Bully Hayes
Encyclopedia
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1827 or 1829 – 1877) has been described as a South Sea pirate and "the last of the Buccaneer
s", who together with Ben Pease
, engaged in blackbirding
in the 1860s and 1870s. Hayes operated across the breadth of the Pacific in the 1850s until his murder on 31 March 1877 by his cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete". James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, in their account of his life, warn that it is almost impossible to separate fact from legend in his life; they described Hayes as “a cheap swindler, a bully, a minor confidence man, a thief, a ready bigamist” and comment there is no evidence that Hayes ever took a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer
.
There are two stories as to how he earned his nickname "Bully": one explanation is that “Bulli” is Samoan for “elusive” or “evasive”; the second explanation is that he was called "Bully" because of his behaviour towards his crew. He was a large man who used intimidation against his crew, although he could be very charming if he chose to be, as well as being capable of generosity to Pacific Islanders in need. However Bully Hayes developed a reputation of a notorious blackbirder, whose arrival on any Pacific Island would cause islanders to hide in fear of being kidnapped and shipped off to be a labourer on some distant plantation.
, one of three sons of Henry Hayes, a grog-shanty keeper. Hayes became a sailor on the Great Lakes
after running away from home. He is believed to have left New York
as a passenger of the Canton on 4 March 1853, although when the ship reached Singapore
on 11 July 1853 it was captained by Hayes, with the Canton being sold by Hayes in Singapore
. Hayes operated in East Asia, carrying out various frauds on ship’s chandlers over mortgaging ships, providing forged papers in payment for cargo and selling cargo for his own account rather than for the account of the owners of the cargo.
, Western Australia
in January 1857 as captain of the C. W. Bradley, Jr. (which was the Canton, repurchased and renamed). Hayes married Amelia Littleton (he is believed to have earlier married in the United States).
The Singapore Ships chandlers caught up with Hayes in Perth
, Australia
and forced the sale of his ship and bankrupted him. Hayes escaped his creditors and in Melbourne
, Australia
he gains the command of a ship sailing to Vancouver
, Canada
. Hayes was thrown off the ship in Honolulu by the supercargo
for swindling passengers. He proceeded to gain command of a new ship with a cargo obtained by fraud. Hayes sailed back across the Pacific, abandoning with his wife Amelia in San Francisco. While Hayes would lose that ship in a storm and others to creditors, he always found new ships to command and new cargos to fraudulently acquire and sell. Between maritime adventures Hayes became a member of a blackface
minstrel troupe in New South Wales
, Australian.
. After facing bankruptcy in Australia in the late 1850s, he sailed to Otago in 1862 (at the time the region was the center of a gold rush
). He travelled the region with a travelling company of vaudeville artists on a tour of New Zealand
. Hayes marries a widow Mrs Roma Buckingham, whose four sons were vaudeville artists, performing as The Masters Buckingman. Hayes and Roma settle in Arrowtown
where he opened a hotel, the "Prince of Wales". His reputation caught up with him and he and his wife left for Nelson
, where she drowned in 1864. He later moved to Christchurch
, where he married Emily Mary Butler in 1865.
Rona and operated in the Pacific with bases in Apia, Samoa
, and in Mili Atoll
in the Marshall Islands
. Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his activities as a Blackbirder
; engaged in recruiting Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Tahiti
, Fiji
, Samoa
and Australia
. While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activities of Blackbirders
predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto Blackbirding
ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
Hayes made money blackbirding
and purchased the brigantine
Samoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships off Manihiki
, Cook Islands
in March 1869. Hayes then purchased the schooner
Atlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams in Apia on charges related to his blackbirding
activities.
