CAPTAIN WILLIAM OWSTON.
A GOOD deal of the romance of the sea has departed since the advent of the great ocean liners, and in place of the blood-stirring roar of the boatswain's mate at midnight to "reef topsails," neatly-clad stewards screwing up ports are the only indications passengers now have that dirty weather is expected.
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Photo by CAPTAIN WILLIAM OWSTON Greenham & Evans. |
It is a pleasant change, therefore, to meet with hardy seafarers, who braved the perilous passages on the badly-surveyed coast line of Australia in the sturdy "wind jammers" of fifty years ago, and hear a few of the many exciting incidents which go to build up the maritime history of the country.
No one is more competent to speak on this subject than Captain William Owston, who has been associated with the shipping interests of Western Australia for more than half a century, and has done as much as any other navigator to develop its large trade.
Captain William Owston was born in Kent in 1825, and after leaving school was apprenticed to a shipwright. Subsequently he worked in that home of shipbuilding, the Chatham Dockyard, where he acquired a wide knowledge of the craft. The adventurous spirit of young Owston would not, however, allow him to remain on shore, so he went to sea, and at the age of twenty-four years was second mate and carpenter on board the barque Mary, which dropped anchor off Fremantle in 1849. The barque then made a prosperous run back to the old country, and the young officer, with admirable foresight, saw so great a future before the new colony that he decided to return here. He made arrangements accordingly, and in 1851, when the Mary again reached the Fremantle roads, he was among the first to land.
Shortly after his arrival he shipped on board the schooner Pelsail, engaged in the trade between Fremantle and Champion Bay. The growing trade caused a demand for cargo craft, and two years later he undertook the construction of a large lighter. The material (jarrah timber) used for this was obtained some five miles up the river from Preston Point, where Mr. Owston established a shipbuilding yard.
At this time Fremantle was a port of call for the American whalers requiring repairs, and Captain Owston's experience and ability gained at the shipbuilding yards of the old country enabled him to secure the work, which he executed so satisfactorily, that Mr. Pope, the then American Consul, saw that he got all the work. The perilous nature of the trade in which the vessels were engaged required that the workmanship should be of the highest quality, and the continued demand for his services when vessels came to the port to refit shows his popularity with perhaps the hardest taskmaster in the world—an American whalers' skipper. For three years Captain Owston had a hard but happy life, and then the old craving for blue water again seized him, and he became owner and captain of a smart schooner of 127 tons, appropriately named The New Perseverance. With this vessel he established a lucrative trade between Fremantle and Champion Bay, and he carried horses, sandalwood, and jarrah timber from there to Batavia. It was while engaged in this trade that Captain Owston had an unpleasant experience, which, but for his presence of mind and promptitude of action, would doubtless have caused great hardships, if not the death of several men. The adventure was brought about in this way. A prisoner serving a sentence in the Fremantle Gaol informed the authorities that while engaged as mate on board a Spanish schooner, which had put into Camden Harbour, he had gone ashore and picked up several pounds of gold, which he sold in Liverpool. He offered to point out the locality of the find on the condition that he was liberated from gaol. The authorities naturally regarded such a statement with suspicion, and before agreeing to the conditions communicated with the Home Authorities to ascertain whether a similar quantity of gold had been sold in Liverpool about the date stated. The enquiries were duly made, and it was learned that gold corresponding with the description given had been sold by a seafaring man at Liverpool, but it was not known where it came from. The receipt of this information caused quite a sensation in the colony, and it was decided to accept the convict's terms.
A party consisting of Mr. T. K. Panter, Inspector of Police, who was appointed leader, Constable Buck, Dr. Martin, the convict, whose name was Wildman, and thirty-four volunteers was formed, and Captain Owston's schooner was chartered to convey them to Camden Harbour. The party and twelve pack horses were embarked, and in the early part of 1864 the anchor was dropped at a remote place on the north-west coast. The convict, who had been treated on terms of equality with other members of the exploration party, watched the preparations
