I must begin this blog with a warning, dear reader.....it has the potential to either fascinate you or bore you silly. Being in Broome, I was determined to learn all I could about the history of the pearl industry, and the more I delved, the more I realised just how little I really knew and of that, how much of it was not quite right. I had lived in blissful ignorance for many years.
Let me give you an example. I had always thought that pearls were the target of those lumbering across the seabed, but during the initial years of this endeavour, it was pearl shell (mother of pearl) which was the object of the exercise. The discovery of an actual pearl was just a bonus. Yet today, this has been completely turned on its head.
So just what is the story of Broome pearling? What changed the industry so dramatically? Why are the pearling boats called luggers? Why was Broome so very different from the rest of Australia?
I was a man on a mission of discovery which I have pleasure sharing with you, but as I warned at the outset, for those whose interest in this subject is limited let me quote the warning of sports commentators (when a game in progress) to those who do not want to know the score....."Look away now!"
Let me put this into some context by beginning with a quote from the relevant Australian Government website.
"The pearling industry was a major economic force for over one hundred years in northern Australia and for business interests in the southern capitals from the 1850s onwards. However, alongside the development of the industry were stories of forced and indentured labour, danger and death."
I was a man on a mission of discovery which I have pleasure sharing with you, but as I warned at the outset, for those whose interest in this subject is limited let me quote the warning of sports commentators (when a game in progress) to those who do not want to know the score....."Look away now!"
Let me put this into some context by beginning with a quote from the relevant Australian Government website.
"The pearling industry was a major economic force for over one hundred years in northern Australia and for business interests in the southern capitals from the 1850s onwards. However, alongside the development of the industry were stories of forced and indentured labour, danger and death."
Aboriginal folk had been fishing for, and trading, pearl shell long before the arrival of Europeans, but once they got here the settlers were quick to realise the value of the pearl fields.
Why was this so? We have to remember that these were 'pre-plastic' days. Pearl shell and 'Mother of Pearl' were used extensively to make buttons and buckles, hair combs, jewellery, furniture inlays, cutlery and art objects. The appetite of the US and English clothing industries was voracious. This was the era of the industrial revolution and mass production.
Huge profits were on offer (for example, in the late 1800's the fleets of one Thursday Island pearler had brought up shell worth over 30,000 pounds and 5,000 pounds worth of pearls and the Australian pearl shell fields were extensive......by this time we were supplying over half the world demand for shell.
Despite its later importance, Broome was something of a 'johnny-come-lately' as far as the Australian pearling industry is concerned.....it all really began in Shark Bay in the 1850's when large fields of shell were found in the shallow waters of the bay (something I discovered when in Denham some months ago).
Further large discoveries in the Torres Strait followed in 1868, and within ten years there were sixteen firms operating out of Thursday Island, all chasing pearl shell. In 1879 the Queensland colonial Government, which had by now recognised the potential value of this industry as a provider of income for the fledgling colony, annexed Thursday Island (nothing has changed!)
The grounds of the Torres Strait were soon under fishing pressure and the search for pearl shell spread to the Kimberly Coast where further huge fields were discovered. By 1910 Broome had become the main focal point of the industry. The 400 or so luggers operating out of Roebuck Bay employed over 3,500 people. Broome was by now the largest pearling centre in the world.
The pearl shell had been initially been fished by Aboriginal divers, ('qhatlas.com') who 'free dived', naked and without any breathing equipment,
but the expansion of the industry and the profits to be made encouraged large numbers of folk from other races to descend on Broome. As noted on the relevant website, "these boom times attracted large numbers of Europeans, South Sea Islanders and Asians who came for the adventure, the promise of work and the possibility of making their fortunes.......In Broome, the largest of these immigrant groups, however, were the Chinese. Not only did they come as pearlers, but also as cooks and shopkeepers, similar to the gold rush days".
Broome's Chinatown was born. In addition to the Chinese, Broome's burgeoning population included Japanese, Malays, and Koepangers (from the Dutch East Indies). These were the working crews of the pearling fleet and the Chinese style architecture of many of the town's buildings coupled with the racial mix of its population meant that Broome had become a town like no other in the country.
The 'pealing masters' who owned the boats were, in the main, European. Many were the sons of upper class English folk. After stint in the Royal Navy they were given a boat and told to make their fortunes, and for many, that is exactly what they did. The superior education and manner of the European skippers enabled them to manage their mixed race crews who did the dangerous work diving for pearl shell for very little pay.
"The invention of diving suits revolutionised the pearling industry in Australia. Not only could divers go deeper than ever before, they could also stay underwater longer and collect more shell and pearls. These divers wore vulcanised canvas suits and massive bronze helmets and were lowered over the boat's side to spend hours underwater.
On the bottom they struggled about in lead weighted boots, often almost horizontal as they peered through inch-thick faceplates into murky waters, frantically scooping oysters into bags because divers were paid by the amount of shell they collected."
Three cylinder, hand operated air pumps pushed air blow to the divers through flexible air hoses.
Apart from the air hose, the divers were also attached to the luggers by a lifeline which was managed throughout each dive by 'the Tender' who maintained constant 'touch' contact with his diver. For the diver below, the skill of his tender was critical. The two were often of the same nationality and each diver chose his own tender personally.
