John Gustof Fredberg

John Gustof Fredberg was born in Sweden on 21 March 1857. Immigration records show he made his way to New York and then to England in 1886 working as an Able Bodied Seaman aboard the ship Malaysia. He was discharged at Liverpool and was paid in full. Notes by Captain Kirkbride signed John’s discharge with “very good” against conduct, character and qualification categories aboard the ship (his wage was not docked for disrespectful conduct or missing work).

John attempted his master’s certificate on 25 May 1887. The Register of Examinations shows he failed the charts component of the exam on that occasion.

It is possible John remained at sea or relocated. The Government Gazette published the General Post Offices list of uncollected mail, and John was listed as having mail awaiting collection on 1 October 1889. Marriage records show John was married that year to Ellen Diggles.

Shipping records indicate John worked from London to Sydney on the Ouzaba in 1891, at the age of 33 years. Again, his record was exemplary.

Electoral roles indicate two different addresses in the same area of Sydney from 1892 until 1895.

We next hear of John in 1900 when he was a witness to a murder aboard the Emilie Larsen. He appeared before Justice Stone at the Western Australian Central Criminal Court when the master of the vessel Captain Herman Goare was indicted on a charge of the wilful murder of Able Seaman Peter Hjelm. Apparently on 7 February 1900 the crew of Emilie Larsen were drinking at the Burlington Hotel in Bunbury. Captain Goare was said to be sober, although the crew was intoxicated. Reportedly Captain Goare shot Peter Hjelm in his spine, causing his death a few days later in Bunbury hospital. As the watchman aboard the ship at the time, John witnessed the shooting and was required to testify before the court.

Records show that John’s wife of 12 years died in 1901. No record of children was found.

John went to work on a coastal tramp (trading vessel that serviced the coastal communities) called the Rescue. She was a two-masted 54.72 ton vessel built in the UK in 1882. She was registered In Fremantle as No. 4 of 1886, with official number 93681.She was 74 ft wide with a beam of 17.1 ft and a draft of 7.9 ft (22.5 x 5.2 x 2.4 metres). She was manned by a crew of three to five men.

From 2000 Rescue voyaged regularly between Bunbury, Fremantle, Champion Bay, Shark Bay (pearl shell), Maud Landing (wool), Point Cloates, and Wooramel, and back again. She called into each port on both northbound and southbound journeys.

Her owner/agent was EH Fothergill & Co. Rescue took the mails, and carried general cargo, although some ports loaded pastoral or pearl industry cargoes. From 2002 Rescue was commanded by Master F. Iverson

On 18 February 1903 she left Fremantle and made Geraldton on 23rd.Out of Wooramel on the southbound voyage Rescue found rough seas, kicking up some big waves. John was washed overboard on 9 March.

In the rough weather the search was fruitless, and Rescue called into shore and sent a telegram to Inspector Drewery that day, advising him John Fredberg was lost at sea and his body was unable to be found.

John died intestate. On 11 December 1903 an advertisement was placed in newspapers showing the Supreme Court Order for the Curator of Intestate Estates, Gervase Clifton, to administer the estate, and creditors and other persons with claims were called for.

Rescue continued to tramp up and down the coast, carrying cargo and supplies for pearlers and pastoralists, and some government projects. Like most vessels in WA, she had changes in her owners and her masters.

Coastal traders worked the year around, and did not have a layup season like the pearling and fishing boats. They were needed up and down the coast despite the weather. Rescue was fitted with twin engines (a 12 hp and a 22 hp) in 1907 and operated as a steamer.

On 13 November 1912, Rescue was under the command of part owner and master Nils Nilsen, an experienced sea man. Her main mast and rigging were lost in a mighty storm off the northwest coast.

On 30 May 1917 newspapers reported Rescue was wrecked with her crew of three and Master A. Hansen on her way from Port Hedland to Pardoo. At that stage she was co-owned by Master Hansen and HM Parkes, and her agent was JW Bateman.

Reportedly she was wrecked on either North Turtle Island (off Port Hedland) or Pardoo Creek. A search was mounted for her, but she had been rescued and towed to Condon with her cargo and 85 bales of wool.

Rescue was no longer registered after 1917, and there was a report that she was sold as salvage.