Avis (1842/08/28)

Albany, Two People Bay

The whale ship Avis was built by Johnson Rideout in Bath, Maine, USA. It had two decks, a billet head and a square stern. Baker (1973) refers to the vessel as a brig, and it is possible that it was originally built with such a rig, a third (mizzen) mast being added at a later date. Like many of the whalers of the time it was owned by a consortium, in this case of eleven men. There is no depth known for the hull specifications, but there is a figure of 13 feet (4 m) for the draft. On 21 August 1841 the ship sailed from New London, USA, under the command of Captain Gilbert Pendleton (referred to as Pindleton in the Launceston Examiner) with a crew of 24. Two of the crew were listed as Indians, three were Negroes. Their destination was the Indian Ocean, and a year later they had secured 800 barrels of whale oil.

THE LOSS
The Avis was anchored in Two People Bay taking on water and wood when, during the night, a gale struck from the south-east. Both cables parted and the ship was driven ashore becoming a complete wreck, the crew all reaching shore safely. Much of the wreck (a newspaper reported two-thirds) was quickly buried by sand.

INITIAL SALVAGE
The 800 barrels of black oil were saved. The wreck of the Avis, the oil and some tobacco were sold at a public auction in Albany, and fetched £850. There appears to be no record of how much, if any, of the ship was subsequently salvaged. On 14 September 1842 the Government Resident at Albany wrote to the Colonial Secretary querying whether the dutiable goods within the wreck, such as the tobacco, should be charged duty at a different rate to the duty to be paid on the wreck itself.

EXCAVATION AND ARTEFACTS
Some years ago a figurehead was reported as having been seen wedged in rocks at the north-east end of Two People Bay, and in 1986 a large wooden knee was also found. In 1989 a wreck inspection by Graeme Henderson of the Western Australian Museum recovered a plank with some treenails. No other remains of the Avis have so far been found. Although stated as having been quickly buried by sand after going ashore, the beach in this area is subject to considerable erosion during storms. This erosion may have destroyed or re-distributed any remaining timbers and artefacts.