William Henry Hayes | |
|---|---|
 "Bully" Hayes,c. 1863 | |
| Born | 1827 or 1829 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Died | 31 March 1877 |
| Other names | Bully Hayes |
| Occupation(s) | Ship's captain, trader, andblackbirder |
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1827 or 1829 – 31 March 1877)[1] was a notorious American ship's captain who engaged inblackbirding in the 1860s and 1870s.[2][3]
Hayes operated across the breadth of thePacific Ocean from the 1850s until his murder on 31 March 1877. He has been described as a South Seapirate and "the last of the buccaneers".[4][5] However, in their account of his life,James A. Michener and A. Grove Day warn that it is almost impossible to separate fact from legend regarding Hayes; they described him as "a cheap swindler, a bully, a minor confidence man, a thief, a ready bigamist", and commented that there is no evidence that he ever took a ship by force in the tradition of apirate orprivateer.[2] Hayes was a large man who used intimidation against his crew, although he could reportedly be very charming if he chose to be.[6]
He was born inCleveland, Ohio, one of three sons of Henry Hayes, a grog-shanty keeper.[1] Hayes became a sailor on theGreat Lakes after running away from home. He is believed to have left New York as a passenger of theCanton on 4 March 1853, although when the ship reached Singapore on 11 July 1853 it was captained by Hayes, and sold by him there shortly after arrival.[7] Hayes operated in East Asia, carrying out various frauds onship's chandlers over mortgaging ships, providing forged papers in payment for cargo, and selling cargo for his own account rather than for the account of the owners of the cargo.
Hayes arrived inFremantle, Western Australia in January 1857 as captain of theC. W. Bradley, Jr. (which was theCanton, repurchased and renamed). TheBradley had excellent cabin accommodation, and made two trips toAdelaide in March and June 1857 with passengers. The South Australian authorities were not pleased as many of these migrants were convicts with conditional pardons. The Singapore ships chandlers caught up with Hayes inPerth, Australia and forced the sale of his ship, bankrupting him. TheBradley was sold in Adelaide on 22 July and was later renamedFederation.[8]
Hayes married the widow Amelia Littleton in theClare Valley town ofPenwortham on 20 August 1857,[9] bigamously if, as is believed, Hayes had earlier married in the United States.[2]
Hayes had built up debts in Adelaide, but by a ruse escaped his creditors and inMelbourne, Australia he gained the command of theOrestes sailing toVancouver, Canada. Hayes was thrown off the ship inHonolulu by thesupercargo for swindling passengers. He proceeded to gain command of a new ship, the 318-ton brigEllenita with a cargo obtained by fraud. Hayes sailed back across the Pacific, abandoning Amelia in San Francisco. Another version has her falling from theOrestes in 1858 and drowning.[10] On the return trip to Sydney, Hayes lost theEllenita offNavigator Islands on 16 October 1859 and with the women and children and a skeleton crew reachedSavaiʻi to raise the alarm. After considerable difficulties, the remaining passengers and crew were returned to Sydney by H.M. brigElk.[11] There Hayes evaded a charge of having indecently assaulted one of the passengers, Miss Cornelia Murray, aged 15.[12]
Although Hayes lost theEllenita in a storm and others to creditors, he always found new ships to command and new cargoes to fraudulently acquire and sell. Between maritime adventures Hayes became a member of ablackface minstrel troupe inNew South Wales, Australia.[13]
Hayes was a notable early figure in the history of theOtago region of New Zealand. After facing bankruptcy in Australia in the late 1850s, he sailed to Otago in 1862 (at the time the region was the centre of agold rush). He toured the region with a travelling company ofvaudeville artists on a tour of New Zealand. In January 1863 they arrived atArrowtown. Hayes married a widow Mrs Roma 'Rosie' Buckingham, whose four sons were vaudeville artists, performing asThe Masters Buckingham. Hayes and Roma settled inArrowtown where he opened a hotel, the "United States", later called "The Prince of Wales". The nearbyLake Hayes is indirectly named for him; originally called Hay's Lake after an early settler, the spelling changed over the years as locals came to associate the name with that of Bully Hayes.[citation needed]
Hayes had a falling out with the Buckingham family, who offered any barber £5 to cut his hair off short. Eventually this happened and it was revealed, as rumoured, that Hayes had been deprived of an ear in California where he had been caught cheating at cards.[14] After this he was mocked in a popular play and, with his reputation gone, he and his wife left for Port Chalmers. Later he acquired a ship in Australia, theBlack Diamond, which he hid in Croixelles Harbour, nearNelson. On 19 August 1864, while travelling in a borrowed yacht, the family was caught by a sudden squall and Rosie, her baby, her brother, and a nurse all drowned. Only Hayes survived.[15]
