William Thomas

William Thomas was born in 1848. He married Ellen Barnard in 1875 in Shark Bay where he was pearl shelling. They had four children between 1877 and 1886. There were twins Jessica Amelia and Pierce Richard. Sadly, Pierce died in his first year. Lily Blanche was born in 1879, and William’s second boat was named after her. In 1886 William Ross was born, however that was the year William died so baby William Ross did not know his father.

William voyaged to Shark Bay with Isaac Doust [see his story] in 1872. He worked in the shallows gathering pearl shell until 1877. Then he bought his first boat, the 24.9 ton cutter Dolphin. He was her third owner. She was initially built in Fremantle for a merchant in 1875. Her official number was 72472. Her dimensions were not ideal for Shark Bay – she had a draft of six feet, which was too deep for the shallow waters of the bay. William sold Dolphin to E. Higham & Taw.

In 1878 William had become the postmaster for the Shark Bay area, so when he took his shell to the carrier boat, he also delivered the mail and collected anything for the Shark Bay residents.

In 1882 William bought a new boat, the 9.29 ton Lilly Blanche. He had ordered her from Alex Chamberlain in Fremantle. She was designed with a shallow draft for the Shark Bay area. Her dimensions were 32 ft x 10 ft x 4.42ft. She was number 4 of 1882, and her official number was 75312. Lilly Blanche was 17 feet shorter than Dolphin, and five feet less across her beam. She was suited to towing a dredge to collect shell, which was different to the diving boats used further north.

William lived at the pearling camp Wilyah Miah where the largest pearl bank was located. The water there averaged 10 fathoms, with a large intertidal area. He collected a lot of shell, which he loaded onto a carrier boat when it arrived in the bay area to take the shell to Fremantle to ship all over the globe. Before 1885 William carted his own shell to Fremantle in Lilly Blanche.

On 30 November 1885 William was appointed by a select committee to be the representative of Shark Bay pearlers. On 14 January 1886 he met with government officials to discuss the government’s proposals to lease out the Shark Bay pearl banks. As the Shark Bay became a busy and heavily populated area, William worked hard to get a Justice of the Peace or Resident Magistrate to be permanently stationed in the area.

On 1 June 1866 William was loading pearl shell into the schooner Bittern anchored in the bay. It was getting dark fast, and there were no lights except the lanterns aboard the Bittern to help to load shell.

William lost his footing and fell from the Bittern into the water. The crew of the schooner could hear him calling out for help but could not see him in the dark water. He drowned before anyone could help him.

The Bittern did not leave as planned but commenced a search for William. Even though the search continued for hours there was no trace of him. He was 38 years old.

William had made a will in 1881, and his estate went to Ellen, adding his sons when they turned 21. She moved with the children to live with family in Pingelly, where she remained until she died in 1911 at the age of 61 years.