The account of adventures of Hayes and Pease provided by James A. Michener & A. Grove Day Hayes is different in detail to that provided by Alfred Restieaux, an island trader who had dealings with both Hayes and Pease. What is consistent between the different accounts is that Hayes escaped from Samoa
on 1 April 1870 on the ship of Ben Pease
, the American Blackbirder
. Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the Caroline Islands
and the Marshall Islands
in the 250-ton brig
Pioneer. According to Alfred Restieaux, Hayes and Pease argued over the ownership of the cargo; Hayes claimed the cargo was his and that Hayes was merely carrying it as freight, while Pease claimed a half share in the cargo. Restieaux's account is that Hayes sold the cargo in Shanghai
; with Restieaux recounting two stories that he had been told about Pease's death: the first was that he drowned after jumping overboard from a Spanish Man-of-War, the second was that he was killed in a fight in the Bonin Islands. What happened to Hayes is uncertain. In any event when the Pioneer arrived back in Apia Hayes was in sole command with his explanation for this change in command being that Ben Pease
had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge. On his return to Apia, Hayes appears to have bribed his way out of the charges he faced.
Hayes renamed the ship the Leonora, (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation from being the ‘black’ ship of the blackbirding
trade. Hayes continued to trade in coconut
oil, copra
and in the lucrative blackbirding
trade. Hayes is eventually arrested by Captain Richard Meade of the USS Narragansett on 19 February 1872 but is released as Captain Richard Meade did not find witnesses or proof that warranted the continued arrest of Hayes. Hayes’s reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.
in the Marshall Islands
. The Leonora was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lelu harbour at Kosrae
at what is now the Utwe-Walong Marine Park
on Kosrae
.
After the wreck Hayes brawled with the European traders on Kosrae
and with his crew, with the islanders being subject to seven months of oppression and violence. In September of that year HMS Rosario
under Captain Dupuis arrives and Hayes is arrested, but yet again he escaped, this time by a 14 foot boat, built of timber from the wreck of the Leonora.
. He purchased the schooner
Arabia on credit in April 1875 and accepted a commission to help convicts escape from prison. He was arrested and ended up in prison in Manila
, Philipines, which was under the control of Spain
until the Spanish–American War. Hayes was eventually freed and lands in San Francisco without funds in early 1876. He persuaded a Mr and Mrs Moody, to fund the purchase of a schooner
the Lotus. Hayes tricked Mr Moody into going ashore and sailed off with Jenny Ford Moody still on board. After arriving in Apia, Samoa
, on 2 January 1877 the Lotus sailed to Kosrae
, the atoll on which Leonora was wrecked, where Hayes intended to collect coconuts left at the time of the wreck. When leaving Kosrae
on 31 March 1877, the ship’s cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete", responding to threats from Hayes, killed him. While the events are unclear, it is understood that Hayes was shot with a revolver, struck on the skull with a iron implement and thrown overboard. Charles Elson, the mate, and the remaining crew sailed the Lotus to Jaluit in the Marshall Islands
and gave an account of the death of Bully Hayes. No one was concerned at his death – indeed Peter Radeck was treated as a hero.
While Bully Hayes may not have ever taken a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer
- acts of fraud being his practice to gain command of a ship. However if the suspicion is true, that he disposed of Ben Pease
to gain command of the Pioneer, then that may qualify him to be a pirate; perhaps his life as a blackbirder
, is what establishes his credentials as a pirate - such was the depths to which piracy had descended in the second half of the 19th century.
was working in Mrs Macfarland’s store in Apia, Samoa
. He sailed a ketch
, the E.A. Williams to Mili Atoll
to deliver it to Hayes, arriving on 17 January 1874. Louis Becke
remained as a passenger on the Leonora, until the ship was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lele harbour at Kosrae
. It was seven months until HMS Rosario
rescued Louis Becke
and the others. Later Becke use his experience of his time with Hayes in his Pacific stories. In some he tells the story of Hayes that are based on first-hand experience although there may be some element of storytelling in his published accounts of his time with Bully Hayes: Captain ‘Bully’ Hayes, Concerning ‘Bully’ Hayes,The Wreck of the Leonora: A Memory of 'Bully' Hayes.
pirate adventure film
Nate and Hayes
, also known as Savage Islands, which starred Tommy Lee Jones
as Hayes. Hayes' character also showed up as the antagonist in the 1954 film His Majesty O'Keefe
with Charles Horvath playing the part.