He moved toChristchurch, where he married Emily Mary Butler in 1865.[1]
In May 1866 Hayes acquired thebrigRona and operated in the Pacific with bases inApia,Samoa, and inMili Atoll in theMarshall Islands.[16][17] Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his "recruiting" of Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations ofTahiti,Fiji,Samoa, and Australia.[18] While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activity predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion, and tricks to entice islanders onto ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
On 17 April 1868, Hayes arrived offSuwarrow on the brigRona, with 109 islanders fromNiue (then known as Savage Island) who were being transported toTahiti. He found Captain Handley B. Sterndale and a work crew of 18 men, 2 women, and 3 children, whose food supplies had run out.[19] Hayes agreed to rescue Sterndale and the islanders, notwithstanding theRona was already crowded, with Sterndale and the Islanders being delivered toRakahanga (Reirson island), from where they eventually travelled to Tahiti. Sterndale sold the pearl shell, beche-de-mer, copra, and equipment to Hayes.[19] Sterndale later discovered that John Lavington Evans (the superintendent of the Pacific Islands Trading Company Limited who had delivered the work crew to Suwarrow), had travelled to Samoa, sold the ship, and departed to Sydney, and concealed that Sterndale and the islanders were on Suwarrow with a limited supply of provisions and no boats capable of leaving the island.[19]
Hayes made money and purchased thebrigantineSamoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships offManihiki,Cook Islands in March 1869. Hayes then purchased theschoonerAtlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams inApia on charges related to his activities.[2] Hayes escaped fromSamoa on 1 April 1870 on the ship ofBen Pease, a fellow American of similar reputation.
There are differing accounts of the adventures of Hayes and Pease. That of James A. Michener and A. Grove Day Hayes[2] differs in detail from that provided byAlfred Restieaux, an island trader who had dealings with both Hayes and Pease.[16][17] Consistent between the accounts is that Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in theCaroline Islands and theMarshall Islands in the 250-tonbrigPioneer.[2] According to Restieaux, Hayes and Pease argued over the ownership of the cargo; Hayes claimed the cargo was his and that Pease was merely carrying it as freight, while Pease claimed a half share in the cargo. Restieaux's account is that Hayes sold the cargo in Shanghai;[16][17] with Restieaux recounting two stories that he had been told about Pease's death: the first was that he drowned after jumping overboard from a Spanish Man-of-War, the second was that he was killed in a fight in theBonin Islands.[16][17]
In any event, when thePioneer arrived back inApia, Hayes was in sole command, with his explanation for this change in command being thatBen Pease had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge.[2]
Hayes renamed the shipLeonora (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation. Hayes continued to trade incoconut oil,copra, and blackbirding. Hayes was arrested by Captain Richard Meade of theNarragansett (1859) on 19 February 1872 but was released as Meade could not find witnesses or sufficient proof. Hayes's reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.[2] In 1872 Hayes was engaged in thecopra trade, including installing George Winchcombe onNukufetau in the Ellice islands.[20]
Hayes had a long history of charges made against him for thesexual assault of underage females.[18] In 1860 he was brought to court inSydney for the indecent assault of 15-year-old Cornelia Murray aboard his ship theEllenita.[21] In 1865 he tried to abduct a 17-year-old girl in New Zealand. However, the most shocking example was the brutal rape of a nine-year-old girl atKosrae in 1872. In July of that year, Hayes went to theMicronesian island ofPingelap where he extorted the people to load his ship with 6,000 coconuts and to bring him a young girl. His demands were met and he sailed to his residence at the nearby island ofKosrae. Here it was reported through several verified written accounts that Hayes took the girl ashore and violently raped her. After Hayes had finished with her, the girl was taken back to the ship in severe pain, crying with blood running down her legs. She was still not able to walk properly after three months when she was returned to Pingelap. An inquiry by Captain A.E. Dupuis ofHMS Rosario on 26 September 1874 medically examined another victim for evidence against Hayes, but he escaped while being further questioned, as described in the next section. Hayes was known to treat other girls in a similar manner while atKosrae.[22][23]
