West Australian 1st May 1916

Pearling Federal Inquiry Broome April 30th 1916

Information about when Thomas Williams became a Captain

Wreck of the Annabell 1st January 1885

ANNABELL, 77668. Brig, 377.96//348.38 tons.
122.20 x 26.60 x 14.95 ft.; Built at Souris, Prince Edward Island, 1878 by James Keefe.
Registered No. 18/1878, Port of Charlottetown, P.E.I. (I.R.)
Registered No. 14/1881, (18/viii/81), Port of Auckland.
Master, Roderick McLeod.
Registered No. 85/1882, Port of Sydney, N.S.W.
Min. Cas.: 22/viii/1883, Std. [Stranded?] Cape Jackson, J. Horne.
Vessel stranded on Tory Shoal in Kaipara Harbour, 2/i/1885, and became a total loss. Master, Neil McDonald.
Ownerships: Pt. 2, pp. 37(2), 39, 91, 100, 110, 150.

Thomas Williams' Voyages

Sydney 1926

Captain Thomas Williams 1852-1916

Captain Thomas Williams (Benjamin's brother)
Thomas was born in Briton Ferry in 21st November 1852. Died 5th July 1916 in Broome,Western Australia. He had a Pearl Lugging business in Broome WA 1904-1916.
The 3 pearl luggers were The Ethel; The Mary and The Maggie

2nd mate 1875 (PN:99345) 1st mate 1881(PN:020647) Captain Licence 1890 (Annabell/1885. Queensland OC/No.43) Kew ref 122/70&88

Known Voyages:
16/04/1869 he left Swansea on the Admiral Blake as Ordinary Seaman (OS) to Finland twice before returning to Swansea 19/06/1869. previous ship the Gleaner

11/02/1870 he left Port Talbot on the Admiral Blake as Able Seaman (AB) to Cadiz Spain then Newfoundland before returning to Liverpool 21/07/1870. previous ship the Admiral Blake

15/09/1870 he left Liverpool on the Admiral Blake as (AB) to Trinidad and Sombrero before returning to Milford Haven 04/02/1871. previous ship the Admiral Blake

26/09/1873 he left Swansea on the Emily as (AB) to Lisbon before returning to Gloucester 03/12/1873. previous ship the Brothers

26/03/1877 he left Briton Ferry on the Leader as (AB) to Treport France before returning to Runcorn 15/05/1877. previous ship the Grand Admiral of Boston

11/06/1877 he left Swansea on the Hawkeye as 2nd Mate cert 99345 stopping at Valparaiso Chile 25/09/1877-26/09/1877 bound for Tocopilla in Chile arriving 25/10/1877. His previous ship was the Great Admiral of Boston

30/09/1881 he left Swansea on the Annie as 2nd Mate cert 99345 going to? arriving 12/11/1881. His previous ship was the Iona from Dundee.

Death Of Thomas Wiliams 1916

William Thomas Williams 1892-1914

Benjamin Williams' son why he was working for Price's Lugger rather than his Uncle is another unanswered question.

Information about the Hawkeye

In 1846 Henry Bath II established the Swansea Iron Shipbuilding Company and in 1849 launched the steam yacht "Firefly" intended for use on the coast of Chile. Many of their ships were built at Bideford in North Devon, England and were named after the letters of the Greek alphabet such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma Delta, Iota, Kappa, Epsilon, Theta and Zeta (built at Glasgow). Other vessels' names were inspired by the novels of Fennimore Cooper including Scout, Hawkeye, Uncas, Delaware, Pathfinder, Mohican and Deerslayer. There were vessels called Henry Bath and City of Valparaiso. Records exist of all these barques, often referred to as "Cape Horners" and as many as 30 ships formed the Bath fleet.

On a visit to Chile, Henry Bath II and his brother Edward met and married the two daughters of Charles Lambert another prominent Swansea shipbuilder and copper merchant. This association brought into the company copper smelting operations in Chile, at Coquimbo and Port Tennant, Wales.

http://www.henrybath.com/company-history.html