Harold Thomas Saw

Harold Thomas Saw (67) left Rockingham alone in his 22 foot fishing boat at 9am on Friday 12 December to Crayfish around Garden Island. He was due back by 3pm at his home on 61 Harrison Street in Rockingham. He was an experienced Fisherman having fished the Rockingham surrounds for nearly 50 years and was well known in Safety Bay and held in very high esteem. By 6pm his wife became concerned and notified three of her sons, who sailed for the island at 4am the next day. With three volunteers from the island they set out at 5am to search for traces of Saw.

Saw’s fishing launch was found washed up on the beach, together with a woven basket thought to belong to the vessel. The boat had foundered on a reef off the South-West coast of Garden Island. The wreckage covered three miles round the beach. Footprints were seen in the sand near the wreckage. They led for a short distance along the beach, went round a rock and disappeared in the sea again. It was doubtful that the footprints belonged to Saw though.

The search party grew and continued to look for Saw. About 60 volunteer searchers from navy and army men stationed on the island, police and relatives and friends from Rockingham combed six miles of beach and dense scrub. The search party included members of the Safety Bay Yacht Club. Mr. F. P. Oliver of Garden Island volunteered to search the inner reefs in his 10 foot dinghy and to swim across several reefs if necessary.

It was reported that Saw had a “weak heart” and some his friends thought he may have collapsed in the boat. Some residents of the island believe that he had been setting craypots when a heavy “dumb roller” surf caught the boat and tossed it on to the reef. Frank Dean, another Professional Fisherman of Penguin Road, Safety Bay was the last to see him alive. On his return trip he had seen the deceased standing in the back of his boat as if looking for craypots. There was no wind but a very heavy swell running at the time.

On 19 December, six days after his boat had been found wrecked, Constables Hannaby and Thomter found the body of Saw at almost the same spot as the wreckage. It was about four feet from the water’s edge.

Early the following year, an inquest was held into the death of Saw in front of Mr. R. P. Rodriguez, the City Coroner in Fremantle. Saw had told his wife that he had had “some very narrow escapes”. The Coroner, assisted by Sgt. S. A. Smith found that Saw’s death was the result of accidental drowning.

Harold Thomas Saw was born in Armadale on the 30 July 1885 to parents Frederick John Saw and Hannah Catherine White. His Father was one of the earliest settlers of the Armadale district having opened the first store there.

He married Annie Green in 1911 and they went on to have 6 adult children including George, Gladys, Bessie, Harold Edward, Elsie Beryl, Arthur John and Eldred James. At the time of his death he left behind 16 grandchildren.