31-667: Captain Frank Biddles (1851-1932) was a pearler from Broome, Western Australia . As captain of the Alto in 1901, he was involved in rescuing 121 people following the wrecking of the SS Karrakatta in King Sound . At the 1901 state election in Western Australia, Biddles stood for the seat of West Kimberley , as an Oppositionist (opponent of the government of George Throssell ). He
62-547: A lugsail , and so they were called luggers. But as boats began to be designed specifically for pearling, they kept the name luggers though they stopped using lugsails, and were actually gaff-rigged ketches . At the peak of the pearling industry, in the early 1900s, there were 350 to 400 pearling luggers operating out of Broome each year. By 2005, there were just two still afloat in Broome. In 2007, one of them, Ida Lloyd , sank off Cable Beach , and in 2015, Intombi , built in 1903,
93-411: A boom; most working craft were boomless to allow more working space. The dipping lug never uses a boom. A dipping lug has to be moved to the leeward side of the mast when going about, so that the sail can take a good aerodynamic shape on the new tack. There are several methods of doing this, one of which is to simply lower the sail, manhandle the yard and sail to the other side of the mast and re-hoist. All
124-450: A dipping lug is usually made fast to the weather gunwale, thereby allowing the mast to be otherwise unstayed. A common arrangement is to have a dipping lug foresail and a standing lug mizzen. This arrangement is found on many traditional British fishing vessels, such as the fifie , but there are examples of dipping lugs on two masts or standing lugs on two or three masts (as in the chasse-marée). A standing lug may be used with or without
155-404: A standing lug on the same side of the mast regardless of which tack they expected to be sailing on. Sailing performance with a standing lug relies on the right amount of luff tension. An essential component of this rig is the tack tackle, a purchase with which luff tension is adjusted for various points of sail. The balanced (or balance) lug has a boom that projects in front of the mast roughly
186-418: Is a sailing vessel defined by its rig , using the lug sail on all of its one or more masts . Luggers were widely used as working craft, particularly off the coasts of France , England , Ireland and Scotland . Luggers varied extensively in size and design. Many were undecked, open boats, some of which operated from beach landings (such as Hastings or Deal ). Others were fully decked craft (typified by
217-517: The 1850s at Shark Bay where pearls (called the 'Oriental, or Golden' Pearl) were found in the Pinctada albina oyster in relatively large numbers. The industry soon folded however. At Nickol Bay, decorative pearl shells ( Riji ) made by local Aboriginal people from Pinctada maxima , were noted by Europeans. The industry began in the mid-1860s with pastoral workers who collected shell in shallow waters, either from shore or in small boats. During
248-488: The 1930s, pearl luggers were mainly motorised and the use of mechanical air pumps allowed boats to use two divers. The industry suffered from a high death toll, with hazards from shark attack , cyclones and frequently, the bends . Four tropical cyclones hit the area between 1908 and 1935 and over 100 boats and 300 people were lost during that time, as evidenced by the numerous graves in the Japanese cemetery in Broome. At
279-562: The 1950s, and were over 50 feet (15 m) long. They were some of the last wooden sailing vessels in commercial use in Australia. Michael Gregg, curator of maritime history at the Western Australian Museum says there were four different types, and also pointed out that the Broome pearling lugger was not actually a lugger. The name derived from the first boats used for pearling in Australia, which were often ship's boats, and used
310-474: The Flying Foam Passage where they used the tides to allow themselves to travel over great distances. As the demands on the local Aboriginal populations increased, many died due to disease and maltreatment. Frank Cadell was also operating at Shark Bay in this period and in this era 'dredging' rapidly became the most efficient means of obtaining the shell, which was noted more for the pearls rather than
341-463: The Zulu and many other sailing drifters ). Some larger examples might carry lug topsails . A lugger is usually a two- or three-masted vessel, setting lug sails on each mast. A jib or staysail may be set on some luggers. More rarely, lug topsails are used by some luggers — notably the chasse-marée . A lug sail is an asymmetric quadrilateral sail that fastens to a yard (spar) along the head (top edge) of