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...
s", who together with Ben Pease
Ben Pease
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious Blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Fiji....
, engaged in blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
in the 1860s and 1870s. Hayes operated across the breadth of the Pacific in the 1850s until his murder on 31 March 1877 by his cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete". James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, in their account of his life, warn that it is almost impossible to separate fact from legend in his life; they described Hayes as “a cheap swindler, a bully, a minor confidence man, a thief, a ready bigamist” and comment there is no evidence that Hayes ever took a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
.
There are two stories as to how he earned his nickname "Bully": one explanation is that “Bulli” is Samoan for “elusive” or “evasive”; the second explanation is that he was called "Bully" because of his behaviour towards his crew. He was a large man who used intimidation against his crew, although he could be very charming if he chose to be, as well as being capable of generosity to Pacific Islanders in need. However Bully Hayes developed a reputation of a notorious blackbirder, whose arrival on any Pacific Island would cause islanders to hide in fear of being kidnapped and shipped off to be a labourer on some distant plantation.
Early career
He was born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, one of three sons of Henry Hayes, a grog-shanty keeper. Hayes became a sailor on the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
after running away from home. He is believed to have left New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
as a passenger of the Canton on 4 March 1853, although when the ship reached Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 11 July 1853 it was captained by Hayes, with the Canton being sold by Hayes in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Hayes operated in East Asia, carrying out various frauds on ship’s chandlers over mortgaging ships, providing forged papers in payment for cargo and selling cargo for his own account rather than for the account of the owners of the cargo.
Australia
Hayes arrived in FremantleFremantle
Freemantle is a suburb of Southampton in England.Fremantle or Freemantle may also refer to:- Places :* Fremantle, the port city to the capital Perth, Western Australia...
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
in January 1857 as captain of the C. W. Bradley, Jr. (which was the Canton, repurchased and renamed). Hayes married Amelia Littleton (he is believed to have earlier married in the United States).
The Singapore Ships chandlers caught up with Hayes in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and forced the sale of his ship and bankrupted him. Hayes escaped his creditors and in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
he gains the command of a ship sailing to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Hayes was thrown off the ship in Honolulu by the supercargo
Supercargo
Supercargo is a term in maritime law that refers to a person employed on board a vessel by the owner of cargo carried on the ship...
for swindling passengers. He proceeded to gain command of a new ship with a cargo obtained by fraud. Hayes sailed back across the Pacific, abandoning with his wife Amelia in San Francisco. While Hayes would lose that ship in a storm and others to creditors, he always found new ships to command and new cargos to fraudulently acquire and sell. Between maritime adventures Hayes became a member of a blackface
Blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
minstrel troupe in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australian.
New Zealand
Hayes was a notable early figure in the history of the Otago Region of New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. After facing bankruptcy in Australia in the late 1850s, he sailed to Otago in 1862 (at the time the region was the center of a gold rush
Central Otago Gold Rush
The Central Otago Gold Rush was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand...
). He travelled the region with a travelling company of vaudeville artists on a tour of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Hayes marries a widow Mrs Roma Buckingham, whose four sons were vaudeville artists, performing as The Masters Buckingman. Hayes and Roma settle in Arrowtown
Arrowtown
Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 5 km from State Highway 6...
where he opened a hotel, the "Prince of Wales". His reputation caught up with him and he and his wife left for Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
, where she drowned in 1864. He later moved to Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, where he married Emily Mary Butler in 1865.
Blackbirding on the Rona
In May 1866 Hayes acquired the brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Rona and operated in the Pacific with bases in Apia, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, and in Mili Atoll
Mili Atoll
Mili Atoll is a coral atoll of 92 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately southeast of Arno Its total land area is making it the second largest of the Marshall Islands after Kwajalein. It encloses a...
in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his activities as a Blackbirder
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
; engaged in recruiting Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activities of Blackbirders
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto Blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
Hayes made money blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
and purchased the brigantine
Brigantine
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...
Samoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships off Manihiki
Manihiki
Manihiki is an island in the Cook Islands known as the Island of Pearls. It is a triangular atoll north of Rarotonga.- History :Polynesians are believed to have lived on Manihiki since at least 900 or 1000 AD. Kupe was the first to explore Aotea Roa. Kupe came from Manihiki, also known as...
, Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
in March 1869. Hayes then purchased the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Atlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams in Apia on charges related to his blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
activities.
The account of adventures of Hayes and Pease provided by James A. Michener & A. Grove Day Hayes is different in detail to that provided by Alfred Restieaux, an island trader who had dealings with both Hayes and Pease. What is consistent between the different accounts is that Hayes escaped from Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
on 1 April 1870 on the ship of Ben Pease
Ben Pease
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious Blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Fiji....
, the American Blackbirder
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
. Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
and the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
in the 250-ton brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
Pioneer. According to Alfred Restieaux, Hayes and Pease argued over the ownership of the cargo; Hayes claimed the cargo was his and that Hayes was merely carrying it as freight, while Pease claimed a half share in the cargo. Restieaux's account is that Hayes sold the cargo in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
; with Restieaux recounting two stories that he had been told about Pease's death: the first was that he drowned after jumping overboard from a Spanish Man-of-War, the second was that he was killed in a fight in the Bonin Islands. What happened to Hayes is uncertain. In any event when the Pioneer arrived back in Apia Hayes was in sole command with his explanation for this change in command being that Ben Pease
Ben Pease
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious Blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Fiji....
had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge. On his return to Apia, Hayes appears to have bribed his way out of the charges he faced.
Hayes renamed the ship the Leonora, (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation from being the ‘black’ ship of the blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
trade. Hayes continued to trade in coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
oil, copra
Copra
Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...
and in the lucrative blackbirding
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
trade. Hayes is eventually arrested by Captain Richard Meade of the USS Narragansett on 19 February 1872 but is released as Captain Richard Meade did not find witnesses or proof that warranted the continued arrest of Hayes. Hayes’s reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.
The wreck of the Leonora
In January 1874 Louis Becke, who later wrote stories of the exploits of Bully Hayes, joined the Leonora at Mili AtollMili Atoll
Mili Atoll is a coral atoll of 92 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately southeast of Arno Its total land area is making it the second largest of the Marshall Islands after Kwajalein. It encloses a...
in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. The Leonora was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lelu harbour at Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
at what is now the Utwe-Walong Marine Park
Utwe
Utwe is the second-largest municipality in the Micronesian state of Kosrae, the largest being Tafunsak.-Geography:Utwe occupies the very South of the island, but has no coast on its East border. As of 1994, the total population of Utwe was 1,056...
on Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
.
After the wreck Hayes brawled with the European traders on Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
and with his crew, with the islanders being subject to seven months of oppression and violence. In September of that year HMS Rosario
HMS Rosario (1860)
HMS Rosario was an 11-gun Rosario-class screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1860 at Deptford Dockyard. She served two commissions, including eight years on the Australia Station during which she fought to reduce illegal kidnappings of South Sea Islanders for the Queensland labour market. She...
under Captain Dupuis arrives and Hayes is arrested, but yet again he escaped, this time by a 14 foot boat, built of timber from the wreck of the Leonora.
The final voyage on the Lotus
Hayes reached GuamGuam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. He purchased the schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Arabia on credit in April 1875 and accepted a commission to help convicts escape from prison. He was arrested and ended up in prison in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Philipines, which was under the control of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
until the Spanish–American War. Hayes was eventually freed and lands in San Francisco without funds in early 1876. He persuaded a Mr and Mrs Moody, to fund the purchase of a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
the Lotus. Hayes tricked Mr Moody into going ashore and sailed off with Jenny Ford Moody still on board. After arriving in Apia, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, on 2 January 1877 the Lotus sailed to Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
, the atoll on which Leonora was wrecked, where Hayes intended to collect coconuts left at the time of the wreck. When leaving Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
on 31 March 1877, the ship’s cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete", responding to threats from Hayes, killed him. While the events are unclear, it is understood that Hayes was shot with a revolver, struck on the skull with a iron implement and thrown overboard. Charles Elson, the mate, and the remaining crew sailed the Lotus to Jaluit in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and gave an account of the death of Bully Hayes. No one was concerned at his death – indeed Peter Radeck was treated as a hero.
