Dalhousie Gallery

Owners: Stuart & Co, Liverpool; 1874 Taylor, Bethell, Gwyn & Co, London; 1876 Taylor, Bethell & Roberts, London; 1882 Taylor Shipping Co, London; 1885 Taylor, Sons & Co, London; 1891 C Bethell, Gwyn & Co, London.
Masters: 1871-73 Connell; 1874-80 CJ Munro; 1880-86 Allan James Campbell (C.N.84551 London 1871); 1886 Charles Maitland (C.N.12212 London 1878); 1887-89 James Reuben Beckett (C.N.97705 Greenock 1878); 1889 Maitland; 1892-95 Le Sauvage; 1895 Heather; September 1898 Hugh Thomas.
Voyages: James Beckett had been master of the wool ship Sepia since 1887 & had undertaken ten voyages between London, the Cape of Good Hope & Cossack. On 2 November 1889 the Sepia was moored just off Cossack Creek. Beckett & an apprentice, Charles McCarthy, were rowing the ship’s boat back to their vessel when there was a sudden squall & the small boat capsized throwing its two occupants into the water. McCarthy managed to swim back to shore & raise the alarm upon which a boat immediately went out in search of Beckett whose body was found on Perseverance Rocks a short while later.
The inquest into the tragedy found that the ship’s boat had insufficient ballasting which had caused her to capsize & that Beckett’s death was caused by drowning. Great credit & praise was paid to McCarthy for the courage he displayed in swimming ashore to try & save the life of his master.
The Sepia eventually set sail for London on 10 December 1889 under the command of Maitland, master of the barque Chalehurst. They did not arrive at their destination until 6 June 1890, a total of 178 days, having been delayed by calm & light winds. Also the master felt that the barque was so old he did not wish to risk taking her via Cape Horn & instead went via the Cape of Good Hope. Twice provisions had to be secured from other ships because their stocks were so low. On reaching England the owners of the vessel sent a tugboat out to meet the Sepia with provisions because the crew were near to starvation having survived on biscuits & water for several days.
Charlotte Ann, Beckett’s widow, wrote to the people of Cossack thanking them for the £97 which had been collected for her & her three children aged five, nine & 13. In her letter she wrote that the comfort she took was not just the money but the fact that her husband had been so well thought of for such an amount to be collected. In March of 1890 there was a report of a circular being sent to the Governors & subscribers of the Snaresbrook Orphan Asylum soliciting the favour of their votes for nine year old Violet Valentine Beckett. It appears that Beckett’s widow was in poor health so perhaps could not cope with looking after her three children.
In 1930 a visitor to Cossack Cemetery noted a crumbling gravestone that read:

 ‘Sacred to the memory of James Reuben Beckett of Forest Gate, London, England, master of the barque Sepia, drowned at this place while landing in 1889.’