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#1732851172170372-566: The backing of some unions and individuals, he was deported in 1948. In April 2019, the skeletons of 14 Yawuru and Karajarri people which had been sold in 1894 by a wealthy Broome pastoralist and pearler to a museum in Dresden , Germany, were brought home. The remains, which had been stored in the Grassi Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig , showed signs of head wounds and malnutrition , a reflection of
403-838: The corner of Ord and High Streets, where his family lived until 1948. Biddles also served as a JP in the Fremantle police courts. He died in 1932. Pearling in Western Australia#The Broome era Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both pearls and pearl shells (for mother of pearl ) along the north-western coast of Western Australia . The practice of collecting pearl shells existed well before European settlement . Coastal dwelling Aboriginal people had collected and traded pearl shell as well as trepang and tortoise with fisherman from Sulawesi for possibly hundreds of years. After settlement, Aboriginal people were used as slave labour in
434-587: The emerging commercial industry in a practice known as blackbirding . Pearling centred first around Nickol Bay and Exmouth Gulf and then around Broome , to become the largest in the world by 1910. The farming of cultured pearls remains an important part of the Kimberley economy, worth A$ 67 million in 2014 and is the second largest fisheries industry in Western Australia after rock lobster . Pearls were first gathered in Western Australia by Aboriginal Australians . The European pearling industry began in
465-399: The extreme tidal range and the shallow sandy shore, on which they had to spend extended periods lying on their sides. The Torres Strait luggers spent longer periods at sea, based around schooners as mother ships. The design of these two types changed after the engines were developed for the boats, and over time they began to look more alike. The last of the pearling luggers were built in
496-586: The industry and during the World War II , pearling virtually stopped. Japanese divers discreetly went home or were interned and Broome was bombed, destroying many of the remaining luggers. After the war, as few as 15 boats employing around 200 people remained. After World War II , workers were brought from Malaya and Indonesia on bonds to work in the pearl shelling industry and returned to their country of origin when no longer needed. Sumatran -born Samsudin bin Katib
527-398: The invention of cultured pearls around 1900. Kuri Bay was named after Mr Kuribayashi. By 1981, there were five pearl farms operational: Kuri Bay, Port Smith, Cygnet Bay, and two in Broome's Roebuck Bay . The industry today includes 19 of Australia's 20 cultured pearl farms and generates annual exports of A$ 200 million and employs approximately 1000 people. Lugger A lugger
558-703: The late 1860s many more boats left Fremantle and the pearling industry at Torres Strait , Queensland for the new fishery at Nickol Bay with its port of Tien Tsin Harbour (later known as Cossack). While Broadhurst and a few other proprietors experimented, during the 1860s, with the use of breathing apparatus by professional divers, it proved at the time to be expensive, unreliable and dangerous. While local Aboriginal people were excellent swimmers, known to have covered great distances over water, sometimes to escape imprisonment, unlike their counterparts in some other parts of Australia they had no cause to dive in conditions where
589-479: The poor conditions endured by Aboriginal people forced to work on the pearl luggers. The boats used for pearling from the 1870s, known as pearling luggers , were unique to Australia. There were at least two types: the Broome or North-West lugger, and the Thursday Island or Torres Strait lugger. The styles are each adapted to their respective areas and modus operandi . Around Broome, the boats had to cope with
620-532: The prospect of an adverse reaction in the natural pearling industry, the Australian government through the Pearling Act 1922 prohibited anyone in Australia from artificially producing cultivated pearls . The Act was repealed in 1949. In 1956, a joint Japanese-Australian venture was set up at Kuri Bay , 420 kilometres (260 mi) north of Broome as a cultured pearl farm, named Pearls Proprietary Ltd. The company
651-418: The sail. The yard is held to the mast either by a parrel or by a traveller (consisting of a metal ring that goes round the mast and has an eye for the halyard and a hook which fastens to a strop on the yard). A dipping lug sail is fastened at the tack (front lower corner) some distance in front of the mast, often at the stemhead . A standing lug's tack is fastened near the foot of the mast. The halyard for
