Jupiter

The Jupiter was a 22 foot fishing boat, painted white on the outside and green on the inside. On the 29 May 1931 it disappeared without a trace and was never seen again. Onboard that day were;

George Henry Alder (36) of Oceanic House, Collie Street in Fremantle

William Francis George Hedge-Thomson (40) of 159 Attfield Street in Fremantle

Harry Stewart (44) of the Sailor’s Rest in Fremantle

Alder and Hedge-Thomson were unemployed and engaged in sustenance work. They were both married with children.

Alder had moved from South Africa with his wife Johanna and 7 children a few years prior but they had struggled to maintain their family. Over the years he had held various jobs including as an Engine Driver and Fisherman. Alder had read an article in the Cape Argus regarding group settlements in WA and was influenced to try. The family landed in Fremantle onboard the Berrima on 4 July 1928. His eldest son Leonard was 15½ years old and was meant to accompany the fishing party that day but Alder had not awakened him when leaving. The youngest child Alice Jean was just 3 months of age. His other children were Gracie, Jack, George, Mary and Dorothy.

William Francis George Hedge was born in 1890 in Ross, New Zealand to Robert Henry Hedge and Elizabeth Cunningham. His Mother later remarried William Thomson and at some point he took the surname of his Step-father – Hedge-Thomson. Hedge married Gladys Alice Reid in Laverton in 1914 whilst working as a Miner. They gave birth to a Son Bernard in 1915. In 1916 he enlisted for the AIF serving in the 10th Light Horse Regiment, returning in December 1918. In April 1919 his wife and child had left him and divorce proceedings ensued in 1923. He remarried Amelia (Milly) Banham in Fremantle in 1924 and they went on to give birth to 4 girls – Gloria, Joy, Dulcie Pearl and Daphne.

Stewart was a Marine Engineer by trade and single at the time. He had also been without work, but on the afternoon of the day he left on the Jupiter, the manager of the Port Engineering firm was trying to get in touch with him regarding a job.

The three men had been in the habit of fishing in the harbour regularly but they had never fished outside the harbour. Alder and Stewart had purchased the Jupiter about ten days prior from a boat hirer named Carnaby of Nedlands.

They tested the boat outside the heads of the harbour on the afternoon of Thursday 28 May and everything seemed satisfactory. They set out on their first fishing trip the next day at 5am on Friday 29 May. The weather was calm at the time and they bought with them about 24 hours of provisions, including a kerosene tin of water, six bottles of water and a few sandwiches each.

By midnight though the wind had stiffened from the North-East. Hedge’s wife Amelia expected her husband back on Friday night, although Alder’s wife Johanna did not expect the party back until Saturday. Amelia became anxious when her husband did not return home for tea on Friday, as he had arranged to accompany her to a theatre that night. She notified Police.

The boat was last seen by a Fisherman in the vicinity of Roe Reef Buoy heading west, off Rottnest Island at around 12pm on Friday.

A special broadcast message was sent out to inward and outward bound steamers in the vicinity of Fremantle advising them of the missing boat.

The Fisheries Department launch with Inspector J. Brown and Constable Mulcahy searched Garden, Carnac and Rottnest Island waters. The President of the Ex-Naval Men’s Association, Mr. L.K. Perrin offered trained seamen to man any crafts made available by others to continue the search.

An aerial search was conducted on Saturday 6 June by Major N. Brearley and Constable Pearce in a W.A. Airways DH50 plane chartered by the Police Department. It searched the coast for 100 miles north of Fremantle and, after refuelling at Maylands, followed the coast south as far as Bunbury. Mounted Police were sent out to scour the coast as far south as Mandurah, and north to Moore River. No sign of either the boat or the men were seen.

On Tuesday 16 June an 18 foot wooden plank painted cream on the outside and chocolate on the inside was found washed up on Rockingham Beach. It was later identified belonging to the Metis, which was an identical boat to the Jupiter, having been built by the same man.

The mysterious disappearance was never solved, but the theory put forward was that the inexperienced yachtsmen had reached open seas lost their bearings and were carried out to sea.