Signals were passed both ways by tugs on this line or the air pipe,
as these two exhibits in the Broome Museum detail.
The Japanese were by far the most skillful of the divers but this did not mean they made good money.
"As the work was very dangerous, the European boat owners employed mostly Japanese divers. Many of the Japanese divers were used as indentured labour. This means that they were working for no money in order to repay a debt, usually their transportation to Australia. Divers were paid by the amount of shell they collected and because of the dangers involved, very few of these divers ever managed to work off their debt."
But as time went by the skill of the Japanese and their rise in Broome's society had some interesting social consequences. On the national scene, for example, Broome was made an exception to the 'White Australia Policy' which forbade any but Europeans to emigrate to Australia. Mind you this only came about after twelve British Navy divers, brought out especially to bolster the fleets, all died on the job. The Australian Government was nothing if not pragmatic.
Locally, the superior attitude of the Japanese and their treatment of the lesser skilled Koepangers erupted into violence on three occasions.....in 1907, 1914 and, in the worst incident, in the race riot of 1920, when only the armed intervention of Broome's European residents, many of whom were returned WW1 diggers and who were quickly sworn in as Special Constables, prevented wholesale slaughter. As it was by the time order had been restored five Koepangers, two Japanese and one police officer lay dead.......but this is all another story.
Let's now have a closer look at how these massive amounts of pearl shell were harvested. The majority of the pearling fleet were boats know as 'luggers', a name synonymous with this industry......but why luggers?
This is all to do with the way in which the sails are rigged. In this photo (courtesy of 'pinterest.com') you can see that the upper spar holding the top of the sail is angled across the mast and extends both behind and in front of it. This is a 'lug-rigged' sail which is an adaptation of the square rigged sails of earlier ships and, not surprisingly, these boats were called 'luggers'.
Why was this so? We have to remember that these were 'pre-plastic' days. Pearl shell and 'Mother of Pearl' were used extensively to make buttons and buckles, hair combs, jewellery, furniture inlays, cutlery and art objects. The appetite of the US and English clothing industries was voracious. This was the era of the industrial revolution and mass production.
Huge profits were on offer (for example, in the late 1800's the fleets of one Thursday Island pearler had brought up shell worth over 30,000 pounds and 5,000 pounds worth of pearls and the Australian pearl shell fields were extensive......by this time we were supplying over half the world demand for shell.
Despite its later importance, Broome was something of a 'johnny-come-lately' as far as the Australian pearling industry is concerned.....it all really began in Shark Bay in the 1850's when large fields of shell were found in the shallow waters of the bay (something I discovered when in Denham some months ago).
Further large discoveries in the Torres Strait followed in 1868, and within ten years there were sixteen firms operating out of Thursday Island, all chasing pearl shell. In 1879 the Queensland colonial Government, which had by now recognised the potential value of this industry as a provider of income for the fledgling colony, annexed Thursday Island (nothing has changed!)
The grounds of the Torres Strait were soon under fishing pressure and the search for pearl shell spread to the Kimberly Coast where further huge fields were discovered. By 1910 Broome had become the main focal point of the industry. The 400 or so luggers operating out of Roebuck Bay employed over 3,500 people. Broome was by now the largest pearling centre in the world.
The pearl shell had been initially been fished by Aboriginal divers, ('qhatlas.com') who 'free dived', naked and without any breathing equipment,
but the expansion of the industry and the profits to be made encouraged large numbers of folk from other races to descend on Broome. As noted on the relevant website, "these boom times attracted large numbers of Europeans, South Sea Islanders and Asians who came for the adventure, the promise of work and the possibility of making their fortunes.......In Broome, the largest of these immigrant groups, however, were the Chinese. Not only did they come as pearlers, but also as cooks and shopkeepers, similar to the gold rush days".
Broome's Chinatown was born. In addition to the Chinese, Broome's burgeoning population included Japanese, Malays, and Koepangers (from the Dutch East Indies). These were the working crews of the pearling fleet and the Chinese style architecture of many of the town's buildings coupled with the racial mix of its population meant that Broome had become a town like no other in the country.
The 'pealing masters' who owned the boats were, in the main, European. Many were the sons of upper class English folk. After stint in the Royal Navy they were given a boat and told to make their fortunes, and for many, that is exactly what they did. The superior education and manner of the European skippers enabled them to manage their mixed race crews who did the dangerous work diving for pearl shell for very little pay.
"The invention of diving suits revolutionised the pearling industry in Australia. Not only could divers go deeper than ever before, they could also stay underwater longer and collect more shell and pearls. These divers wore vulcanised canvas suits and massive bronze helmets and were lowered over the boat's side to spend hours underwater.
On the bottom they struggled about in lead weighted boots, often almost horizontal as they peered through inch-thick faceplates into murky waters, frantically scooping oysters into bags because divers were paid by the amount of shell they collected."
Three cylinder, hand operated air pumps pushed air blow to the divers through flexible air hoses.