In 1874, 19-year old AustralianLouis Becke sailed aketch, theE.A. Williams fromApia,Samoa toMili Atoll to deliver it to Hayes.[24] Becke then joined theLeonora,[13] as a passenger until it was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Utwe harbour atKosrae,[2][25] at what is now theUtwe-Walong Marine Park onKosrae.[26]
After the wreck, Hayes brawled with the European traders onKosrae and with his crew, with the islanders being subject to seven months of oppression and violence. Becke chose to stay with the islanders in the village of Leassé.[27] In September of that yearRosario (1860) under Captain Dupuis arrived and Hayes was arrested, but escaped by a 14-foot boat built of timber from the wreck of theLeonora.[27][2] In the words of a Petty Officer on board Rosario:
Arrived here on 25th Sept and on approaching the harbour, a boat was seen making for the ship and soon the figure of a stranger was seen on the Quarter deck and no other than the veritable Capt. Hayes, here was the outlaw on a man-of-war's deck with a bold front on him offering to pilot the ship in. On being questioned by the Capt. He informed him that his vessel was wrecked near here and he had established a station making oil. The Rev Snow had also arrived from Ebon. . . . A court of enquiry was held next day and Hayes' crew were each separately examined and their evidence noted down. Hayes was let go on parole to fetch his papers the next day, but the same evening, late, a boat came from the station to say he had escaped from the island in a small boat, taking one man with him – this proved true. The most positive proof of his villainy was in the person of a young female native, a mere child, she was brought on board and subjected to medical examination. This child was still suffering from his treatment although some time had elapsed since the committal of the outrage. Our Capt.(Dupuis) had no authority to make him a prisoner but would have taken him from the island if requested by the Missionary and King. The former acting as an American representative, but the delay in acting together ensured the time for flight. The Capt. visited Hayes' station next day and turned everything over to charge of the Mate, a Swede. The women he forwarded to the King putting them under his protection. These were mostly young females from different islands, his mistresses. The remainder of the crew were taken on board for passage to Sydney.
Becke later became an author, and wrote a number of stories of the exploits of Bully Hayes.
Hayes reachedGuam. He purchased theschoonerArabia on credit in April 1875 and accepted a commission to help convicts escape from prison.[28] He was arrested and ended up in prison inManila,Philippines – at the time a colony of Spain. Hayes was eventually freed and landed in San Francisco without funds in early 1876. He persuaded a Mr. and Mrs. Moody to fund the purchase of aschooner theLotus. Hayes tricked Mr. Moody into going ashore and sailed off with Mrs. Moody still on board. After arriving inApia,Samoa, on 2 January 1877, theLotus sailed toKosrae, the island on whichLeonora was wrecked, where Hayes intended to collect coconuts left at the time of the wreck.[2]
The commonly accepted version of the death of Hayes provided by Charles Elson,[29] themate of theLotus, was that when leavingKosrae on 31 March 1877, the ship's cook Peter Radeck, "Dutch Pete", responding to threats from Hayes, killed him. While the events are unclear, it is understood that Hayes was shot with a revolver, struck on the skull with an iron implement, and thrown overboard.[13][29] Charles Elson and the remaining crew sailed theLotus toJaluit in theMarshall 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.[2]
Becke's interpretation of the events was that Charles Elson plotted with the other crew members to murder Hayes. The motive was remove Hayes and allow Elson and the crew to search for and take the money that Hayes was believed to have buried onKosrae following the wreck of theLeonora in 1874.[30] The existence of this buried money is part of the myth that surrounds Hayes.
Bully Hayes may not have ever taken a ship by force in the tradition of apirate orprivateer, acts of fraud having been his preferred means of gaining command of a ship; however, if the suspicion that he disposed ofBen Pease to gain command of thePioneer is true then he may well have been a murderer.
Much of his legend is due to the writing of Louis Becke, who used his time with Hayes in his Pacific stories:[31]
In some he tells stories of Hayes that are based on first-hand experience, but there may be some fictional elements.
Joan Druett,The Notorious Captain Hayes Sydney: HarperCollins, 2016'
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