Leonora (Bully Hayes)
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:31 pm
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1827 or 1829–1877) There are two stories has to how he earned his nickname "Bully": one explanation is that “Bulli” is Samoan for “elusive” or “evasive”; the second explanation is that he was call "Bully" because of his behaviour towards his crew. He was a large man who used intimidation against his crew, although he could be very charming if he chose to be, as well as being capable of generosity to Pacific Islanders in need. However Bully Hayes developed a reputation of a notorious blackbirder, whose arrival on any Pacific Island would cause islanders to hide in fear of being kidnapped and shipped off to be a labourer on some distant plantation.
In May 1866 Hayes acquired the brig Rona and operated in the Pacific with bases in Apia, Samoa, and in Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his activities as a Blackbirder; engaged in recruiting Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and Australia. While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activities of Blackbirders predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto Blackbirding ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
Hayes made money blackbirding and purchased the brigantine Samoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships off Manihiki, Cook Islands in March 1869. Hayes then purchased the schooner Atlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams in Apia on charges related to his blackbirding activities.
Hayes escaped from Samoa on 1 April 1870 on the ship of Ben Pease, the American Blackbirder. Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the Western Caroline Islands in the 250-ton brig Pioneer. Landing that cargo in Apia, Hayes appears to have bribed his way out of the charges he faced. He and Ben Pease leave for the Line Islands on a blackbirding commission to supply labourers for the Godeffroy & Son plantations in Samoa. When the Pioneer returned Hayes was in sole command with his explanation for this change in command being that Ben Pease had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge. Hayes renamed the ship the Leonora, (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation from being the ‘black’ ship of the blackbirding trade. Hayes continued to trade in coconut oil, copra and in the lucrative blackbirding trade. Hayes is eventually arrested by Captain Richard Meade of the USS Narragansett on 19 February 1872 but is released as Captain Richard Meade did not find witnesses or proof that warranted the continued arrest of Hayes. Hayes’s reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.
In January 1874 Louis Becke, who later wrote stories of the exploits of Bully Hayes, joined the Leonora at Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Leonora was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lelu harbour at Kosrae[5] at what is now the Utwe-Walong Marine Park on Kosrae.
After the wreak Hayes brawled with the European traders on Kosrae and with his crew, with the islanders being subject to seven months of oppression and violence. In September of that year HMS Rosario under Captain Dupuis arrives and Hayes is arrested, but yet again he escaped, this time by a 14 foot boat, built of timber from the wreck of the Leonora.
Hayes reaches Guam. He purchased the schooner Arabia on credit in April 1875 and accepts a commission to help convicts escape from prison. He is arrested and ends up in prison in Manila, Philipines, which was under the control of Spain until the Spanish–American War. Hayes is eventually freed and lands in San Francisco without funds in early 1876. He persuades a Mr and Mrs Moody, to fund the purchase of a schooner the Lotus. Hayes tricks Mr Moody to go ashore and sails off with Jenny Ford Moody still on board. After arriving in Apia, Samoa, on 2 January 1877 the Lotus sails to Kosrae, the atoll on which Leonora was wrecked, where Hayes intended to collect coconuts left at the time of the wreck. When leaving Kosrae on 31 March 1877, the ship’s cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete", responded to threats from Hayes, while the events are unclear, it is understood that Hayes was shot with a revolver, struck on the skull with a iron implement and thrown overboard. Charles Elson, the mate, and the remaining crew sailed the Lotus to Jaluit in the Marshall Islands and gave an account of the death of Bully Hayes. No one was concerned at his death – indeed Peter Radeck was treated as a hero.
While Bully Hayes may not have ever taken a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer - acts of fraud being his practice to gain command of a ship. However if the suspicion is true, that he disposed of Ben Pease to gain command of the Pioneer, then that may qualify him to be a pirate; perhaps his life as a Blackbirder, is what establishes his credentials as a pirate - such was the depths to which piracy had descended in the second half of the 19th century.
Wikipedia
Micronesia SG?
See also: http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... nora#p7813
In May 1866 Hayes acquired the brig Rona and operated in the Pacific with bases in Apia, Samoa, and in Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his activities as a Blackbirder; engaged in recruiting Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and Australia. While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activities of Blackbirders predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto Blackbirding ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
Hayes made money blackbirding and purchased the brigantine Samoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships off Manihiki, Cook Islands in March 1869. Hayes then purchased the schooner Atlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams in Apia on charges related to his blackbirding activities.
Hayes escaped from Samoa on 1 April 1870 on the ship of Ben Pease, the American Blackbirder. Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the Western Caroline Islands in the 250-ton brig Pioneer. Landing that cargo in Apia, Hayes appears to have bribed his way out of the charges he faced. He and Ben Pease leave for the Line Islands on a blackbirding commission to supply labourers for the Godeffroy & Son plantations in Samoa. When the Pioneer returned Hayes was in sole command with his explanation for this change in command being that Ben Pease had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge. Hayes renamed the ship the Leonora, (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation from being the ‘black’ ship of the blackbirding trade. Hayes continued to trade in coconut oil, copra and in the lucrative blackbirding trade. Hayes is eventually arrested by Captain Richard Meade of the USS Narragansett on 19 February 1872 but is released as Captain Richard Meade did not find witnesses or proof that warranted the continued arrest of Hayes. Hayes’s reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.
In January 1874 Louis Becke, who later wrote stories of the exploits of Bully Hayes, joined the Leonora at Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Leonora was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lelu harbour at Kosrae[5] at what is now the Utwe-Walong Marine Park on Kosrae.
After the wreak Hayes brawled with the European traders on Kosrae and with his crew, with the islanders being subject to seven months of oppression and violence. In September of that year HMS Rosario under Captain Dupuis arrives and Hayes is arrested, but yet again he escaped, this time by a 14 foot boat, built of timber from the wreck of the Leonora.
Hayes reaches Guam. He purchased the schooner Arabia on credit in April 1875 and accepts a commission to help convicts escape from prison. He is arrested and ends up in prison in Manila, Philipines, which was under the control of Spain until the Spanish–American War. Hayes is eventually freed and lands in San Francisco without funds in early 1876. He persuades a Mr and Mrs Moody, to fund the purchase of a schooner the Lotus. Hayes tricks Mr Moody to go ashore and sails off with Jenny Ford Moody still on board. After arriving in Apia, Samoa, on 2 January 1877 the Lotus sails to Kosrae, the atoll on which Leonora was wrecked, where Hayes intended to collect coconuts left at the time of the wreck. When leaving Kosrae on 31 March 1877, the ship’s cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete", responded to threats from Hayes, while the events are unclear, it is understood that Hayes was shot with a revolver, struck on the skull with a iron implement and thrown overboard. Charles Elson, the mate, and the remaining crew sailed the Lotus to Jaluit in the Marshall Islands and gave an account of the death of Bully Hayes. No one was concerned at his death – indeed Peter Radeck was treated as a hero.
While Bully Hayes may not have ever taken a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer - acts of fraud being his practice to gain command of a ship. However if the suspicion is true, that he disposed of Ben Pease to gain command of the Pioneer, then that may qualify him to be a pirate; perhaps his life as a Blackbirder, is what establishes his credentials as a pirate - such was the depths to which piracy had descended in the second half of the 19th century.
Wikipedia
Micronesia SG?
See also: http://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewt ... nora#p7813