Australia’s Pirate

Black Jack Anderson - Australia’s only known Pirate

It is unclear where John Anderson came from. Some say he was an African American, while some records refer to him as an Englishman. In fact, the story of John Anderson, the sealer, is blurred by the blending of stories of two similar characters with the same name.

There was a sealer called John Anderson, born in England in 1784, who came to notoriety as “Abyssinia Jack”. He joined the British navy as a boy, and served on HMS Russel which saw active service. It is likely he came as a free man (crew), via the convict ship Archduke Charles in 1812, and made his way to Kangaroo Island in South Australia around 1818. The island had access to a large quantity of seals and salt lagoons to cure the hides, and it appears Abyssinia Jack engaged in sealing and was also known for kidnapping and trading Aboriginal women as slaves.

John William “Black Jack” Anderson also lived on Kangaroo Island, South Australia for some time. He was born in 1806 in Delaware, America. He went to sea at 16 years of age, and at the age of 21 years, he crewed on the whaler Frances Henrietta between 1829 and 1833, boarding at Massachusetts, bound for the Pacific. It is not clear when Black Jack left whaling and began sealing.

He was engaged in sealing for fur and oil in 1834 from Long Island (also known as Thistle Island) in the Spencer Gulf, where he built a reputation as a lawless and violent man. Black Jack kept Aboriginal women as slaves, although there is no record of him having children.

He visited a man called George Meredith on Kangaroo Island, who, with James Manning had recently arrived in a whaleboat from the wreck of the Defiance. Manning joined Black Jack’s sealing crew.

Later that year, Black Jack and his crew were at Bird Island when Meredith visited and accused Manning of stealing money from him, and demanded Black Jack help him retrieve it.

Around that time, Black Jack was involved with the killing of two Aboriginal men, the theft of five women and the murder of two of their babies. Shortly after, the small cutter Mountaineer arrived at Long Island. Manning joined the cutter, and Black Jack took his whaleboat and accompanied the cutter to Middle Island (also known as Manduran Island).

Middle Island was approximately six nautical miles off the Esperance coast. It is the largest island in the archipelago, and one of the few islands that had fresh water. It also had abundant salt for preserving skins.

Manning joined Black Jack on Middle Island. With his crew of escaped convicts, ticket-of-leave men and other adventurers, Black Jack established a camp on Middle Island, making a living from the fur and oil of sealions, and New Zealand fur seals. He also raided boats and ships that made their way through the treacherous, rocky and narrow straits of the Recherché Archipelago.

Local newspapers warned sea voyagers and traders of the band of pirates terrorising shipping in the Recherché Archipelago and Great Southern coastline. Stories began to circulate that Black Jack killed local Kaurna men and enslaved their women.

Mountaineer started back for Tasmania shortly after, and on board were brother and sister James (16 years) and Dorothea Newell, children of a freed convict in Albany, who were travelling in search of adventure and better opportunities. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked at Thistle Cove, east of Esperance. Six men and two women survived, and over three days they managed to row her whaleboat to Middle Island, where Black Jack and his crew were camped. After two weeks, most of the Mountaineer crew took the whaleboat to head to Albany. They had no provisions and were not seen again.

The remainder of the Mountaineer survivors, including James and Dorothea, remained on Middle Island. After three weeks, Dorothea moved into Black Jack’s quarters with him and James joined the sealing crew. Life on the island was harsh and the crew were rough and lawless. Black Jack wore a brace of pistols, and was permanently on guard against personal attack. There were some violent disagreements between crew members, when items from the Mountaineer were found in Black Jack’s possession.

An argument began when Manning accused Black Jack of stealing a large amount of English and Spanish money from him. As a result, Black Jack left both Manning and Newell on the mainland, with no provisions, water or weapons.The two men were found almost dead by some Aboriginal people, who cared for them and helped them reach Albany. They told their story to the Justice of the Peace, and when Black Jack went to Albany to sell his furs in September 1835, he was arrested and brought to Court. He was acquitted, with the aid of Dorothea’s evidence in his favour.

In those days, Albany was a trading post with a store that sold stories, supplies and alcohol. It seems that Black Jack and his crew got into a drunken fight and one of the seamen was killed. Black Jack was accused of murder, and he and his crewmates fled to Middle Island in a small whale chaser vessel. There was not enough evidence to convict Black Jack and he was never brought to trial for the murder.

Newspapers reported incidents of theft. Black Jack appeared in Court in 1836 accused of stealing provisions from William Andrews on Michaelmas Island. He was found guilty, but dealt with leniently as no felonious intent was proven. Court documents from the time indicate Middle Island was “in the possession of John Anderson, a master of a sealing boat”.

There are also records of Black Jack stealing money from seamen amd forcing them to give him money under threat of murder. In 1835, the “Perth Gazette” reported Black Jack had shot and clubbed Aboriginal men to death and kidnapped women, some of whom were forced to abandon their babies.

On 25 December 1836, Black Jack was shot in his head by his own crew while he was sleep. He was 30 years of age. An Aboriginal woman with him was also shot, as to prevent her from identifying the shooter.

Black Jack was buried on Manduran Island, according to the sworn testimony of one of his crew, Robert Gamble. The crew then divided up Black Jack’s considerable wealth and scattered for fear of being charged for the murder. With the discovery of whale oil as a preferable lighting source, sealing was becoming an outdated commercial fishery.

James Newell stayed in Albany, and married a local Aboriginal woman called Pippin, which was unusual for the time.

Dorothea remained in Albany and married twice. James and Dorothea’s father built a house in Albany called “Old Surrey”, which still stands today and is believed to be the oldest house in Western Australia.