Other words were obliterated except for ‘he was remembered’ & ‘the best-hearted of men.’ The gravestone has now disappeared.
Cossack, situated in the north-west of Western Australia 1480 kilometres from Perth, was established as a port town in 1863 & was also a centre for pearl divers. As a port it was used mainly for the pastoral industry because of the thousands of sheep kept in the Pilbara. In the 1880’s gold was discovered in the Pilbara which brought prospectors from all over the world. By 1910 the harbour had become silted up & the once thriving community had all but disappeared. By 1950 buildings were completely abandoned & Cossack had become a ghost town. The town is now being recreated as a museum & a tourist attraction giving an insight into Australia’s colonial past.
The Sepia sailed from London on 14 September 1898 bound for Fremantle with a mixed cargo worth about £20,000 & a crew of 16. Hugh Thomas had been a master for 28 years but had never sailed to the port of Fremantle before so was unfamiliar with the waters. On 29 December 1898 at about 6pm the Sepia struck Challenger Rock between Carnac & Garden Islands, Western Australia. The barque hit with such force that she rapidly began to sink. The hatches burst open & cargo spilled out while the sea broke over the side & smashed the boats. The master knew he & his crew were in imminent danger. He ordered the men to launch the lifeboat & gig which were in the after-part of the vessel. He & 11 of the crew just managed to pull the small boats off as the barque slipped off the rock & grounded. The crew that remained aboard made for the rigging & managed to perch themselves out of reach of the sea. The master endeavoured to get back to the vessel to pick up his four men but the heavy seas & the cargo that was floating around rendered it impossible to get close enough to the barque. It was decided to make for Fremantle to summon assistance.  They arrived at the South Quay at about 8pm with some of the crew presenting a sorry spectacle as they had been below deck about to have their tea so were only half clothed. The master reported that the vessel & had sunk to her fore-yards with four of the crew still aboard having lashed themselves to the mast. Although the weather was rough the vessel was sitting firmly on the bottom so he thought the men would be safe for a time. Orders were given to dispatch the Government steamer Penguin which eventually took the four men off the Sepia at about 12.30am the following morning. On 2 January 1899 a diver was employed by the Lloyds’ agent to inspect the vessel but owing to the rough seas was unable to get to the wreck. By now her main & mizzen masts were giving way hastened by the fact that her top sails were set.
At the Marine Court of Inquiry Hugh Thomas gave his explanation as to what had taken place. He stated that the voyage to Fremantle was uneventful until 29 December. At noon on that day he had very good sights, & fixed his position at 29 miles south of Rottnest Island. He carried the latest charts & sailing directions. Having ascertained his position at noon he kept the vessel in towards the land until the mainland was sighted at 2pm The course was then altered to a more northerly direction, the wind being SSE & blowing strong with a heavy sea. The atmosphere was very hazy. He had never sailed into the port of Fremantle before. When nearing Rockingham and finding he was getting closer in towards land he altered his course to north, thinking that this would take him in the south passage inside the five-fathom bank. After passing Garden Island he altered the course north by west. He then made out Carnac Island, & was on the lookout for Rottnest. While on the same course, about 6pm the vessel struck what he had since ascertained to be the Challenger Rock, which was marked on the chart. After striking, she grated along on her bilge; but the keel, so far as he knew, did not strike. The vessel kept on her way, & sank in six or seven minutes in seven fathoms of water. The position of the wreck, as shown on the chart produced, was correct. Immediately after the barque struck the helm was put hard up, & he gave the order to brace the fore-yard up. Before the instructions could be carried out the vessel commenced to settle down. The boats were uncovered, & the crew, with the exception of four who were left in the rigging, just managed to scramble into the gig & lifeboat before the hull disappeared. The boats floated clear of the wreck & he tried to rescue the men in the rigging. The wind, however, was blowing fresh, & the sea being rough it was agreed that the best course to adopt was to make for Fremantle & try & get assistance. He was on deck from 2pm until the vessel went down & had been signaling for a pilot an hour before the wreck. The 2nd mate relieved him just before the vessel struck. Thomas also said he was perfectly sober & had had only one glass of liquor. Both mates were also sober & no grog had been served out to the crew during the day. He accounted for the wreck by having misjudged his distance from shore through the haziness of the weather. He had held a master's certificate since 1873, & during that time had never lost a vessel. On two occasions he had taken his ship into port dismasted, & each time he received a handsome testimonial from the underwriters. He & his crew lost everything they had on board the ship. The 1st & 2nd mates had been to the port before but he did not blame them in any way for the catastrophe, being himself in sole charge at the time.

The Court found the master, Hugh Thomas, guilty of gross carelessness & his certificate was suspended for nine months. He was granted leave to sail as a 1st mate during that period.

On 27 March 1899 the cargo of the barque, which included crucibles, tumblers, drapery, sheet glass, wire netting, ale & stout, a new hawser, oilmen’s stores etc., was auctioned & sold for £25 & the hull for £3.00.

Archaeology has been carried out on the wreck & the remains of its cargo by the University of Western Australia & the site is now protected.