George Papa Nicholias

George Papa Nicholias (alias Nicholino or Nicholioo) had lived in the Geraldton for 9 months prior to his disappearance. He was well known in the area and had worked on the wharf. At other times he would go out fishing for whiting, always going around Point Moore. His boat was well-known, painted white, and about 9 feet long. Nicholias left at 7am on the morning of Wednesday 14 September 1904 for his usual fishing grounds. In the afternoon the news reached the police station that a capsized boat had been washed ashore on the Back Beach. Two constables were promptly despatched to the scene. On the beach, at about the nearest point to the back of the town, they found his dinghy. A further search, within about a quarter of a mile in each direction, disclosed the rudder, the sail, oars, and rowlocks. A briar pipe and a wooden box containing fish hooks were also discovered, washed up with the other jetsam. Nicholias’ body was never found and he was presumed drowned.

The Geraldton Advertiser gave a brief description of Nicholas in their article appearing Monday 19 September 1904;

“There is nothing fresh to report about George Nicholas, the missing Greek fisherman, except that the sea preserves the secret of his fate. His boat was brought round by the police yesterday. The details that can be gleaned about him are somewhat meagre. “Nicholas” however, appears to have been an abbreviation of his proper Greek surname which ran into about seven syllables. Like most Greeks, he was a great barracker for the Russians in the present war and his appearance on the jetty, or at any place where sailormen congregate, was always the signal for a vehement controversy on the Bear v Monkey question. One report says that Nicholas was a good swimmer, and another that he couldn’t swim a stroke.”

The boat belonging to Nicholias was auctioned off in December on behalf of the curator of intestate estates. It fetched £8 or £9. His name on the Affidavit in support of the Curator’s application to Administer was listed as “George Papa Nicholino” (alias Nicholias, Nicholioo). The balance of his estate was provided to the Vice Consul for Greece in Perth for transmission to the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Athens for payment to the father of the deceased.