While Bully Hayes may not have ever taken a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
- acts of fraud being his practice to gain command of a ship. However if the suspicion is true, that he disposed of Ben Pease
Ben Pease
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious Blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Fiji....
to gain command of the Pioneer, then that may qualify him to be a pirate; perhaps his life as a blackbirder
Blackbirding
Blackbirding is a term that refers to recruitment of people through trickery and kidnappings to work as labourers. From the 1860s blackbirding ships were engaged in seeking workers to mine the guano deposits on the Chincha Islands in Peru...
, is what establishes his credentials as a pirate - such was the depths to which piracy had descended in the second half of the 19th century.
Louis Becke & Bully Hayes
At the age of 19 Louis BeckeGeorge Lewis Becke
George Lewis Becke was an Australian short-story writer and novelist.-Early life:Becke was born at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, son of Frederick Becke, Clerk of Petty Sessions and his wife Caroline Matilda, née Beilby. Both parents were born in England...
was working in Mrs Macfarland’s store in Apia, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
. He sailed a ketch
Ketch
A ketch is a sailing craft with two masts: a main mast, and a shorter mizzen mast abaft of the main mast, but forward of the rudder post. Both masts are rigged mainly fore-and-aft. From one to three jibs may be carried forward of the main mast when going to windward...
, the E.A. Williams to Mili Atoll
Mili Atoll
Mili Atoll is a coral atoll of 92 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is located approximately southeast of Arno Its total land area is making it the second largest of the Marshall Islands after Kwajalein. It encloses a...
to deliver it to Hayes, arriving on 17 January 1874. Louis Becke
George Lewis Becke
George Lewis Becke was an Australian short-story writer and novelist.-Early life:Becke was born at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, son of Frederick Becke, Clerk of Petty Sessions and his wife Caroline Matilda, née Beilby. Both parents were born in England...
remained as a passenger on the Leonora, until the ship was wrecked on 15 March 1874 during a storm while in Lele harbour at Kosrae
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
. It was seven months until HMS Rosario
HMS Rosario (1860)
HMS Rosario was an 11-gun Rosario-class screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1860 at Deptford Dockyard. She served two commissions, including eight years on the Australia Station during which she fought to reduce illegal kidnappings of South Sea Islanders for the Queensland labour market. She...
rescued Louis Becke
George Lewis Becke
George Lewis Becke was an Australian short-story writer and novelist.-Early life:Becke was born at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, son of Frederick Becke, Clerk of Petty Sessions and his wife Caroline Matilda, née Beilby. Both parents were born in England...
and the others. Later Becke use his experience of his time with Hayes in his Pacific stories. In some he tells the story of Hayes that are based on first-hand experience although there may be some element of storytelling in his published accounts of his time with Bully Hayes: Captain ‘Bully’ Hayes, Concerning ‘Bully’ Hayes,The Wreck of the Leonora: A Memory of 'Bully' Hayes.
Popular culture
The adventures of "Bully" were the subject of the 19831983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
pirate adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
Nate and Hayes
Nate and Hayes
Nate and Hayes, also known as Savage Islands , is a 1983 swashbuckling adventure film set in the South Pacific in the late 19th century...
, also known as Savage Islands, which starred Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor and film director. He has received three Academy Award nominations, winning one as Best Supporting Actor for the 1993 thriller film The Fugitive....
as Hayes. Hayes' character also showed up as the antagonist in the 1954 film His Majesty O'Keefe
His Majesty O'Keefe
His Majesty O'Keefe is a 1954 adventure film starring Burt Lancaster. The film was directed by Byron Haskin and Otto Heller and included choreography by Daniel Nagrin...
with Charles Horvath playing the part.