Apart from the air hose, the divers were also attached to the luggers by a lifeline which was managed throughout each dive by 'the Tender' who maintained constant 'touch' contact with his diver. For the diver below, the skill of his tender was critical. The two were often of the same nationality and each diver chose his own tender personally.
Signals were passed both ways by tugs on this line or the air pipe,
as these two exhibits in the Broome Museum detail.
The Japanese were by far the most skillful of the divers but this did not mean they made good money.
"As the work was very dangerous, the European boat owners employed mostly Japanese divers. Many of the Japanese divers were used as indentured labour. This means that they were working for no money in order to repay a debt, usually their transportation to Australia. Divers were paid by the amount of shell they collected and because of the dangers involved, very few of these divers ever managed to work off their debt."
But as time went by the skill of the Japanese and their rise in Broome's society had some interesting social consequences. On the national scene, for example, Broome was made an exception to the 'White Australia Policy' which forbade any but Europeans to emigrate to Australia. Mind you this only came about after twelve British Navy divers, brought out especially to bolster the fleets, all died on the job. The Australian Government was nothing if not pragmatic.
Locally, the superior attitude of the Japanese and their treatment of the lesser skilled Koepangers erupted into violence on three occasions.....in 1907, 1914 and, in the worst incident, in the race riot of 1920, when only the armed intervention of Broome's European residents, many of whom were returned WW1 diggers and who were quickly sworn in as Special Constables, prevented wholesale slaughter. As it was by the time order had been restored five Koepangers, two Japanese and one police officer lay dead.......but this is all another story.
Let's now have a closer look at how these massive amounts of pearl shell were harvested. The majority of the pearling fleet were boats know as 'luggers', a name synonymous with this industry......but why luggers?
This is all to do with the way in which the sails are rigged. In this photo (courtesy of 'pinterest.com') you can see that the upper spar holding the top of the sail is angled across the mast and extends both behind and in front of it. This is a 'lug-rigged' sail which is an adaptation of the square rigged sails of earlier ships and, not surprisingly, these boats were called 'luggers'.
Broome's pearl luggers (thanks to 'news.com') are actually 'gaff-rigged' (the spars holding the tops of the sails are still rigged at an angle but do not extend forward of the mast) but because of the similarity in appearance to a lug-rigged sail, these boats are know as 'luggers'.
So there you have it. Strictly speaking these pearling boats are 'gaff-rigged ketches', but what a mouthful that is!
And, as my play with the words of the title of this missive suggests, these luggers were manned by brave men. The collection of pearl shell was a very dangerous occupation.
Apart from the ever constant risk of shark attack and fouled air hoses, in the early days very little was know about the crippling and often fatal effects of decompression sickness more commonly known as 'the bends'. The pressure of deep dives causes nitrogen to liquefy in the bloodstream. When a diver ascends too quickly, this gas forms bubbles in the blood which expand in the joints and the spine, pinching the nerves. Apart from excruciating pain (often relieved somewhat by bending the arms, legs or whole body....hence 'the bends') paralysis and/or death could follow.
As early as 1905 it had been known that decompression sickness could be prevented by a slow, staged ascent rate where the amount of time coming up is equal to that spent below. This did not sit well with men who were being paid by the amount of shell they collected. Hanging idle beneath their luggers seemed like time wasted, and most ignored the risk.....to their collective peril. Between 1910 and 1914, for example, over 90 Broome divers died as a result of the bends.
Enter the decompression chamber, donated to Broome in 1914 by Heinke and Co. And the effect of this generosity? In 1915 only one diver died of decompression illness.
The other major threat to the safety of the pearlers was the weather. The waters off Broome are prone to the devastating effects of summer tropical cyclones. With no accurate forecasting, no radios to provide warnings and no engines to use to outrun the weather, fleets caught on the open sea when 'the devil winds' struck were no match for the elements. Cyclones decimated the fleets in 1887 (off 80 Mile Beach as previously detailed), again in 1910 and in 1935. These three cyclones alone accounted for a total loss of over 80 luggers and 300 crew.
But by 1935 other winds.....of change.....were blowing. Japanese diving off the island of Palau was flooding the market with pearl shell and the threat of war was looming. After Pearl Harbour (how apt!), all Japanese in Broome were interened and with the advance of their countrymen towards Australia, the pearling fleet was ordered south to Fremantle to prevent the luggers falling into enemy hands. Many didn't make it. Those which remained were burnt on the beach. The Broome pearling industry, as it had been, was over, for the time being at least, but it did survive albeit in a totally different form as we were to discover at the wonderful Broome Museum and on a great day out to Willie Creek Pearls.
But by 1935 other winds.....of change.....were blowing. Japanese diving off the island of Palau was flooding the market with pearl shell and the threat of war was looming. After Pearl Harbour (how apt!), all Japanese in Broome were interened and with the advance of their countrymen towards Australia, the pearling fleet was ordered south to Fremantle to prevent the luggers falling into enemy hands. Many didn't make it. Those which remained were burnt on the beach. The Broome pearling industry, as it had been, was over, for the time being at least, but it did survive albeit in a totally different form as we were to discover at the wonderful Broome Museum and on a great day out to Willie Creek Pearls.
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