for another vessel doing a return voyage to St. Michaels, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, North America, for a cargo of oranges. After this he signed articles in London for a large brig going to Shields to load coke for Jamaica in the West Indies. This vessel was rotten from stem to stern, so on becoming aware of this, as a dodge to gain freedom, he pretended to be sickly and was discharged. He was now in Newcastle (north east England) and after hunting for a berth for a few days approached the owners of the vessel he had run away from. They agreed to take him on immediately for a brig fitting out for the Patagonia region of Argentina where guano was to be fetched. The owners wanted the tempermental Captain to make William the second mate, but the Captain said that he would rather have a middle-age man in that position. On the voyage the Captain and William had a few rows but all was forgiven when William periodically darned the Captain's stockings. The vessel arrived at the Patagonian coast which was protected by a reef and where the weather was changeable catching some ships off guard resulting in shipwrecks. There was plenty of sea creatures, and other game, which was being sought by the various ships in the region. William tells the story of his first experience of shag catching on a little island not far from the main guano island. "I had been on the island before but it was in daylight. From the water's edge up to the top it was very slippery owing to the shags walking up and down so often. They cannot fly until they get into the water. The top was cone shaped and covered with nests ranging from a foot to eighteen inches high and so close that there was scarcely room to put your feet between them. Our mode of catching them was to take two boat crews at night. One to land on the side the shags travelled up and down, the other crew pulls round to the back of the island and commences making all the noise they can to frighten the birds. I belonged to the land or slaughtering party. Six of us three with heavy sticks to hit the shags with, and three behind with bags to bag the slain. Now, it being my first time, I took no notice of my mates kneeling, but stood up with stick in hand ready for the fray. The boats crew at the back of the island were kicking up a deuce of a row. 'Here they come. Look out boys.' They made as much noise as a flock of sheep coming down the hill. 'We're in boys.' They knocked the legs from under me and hundreds must have gone over me. When they had all passed I managed to get up with many a little bit of skin gone and my mates laughing at me for standing up on slippery rocks to receive such a charge. It was enough to do to keep up on knees. However we bagged 40 odd and I did not kill one. I knew better next time though. They came in fine instead of fresh mutton or beef which we had not tasted for months." A great drawback of the area was the scarcity of fresh water. It was near Sea Lion island, Argentina that he came close to losing his life. Becalmed at night with others aboard a small boat, an ill-fated rescue attempt was made by a schooner. However when a breeze sprang up the small boat collided with the schooner and sank with the loss of one life and with the schooner bearing a gaping hole in its side. Then came another calm causing the schooner to drift with the current. The men lost their bearings. Some thought they were close to their settlement base while others thought their temporary home was far in the other direction. Ten men were landed on shore to walk what they thought would be a short distance to civilisation while the schooner sailed in the opposite direction. William was one of the ten, and after travelling two days and nights without food or water it was decided they had chosen to head in the wrong direction and that they would retrace their steps. They trudged for days and nights sleeping on some nights in the lair of a wild animal. Water was scarce so in the mornings they would get down on their knees to lick the frost off the backs of grass. Then one day William remarked that he would like a good feed of beef steak and bacon & eggs, which caused his companions to growl so much he decided to go it alone. That night while sitting on the beach he was surrounded by half a dozen black foxes. They dodged any stones he threw to try and scare them away. Soon their numbers had grown to more than 20 and they began to close in on him. He thought they would get him but all of a sudden they scampered off when they heard the sound of another human voice. William had been followed by a shipmate who had arrived just in time. After sucking on some ice that they found in a little hole the next morning they began walking along the beach when they sighted a brig. They signalled to it by putting one of their jackets on a long bone from the skeleton of a whale. They were picked up in a boat where they told their saviours of the rest of their party, who were picked up the next morning. William became drunk on gin consumed to celebrate his rescue, but he had suffered serious frost bite to both feet. After a week or two of great pain, one foot came good, however he had to have his big toe and the one next to it, cut off from the other. His ship was loaded at last and headed for Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The crew were showing signs of scurvy and required fresh foods. Upon landing in Rio, William was one of four men discharged to the hospital where he was well fed and allowed to smoke whenever he liked. He was there four months and the stump of his second toe healed nicely. At his request a doctor discharged him and the British Consul helped him obtain lodgings in a boarding house. After