Jessie Edwards (1883/05/28)

Jurien Bay

Little is known of this vessel and it appears that it was not registered. The Jessie Edwards was a cutter, and was possibly built by Frederick Jones in Fremantle. Charles Edwards of Geraldton owned it, although it appears possible that Edwards may have shared ownership with Jones. Edwards was involved in the pearling industry at Shark Bay and the Jessie Edwards, which had only very recently been launched, was probably intended for use in that industry. This may have been its delivery voyage. Frederick Jones also built the cutter Annie Agnes.
THE LOSS
The Jessie Edwards sailed from Fremantle late in May 1883, bound for Shark Bay under the command of Richard Gryffid Johns. No news was heard of the cutter and by September it was assumed that it had been lost with all hands. Five months after it left Fremantle a wreck full of sand was discovered on the beach at the south end of Jurien Bay. This wreck was identified as the Jessie Edwards. It was split down the centreline and the mast was broken off.
INQUIRY
In October the boat builder Frederick Jones applied for a grant of £12 10s 0d to cover his costs in searching for survivors. The Harbour-Master was given authority to pay £12 ‘to the owners of Jessie Edwards to search for survivors’ (Telegram Col. Sec. to Harbour-Master quoted in Cairns & Henderson, 1995: 50).