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#1732851172170682-614: The same distance as the yard. This is generally used in dinghies. The sail is left on the same side of the mast regardless of the wind direction. A downhaul is set up from the boom to a point close to the heel of the mast and its adjustment is critical to getting this sort of sail to set correctly. Luggers were used extensively for smuggling from the middle of the 18th century onwards; their fast hulls and powerful rigs regularly allowed them to outpace any Revenue vessel in service. The French three-masted luggers also served as privateers and in general trade. As smuggling declined from about 1840,
713-460: The shell as was the situation further north. The publicity surrounding the successes resulted in a virtual gold rush centred on Wilyah Miah (Place of the Pearl). 'Diving apparatus' (standard dress or 'hard hat') was used. Soon the Japanese divers came to dominate the industry. By 1910, nearly 400 pearling luggers and more than 3500 people were fishing for shell in waters around Broome , making it
744-486: The tidal range provided all they needed. Many were also succumbing to diseases to which they had not previously been exposed, as well as accidents. This led to recruitment from the convicts on the "Native Prison" on Rottnest Island . Broadhurst was criticised for harsh treatment of at least one indigenous employee, while some pearlers abducted and/or forcibly retained their divers. In the meantime, 'naked diving' continued with most producing exceptional results, especially at
775-585: The time of the World War I the price of mother-of-pearl plummeted with the invention and expanded use of plastics for buttons and other articles which had previously been made of shell. Broome had been the centre of an industry that supplied up to 70% of global demand for the shell. Concerns regarding over-harvesting by the industry led to the voluntary Northern Territory Pearling Ordinance in 1931. Pearlers such as Jiro Muramats continued to operate out of Cossack. By 1939 only 73 luggers and 565 people were left in
806-487: The various methods are time and labour consuming. A standing lug can be left unaltered when tacking as it still sets reasonably well with the sail pressed against the mast. Some users (such as in the Royal Navy Montagu whaler ) would still dip the yard of a standing lug (with a sharp, well timed downward pull on the leech at the moment when the wind is not filling the sail). Conversely many fishermen would always hoist
837-574: The world's largest pearling centre. The majority of the workers were Japanese and Malaysian, but also included were Chinese, Filipino, Amborese, Koepanger (Timorese) and Makassan, as well as Aboriginal Australians and people from Europe. In 1910, two schooners from Koepang were reported to be at work harvesting beche-de-mer near the Walcott Inlet , within Collier Bay , after a "phantom ship" had been spotted off Cape Farquhar some days before. By
868-525: Was a pearl diver who was recruited and deployed in the Z Special Unit Commandos in the Australian Army and worked behind enemy lines. Returning to work in Broome, Samsudin protested at a 10% cut in wages and poor conditions for the migrant labourers, organising a general strike. He also applied to be allowed permanent residence, but this was against the provisions of the White Australia policy . Despite
899-734: Was burnt. However as of 2019, there were still about 40 luggers of various types still afloat around Australia, and there is a collection of luggers at the Australian National Maritime Museum . In Western Australia, preserved examples include those in the Western Australian Maritime Museum collection, including Trixen - built in Broome and used at all major pearling locations around Australia, Ancel also built in Broome, and The Galla used in Shark Bay and now privately owned anchored at Denham . Due to
930-467: Was defeated by the sitting member, Alexander Forrest , who supported Throssell's government. He retired to Fremantle in 1902 (aged 51). In 1909 he married Blanche Isobel Brodrick (youngest daughter of G. W. Brodrick, a solicitor from New Zealand). They would go on to have two sons and a daughter. In 1912 he had the Princess Theatre built. In 1913 or '14 he moved to Ivanhoe , a large residence on
961-468: Was owned by Male and Co, Broome Pearlers Brown and Dureau Ltd, and the Otto Gerdau Company (New York). The Japanese-owned Nippo Pearl Company handled distribution and marketing. The principal was Tokuichi Kuribayashi (1896–1982) who became highly influential following the death of Kōkichi Mikimoto (1858–1954). Mikimoto, Kuribayashi and another man, Tatsuhei Mise (1880–1924) had all been involved in