a month there with his toe stump much inflamed the Consul helped him to gain a passage to London. This was a very slow journey due to nil or light winds, and provisions began running low. However close to home a storm developed and the ship lost all its sails. The next morning they were on the north west coast of Ireland and it was during the potato famine. With the ship disabled, the locals helped the ship's company ashore. William spent his first night in Ireland in a mud cabin, with two doors, no windows or chimney and containing one cow, one pig, husband, wife, four children and 9 members of the ship's crew of 19. The following day all went to Clifton about 7 miles away; from where William travelled to Galway, Dublin and then Liverpool. Here he met three relatives - two were in business, and the third uncle was a ship's captain who invited William to stay with him, his wife and two children. This uncle not seeing any chance of getting the command of a ship for awhile shipped as Chief Officer on board an iron barque trading steamer bound for the Black Sea and Constantinople, Turkey with William as Quarter Master, and about 30 other sailors. Near Malta the toe stump became troublesome despite William pounding it with bluestone. He thought he was going blind, but was nearly alright again after a few days under the care of a Maltese doctor. The steamer slowly travelled onwards and entered the Dardenelles, which is where the steamer was almost sunk by cannon fire. It was the Captain's first trip to the Mediterranean Sea and he didn't know that it was obligatory in the Dardanelles to anchor from sunrise to sunset. Concerned at keeping to schedule he decided not to stop, which provoked the Turks to fire a cannonball at the steamer from one of their forts. After the fourth ball came perilously close to the steamer the Captain stopped and together with William and four others got into the pinnace to head for shore to remonstrate about the attack. However another schooner master told him of the nighttime ban on vessel movement which helped the Captain avoid a confrontation with the 50 or 60 onshore soldiers who were pointing muskets towards the pinnace. After paying for the cost of the cannon balls the steamer proceeded the next day. It went through the Bosporus, into the Black Sea, calling at some small ports, before discharging the remainder of its cargo at Trabzon, in the Armenian area of Turkey. Here the steamer was loaded with a cargo and a deckload of 200 passengers for Constantinople (known today as Istanbul). The passengers were principally men, but there were a few young, veiled daughters, escourted by their fathers, who were being taken away to be sold. Departing Constantinople the steamer moved through the Greek Islands in the Aegean Sea, before stopping at Malta and Gibraltar as it headed home to Liverpool. Next voyage was to Shields, England, and then to Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. However William was always in hot water with one or another of the crew so he left the steamer for a boarding house. He next shipped on an emigrant vessel to New York. It was one of the worst passages he ever had. Near Newfoundland in January 1846 it was sleet, gales or wind, with everything frozen. The poor emigrants suffered with only cold water and raw oatmeal to feed on and an occassional fire. Most had only the clothes that they stood in, and sometimes at bed time William would sneak down to their filthy, doorless, sprawling, bunked hold to see men standing on a box naked preparing to go to bed in the upper bunks, while the lower bunks were occupied by females. Soon after the emigrants disembarked in New York there was an awful religious misunderstanding and fighting broke out amongst the entire crew and although blameless some had thought William was the instigator. He got a pounding; one bit clean out of his nose, black eyes, and the loss of innumerable patches of skin and hair. When things calmed down he began to gather his clothes in his bags and chest, and bolted in New York town. He next shipped on a vessel anchored at Staten Island. It was sailing under sealed orders and the undermanned crew were given a month's wages in advance. Consequently when they got alongside the ship most were dead drunk. When William awoke next morning he did not know where he was. The ship got underway for Manzanilla, Cuba, West Indies where it was to load tabique and cedar for London. Upon arrival, it lay about four miles off shore so the timber had to be rafted to it through aligator infested waters. The crew were up every morning at 4.00 am. and after breakfast would boat to shore to make rafts with 2 or 3 men generally in the water up to their waists. It was slow work in very hot conditions and being wet and dry all day long meant that their clothes when dry were white with salt. Two dissatisfied Yankee crewmen wanted a discharge and in the misunderstanding which followed William was knocked senseless with an iron bar by the Captain. He decided to go ashore and consult with the British consul and was followed by the two Yankees. Finding there was no English consul they went instead to a grog shop to get a drink. They had not been there long when the place was surrounded by soldiers, who marched them off to a single prison cell which housed about a dozen prisoners. They were a queer lot; one was to be beheaded, two were unclaimed slaves, and most of the rest were facing long term imprisonment. One day William was passed a hot coffee and after taking only a sip or two, passed it on thankfully, because it had been laced by some of the other prisoners. He was smoking. All of a sudden his pipe dropped from his mouth and he started vomiting. A medic