Captain William HAYES.
Buccaneer, Blackbirder & South Seas Pirate
Captain William Henry HAYES, or 'Bully' Hayes, as he became known due to his notoriety in later years, was an American citizen. He was born in the year 1829 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a Cleveland 'grog shop' proprietor, of Irish descent.
William had only one ambition in life- he wanted to go to sea.
Barely seventeen years of age, he left home for the port of San Francisco Bay and was soon mixing among the sailors of many races from the ships berthed there, while they drank and gambled in the dingy saloon bars along the waterfront.
Wide eyed, he listened in awe to the tales told by the captains and crew of the vessels about their experiences in China, Japan and the South Pacific Islands and the beautiful women who lived there.
Hayes was described as a good looker, a blonde, blue-eyed giant of a young man, all brawn and muscle, who would have weighed some 240lbs[17st]. He had yellow hair and a beard, accompanied by a smooth, plausible, bluff and jovial nature, which allowed him, in later years, to easily ingratiate himself into the company of either the nobility or the lowest sea scum around.
The story goes, that after several days, Hayes joined in a drinking spree, during which time he was invited to join four other seamen, to play a card game of poker.
Having only a few dollars to gamble, the jovial Hayes thought in his innocence, to outwit and cheat the others in order to lay his hands on some of the pile of money lying on the table.
As he tried his clumsy sleight of hand, the others quickly spotted what he was about. In a lightning move, one of the four players, named John Anderson, drew a bowie knife on him and pinned Hayes hand to the table by the blade.
“Cheat on me, would you?”, he growled, drawing the sharp blade of the knife from Hayes bleeding hand.
“I'll teach you m' lad! You won't try that again in a hurry.”
Anderson staggered in a drunken state from his seat and stood menacingly behind Hayes, still holding the razor sharp bowie knife . Suddenly, he brought down the knife blade alongside Hayes head, neatly cutting off his right ear!
Hayes screamed and clutched at his head as blood ran trickling down his face and hand.
Then he went wild, swinging punches at his aggressor and with one mighty fist, he struck Anderson on the head, knocking him unconscious on the floor. Hayes swung wildly at anyone who got in his way as he staggered away towards the door to seek help.
In the years ahead he seldom cut his long yellow hair and mostly kept it pulled back and tied, to cover his missing ear.
William Hayes spent the next few years aboard the Otrano in the China Seas where he learnt the skills of sailing and navigating a vessel, until he was capable of taking command. He was involved with Chinese pirates and then reported by the Chinese authorities to be at Swatlow, loading a cargo of Chinese 'coolies' for an unknown destination.
In the year 1856, 'Captain' Hayes bought the Santubong and registered her under the American flag, renaming her the W. Bradley jnr., presumably after the American Consul who had been convinced by Hayes' smooth talking that she was a good business investment.
Bradley was believed to have put up the 3000 dollars for the ship and the cargo. Hayes sailed with a full hold of cargo on Bradley's account and made his way to the port of Hong Kong where he sold it, stating that the goods were his own.
By the 18th of November 1856 he was in Singapore where he spent a month buying all sorts of goods and commodities 'on credit'
His unpaid creditors, anxious to get their money, came down to the wharves and found that the barque had gone. She had slipped out in the middle of the night; the goods in the hold were never paid for.
He turned up again, according to newspaper reports, in Freemantle, Australia, on the 30th of January, 1857 where his undoing came after he had brazenly advertised in the newspapers that the W. Bradley jnr. would be sailing for Adelaide, while offering Cabin accommodation for £15 and Steerage for £10.
His creditors swooped again. His vessel was seized on his arrival in Adelaide and he was summoned to appear in the town court, where his liabilities were stated as being in excess of £5,951. Hayes had no means of his own to pay and was declared a bankrupt.
Hayes, without a ship, decided he would now take up residence in the township and shortly after married Amelia Littleton, a widow. The couple had two daughters named Leonora and Laurina. The family decided to return to San Francisco, as Hayes was growing restless for the sea. He bought an ancient brig called the Ellenita for £800, paying the sum of £500 cash, which his wife Amelia put up, the rest was on loan.
The vessel was found to be leaking badly, but he reckoned that all that was needed was for her to be caulked, when the problem would be solved.
He arranged for the repairs to be carried out and when these were completed, he decided to go around all the small stores in town getting them to provide supplies and goods on credit. They were promised payment before he sailed.
The vessels first port of call was Maui, Hawaii. He had hired a crew of ten and carried sixteen passengers including three women and three children. He left his wife and daughters behind.
San Francisco Herald, Sept.5th 1859.
A Bold Operator
Some time ago a Captain Hayes purchased the brig Ellenita from M.S. Morrison of this city for 800 dollars. He paid nearly 500 dollars of the purchase money and then had the brig placed upon the ways of Mr. Hitchener where she was thoroughly overhauled and repaired......About half past two o'clock on Monday morning, the Ellenita got under way and sailed from this port, leaving all her debts unpaid, and without taking out a clearance or being in possession of a single paper............
Aboard the Ellenita Captain Hayes sailed onwards, discovering to his dismay that the vessel, despite her repairs, was still leaking badly. He ordered that the pumps be kept going all the time, finding it necessary to involve the men passengers to work in shifts to keep the level of seawater at a manageably level. Despite all their efforts the mate reported the level in the hold was still rising.
Thinking of the safety of his passengers, Hayes told the crew to make a raft on deck and launch it over the side and to stock it up with basic provisions and erect a temporary mast and sail. He ordered everyone aboard the raft, except for the three women and three children whom he seated in the whaleboat with two crewmembers and himself.
After twenty-one days at sea aboard the raft, one of the passenger shouted that he could see land At first a tiny speck, then a small island, with waving palms, appeared in the wide open sea ahead.
They had been spotted. A canoe was launched from the beach but their raft seems to be held off by the current. A strong brown Kanaka native dived over the side of the canoe and swam strongly towards them. Soon the raft was dragged towards the shore and through the surf to safety.
“Where are we they asked?”
“ This is Uvea, Wallis Island.” came the reply.
It took a few days before they all recovered, when they were taken to meet Queen Lavalua, who told them that an Australian gun-brig, the Elk, had been there a few days before and was due back any day.
The passengers were to later learn that the gun-brig had been moored in Apia when news of the whaleboats arrival with the shipwrecked women and children aboard had reached them.
The Elk made her way back to Sydney, taking the stranded passengers, crew and captain with them, the vessel arriving on January 1st, 1860.
Hayes Index | Chapter 1 | Chapter
2 | Chapter 3