Ruby

The cutter Ruby was a part of the pearling fleet of Cossack. She was a 31 ton vessel built in Fremantle by Robert Howson in 1880 and registered in Fremantle as number 7 of that year. Her official number was 753089. She was 51.2 feet [15.6 metres] in length, 16.1 feet [4.9 metres] across her beam and drew 6.6 feet [2 metres] of water. She was carvel built with one deck, a single mast rigged fore and aft, and a counter stern.

She was a sturdy boat, owned and under the command of John Tapper, Junior, also known as “the younger”, so as not to be confused with his father. John Tapper Senior was a whaler and lighterman, and master of his cutter Two Sons. In 1881, Captain Walcott, Inspector of Pearlshell Fisheries hired Ruby with her crew to be the revenue cutter.

Revenue cutters were funded by the licence fees of the pearl vessels in the northwest. They transported the Fisheries Inspector Captain Pemberton Walcott [see his story] to the various pearling grounds and ports where he was responsible for checking for illegal activity, making decisions in disputes between vessels/crews and masters. The revenue cutter was also present when boats were missing and conducted searches and rescues along the northwest coast.

Ruby’s revenue duties ended at the end of 1881, and she resumed her pearling work in the new year. She had taken a load of pearl shell to Fremantle on 31 January and had picked up passengers bound for Fremantle on the way.

Ruby’s crew consisted of her master John Tapper, his cousin Henry Cook, a deck hand and three Aboriginal divers.

John was born in Fremantle on 19 June 1854 to John Tapper Senior and Mary Ann Abbs Cook. He was the eldest of six children. He had been at sea since he was 16, working on his father’s 16 ton lighter, the cutter Two Sons. For his 19th birthday John’s father gave him the 33 ton schooner Argo. He sold her after 16 months and bought the 48.5 ton schooner Nautilus which he took to Cossack to start pearl shelling in 1875.

Nelson Cook was born in Fremantle on 13 November 1863. His parents were English blacksmith Thomas Abbs Cook and Irish Honora Cook. Nelson had six siblings and a half-sibling.

In 1867 John attempted to rescue Harbour Master Harding who was drowning. Master Harding drowned, and John almost died attempting his rescue. He was awarded a watch in recognition of his bravery.

In 1875 John married Maria Tonkin, and they set up a home in Fremantle. They went on to have six children, Edith, Harold, Grace, Arthur, Ernest and Hope.

In 1879 John sold half of the Nautilus to joint owners of Mardie Station, Archibald Morton and David Simpson. In 1880 he sold his half to David and took command of the schooner Planet. The following year he was elected to the Fremantle Council in that year and took possession of his new cutter the Ruby.

On her return Master Tapper learned that the group known as the “Lucky Craft” had loaded pearl shell to their gunnels and he wanted to be a part of that fleet, working eastward towards Roebuck Bay in only two to six fathoms of water. The “Lucky Craft” were Harriet, Water Lily, Dawn, Amy and Pearl.

On 6 March 1882 Ruby left Cossack for the pearling grounds to the east of Port Walcott, unaware of the cyclone heading towards the coast. Ruby was directly in the path of the cyclone. When she failed to arrive at the pearling grounds and none of the northwest ports had sighted her, it was assumed Ruby had foundered in the cyclone and was lost with all hands.

Captain Pemberton Walcott took the revenue cutter Myra to search for Ruby in May but returned with no news of her. Much later in June Captain Dundee of the Planet was dispatched to search for Ruby and her crew, searching from Depuch Island to Cossack. There were no signs of the cutter or her crew.

At the beginning of July there were unofficial reports of two bulkheads found on the coast that looked like they came from the Ruby. No official report was made as there was no definitive view that the wreckage was actually from the cutter.

John Tapper was the chair of the Municipal Council in Fremantle. His absence was cause for concern and upheaval. He was missing, and not officially dead, so there was reluctance to declare his position on the Council vacant. It was 30 November before an election was to choose a new member and chairperson. John was a founding member of the Oddfellows Lodge in Fremantle and was missed by his fellow Oddfellows.

John Tapper was described as an “esteemed and well-respected man” whose loss would be greatly felt. Newspapers mentioned his “sober, prompt and obliging disposition. An epitaph was added to his father’s headstone, in Fremantle Cemetery. He was 28 when he died. Nelson was only 18 when he drowned, and he has a memorial site at the Palmyra section of the Fremantle Cemetery.