was summoned. Initial treatment was to pour brandy down his throat until he thought it would burn his inside out. They then put him in a bath and arranged four or five slaves to throw buckets of cold water over him. After two or three hours he began to come good. Subsequently he was befriended by a drunken Spanish sailor from a mail schooner who took a letter from William to the British consul in St. Jago de Cuba. One week later he was liberated and ordered back to his ship which was still loading. He was received kindly and in a day or two was quite at home again. The crew's skin became impregnated with salt. On the passage to London they were continually inflicted by salt water boils, with hands, feet, legs and arms being particularly bad. Upon arrival in London's docklands they were sorry looking figures unable to wear shoes, with a lot of bandages on their feet and arms, like a lot of hospital patients. William was glad the voyage had ended, and returned to Fowey for a spell after being paid. Then back to London for a four months round trip to Leghorn (Italian, Livorno) a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy via Gibralter. After a fortnight London stay he shipped on a brigantine to Naples, Italy, which before returning to London loaded sulpher in Sardinia. He next shipped on a trader in a return London voyage lasting about two months. After discharging its cargo in Plymouth it went on to Cardiff, Wales then back to Plymouth before returning to London. Then he was persuaded by a relative to sail for St Michaels to load oranges for Quebec. The plan was to reach the Gulf of St Lawrence about the 1st of March which is when the ice has usually thawed. Upon reaching Quebec their cargo sold well but William became lovesick and took up quarters in a Sailors Boarding House. He later wrote "and my dear relative took himself and ship off without wishing me goodbye, simply because he did not know where to find me." He decided to give up a seafaring life and live and work in Canada, but as time passed he began to see that he was on the wrong track. He obtained a job as a barkeeper, but found it hard to control his temper. It was a job he did not like and he lost a lot of weight. Hence not surprisingly he tried to get a ship berth and was successful, in one bound from Quebec for Exmouth, south England. He soon made flesh on the ship which had a deck load of timber. The weather was beautiful as the ship moved through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Most of the crew were young and were often skylarking with each other. One sailor though, who had been friends with William on shore kept to himself, and during the voyage committed suicide by jumping overboard, which particularly made William feel sorry and dull for a day or two. After this there was a stir at night amongst the crew for fear of his ghost. One pitch black, silent night when William was at the wheel after midnight the ship's two dogs crouched at his feet and commenced to howl most pitiously, which made his flesh creep. Although it was dark he fancied he saw a black ball pass from one side of the ship to the other, which he came to believe was the ghost of his friend. The passage continued slowly in fine weather due to scarcely any wind. Once in Exmouth, a bar harbour, William went on a drinking spree, although it was a quiet place. With his money nearly done and no chance of getting another berth, he decided to start for Poole, in the English county of Dorset, a port where there was more shipping. Therefore he booked himself and possessions on a wagon travelling for 24 odd hours to Dorchester, 20 odd miles from Poole. This left him with only 9d for food and necessaries. He treated himself to a pint of ale, 3d worth of tobacco, 1 lb. of skim milk and cheese. Next evening at Dorchester, hard up, the proprietors of a Public House would not have anything to do with him. He then went to a large Hotel and asked for a bed, and saying that he had no money, but that he would pay them in a day or two after reaching Poole. They agreed to this and offered him food but he accepted just the bed. Next morning on an empty stomach he began the big walk to Poole. Upon arrival he spied a Boarding House but when he told them how he was situated they politely told him they could not help him. Next he called at a Sailors Boarding House which provided meals, and he was determined not to tell of his circumstances. He had dinner, a good night's rest; and a good breakfast in the morning. Soon after he wrote to a friend requesting the loan of £2, which was sent by return post. This enabled him to pay off the debts he had accumulated, which included a halfpenny to a tollman on a bridge between Dorchester and Poole. Eventually he was employed at £2 per month to work as a hand on a Welsh schooner loading china clay for Liverpool. The Schooner's compliment consisted of the Welsh captain, his four grown-up sons, their relative, and William. He got on pretty well with them considering they all spoke Welsh. They were inclined to be religious, but had a weakness for beer and brothels. Ashore one evening they went into a Welsh dancing room, for a look and a drink. William provoked a Welsh sailor renowned for his bullying, when he concluded a conversation with, "my mouth is not shaped for leek eating." A fight ensued which William won convincingly but he was permanently ejected from the room. While residing in Poole he fell in love for only the second time. However, compelled by duty and the want of cash he sailed for Liverpool, although inflicted by a troubled mind and heartache. No sooner off, than he got a toothache, and for three or four days had it so bad that he could think of nothing else. When it left him, so too did his "heart disease". Hence the toothache was a perfect cure for all ills. Upon reaching Liverpool William stopped onboard just until the cargo was discharged. He then left and boarded in a place where "skippers would call and ask if there was any man or men who would go to such a port". William decided to go on a coaster travelling to Plymouth and up the Thames River to London skippered by a Devonshire man. It was late in 1849 and upon arrival in London, William thought that he should visit his father who had shifted to nearby Margate, county Kent, from Cornwall. His father was still employed by Her Majesty's Customs and William stopped home a fortnight with him, then went back to London to find a berth. He fell in with a couple of young men who were going to ship in a Gentleman's yacht, named "Lapwing", lying in the East India docks and going out to Adelaide, South Australia. They advised him to apply for a berth as there were two more men wanted. He lost no time in applying and was taken on, signing articles for a two-year round the world trip. He had not realised then that he would not be seeing his father again. Sailing via the Cape Of Good Hope they arrived in Adelaide on March 10th, 1850. After being in Port a few weeks, the owner sold "Lapwing" and William and the rest of the crew were all paid off. He was offered a job in the colonial Police Force but he didn't fancy that. Instead he took a job in a new hotel for a day or two cleaning up the rooms as the workmen finished them. He became sick of that and cleared out. He put his name down for trenching as he heard that a lot of men were wanted and that it paid £1 a day. Purchasing a pick and shovel he started this job, quite elated with anticipation, until pay day came a fortnight later and he found that he had only earned £5. Having worked as hard as he could without wasting any time he was naturally disappointed. It had been new work to him having never done anything like this previously but he gave it up. He started up country but could not find a job and was miserable so returned to Adelaide determined to go to sea again. He obtained a berth for Calcutta; but a couple of crew from "Lapwing" met him and persuaded him to rejoin that vessel, which was bound for Port Lincoln. It was the first of four successive trips there. They were welcomed at the principal hotel where they drank brandy in gallons and half gallons. "Lapwing" was now transformed from a yacht to a coaster. While the craft's complement rowed from ship to shore William entertained with a fiddle in the stern of the boat. "Lapwing's" next journey was a return trip from Adelaide to the Forth River in northern Tasmania for palings and shingles. Next came a return journey to Emu Bay (north of Kangaroo Island) and Circular Head (near Stanley, Tasmania) for potatoes. Then they went with cargo and passengers to King Georges Sound and the penal colony of Fremantle, Swan River, Western Australia. At King Georges Sound (probably at the spot where Albany stands today) there was plenty of fish to be caught, principally whiting and oysters in the outer harbour in from six to eight feet of water. While anchored there William rowed about in the ship's boat looking at the oysters on the harbour floor. Jumping out of the boat he waded about and when he saw one he bobbed his head under the water to fetch it until he got tired of that work. Then on the other side of the harbour he would watch men cutting up a whale while keeping the sharks from trying to take a bite, with lances. On the return trip to Adelaide the cargo was primarily passengers from Fremantle and a few thousand kangaroo skins picked up at King Georges Sound. The vessel stayed in Adelaide for just three weeks before getting a dozen passengers and cargo for Albany and Swan River. The return journey to Adelaide stopped at King Georges Sound to land four passengers and discharge some cargo, filling up with kangaroo skins. In Adelaide as there was another vessel on the berth loading for King Georges Sound and Swan River the captain of "Lapwing" decided to make a few short trips to nearby bays for wood. The first return trip was from Adelaide to Revels and Guichen Bay. The next trip was a return trip from Adelaide to Port Lincoln. Soon back again and finding no opposition "Lapwing" went on the berth again for Swan River via King Georges Sound. It soon had bookings from a full complement of passengers - stonemasons, bricklayers, carpenters, hotel keepers, blacksmiths, a shipwright, pedler, three women and two children. Amongst the full general cargo was £5000 of specie. At the 'Sound there were four passengers and cargo to land. At low tide William and the rest of the ship's crew would have to carry the cargo on their backs a long way through water that might be up to their knees, and in some places up to their waists. There was nothing in the way of freight to pick-up but there were eight more passengers - four ladies, and four blacks in chains sentenced to be hanged. A gale at Cape Leeuwin significantly delayed the voyage. After unloading at Swan River there was not much to take back to Adelaide so the captain started for King Georges Sound. There the vessel was loaded with a few tons of cargo, two passengers, and filled up with kangaroo skins. Back in Adelaide gold fever was raging which William caught. He was paid off and went to Melbourne as a passenger in November 1851. His sailing life had ended and his mining life was about to begin. To read about his life as a Victorian settler refer to "Life in Australia" above.
NB: Superscript behind each descendant name represents the lineage number of that descendant.
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