Fred Whibley
Encyclopedia
Fred Whibley abandoned a career in a London bank to escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era
. He ended up as a copra
trader on Niutao
in Tuvalu
in the central Pacific ocean.
Fred was born in 1855 in Sittingbourne
, Kent
, England, the youngest son of Ambrose Whibley, silk mercer, and his first wife, Anne Parkes. Educated at Bristol Grammar School
.
After the death of Anne in 1855 Ambrose Whibley married Mary Jean Davy, the daughter of John Davy, an iron merchant of Bristol
. Fred was the half-brother of Charles Whibley
, journalist and writer and Leonard Whibley
, classical scholar and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge
from 1899-1910. Fred’s sister, Eliza Eleanor (Lillie) Whibley, married John T. Arundel
, owner of John T Arundel and Company which operated in the Pacific.
he appears to have been involved in gold mining. The Klondike Gold Rush
began in 1896 although clearly Fred did not find success as in 1898 he writes to Charles Whibley
asking whether his brother had repaid $15 to Gordon T Legg, who was the manager of the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia
. Fred Whibley had borrowed the money to travel from Vancouver
B.C., to Sydney, Australia, where his sister Eliza was living with her husband John T. Arundel
.
Fred Whibley had the reputation as the black sheep
of what was otherwise a respectable Victorian era
family. Not always the gentleman, while in Vancouver
Fred appears to have fallen out with a Mrs. Machin as he writes to his Charles Whibley
about “dirty letters from Vancouver, but let them go. Mrs. Machin is a b-tch from B-tchville, and invents the most impossible lies. She is only fit for Bedlam. I say so much and finish with her and Vancouver for good.”
, Australia, Fred declined an offer from John T. Arundel
to work for his company John T. Arundel
& Co., which mined guano
on Pacific atolls and which within two years would evolve into the Pacific Islands Co. and then subsequently the Pacific Phosphate Co., which exploited high-grade phosphate deposits on Nauru
and Banaba (then known as Ocean Island) that were refined to create superphosphate. Fred Whibley appears to be one of those Europeans who chose to live on an isolated Pacific atoll as an escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era
.
In May or June 1898 Fred arrived in Niutao
in Tuvalu
(then known as the Ellice Islands) to work as the resident island trader buying copra
for the Henderson & Macfarlane company, which then dominated the copra
trade in Tuvalu
. Henderson & Macfarlane operated their vessel SS Archer to call on islands in Fiji
, Tuvalu
, and Kiribati
(formerly the Gilbert Islands).
Fred was called “Felele” by the Niutaons; he choose as his wife, Meri Matavaka of the Luaseuta family of Niutao
. Meri being a Tuvaluan variation of ‘Mary’. Matavaka used white magic to capture the men's hearts and created a love triangle that Fred eventually won. Meri’s previous “avaga” (married one) had been Jack Buckland
the former palagi
trader on Niutao
; she had refused to go with Jack Buckland
to when he moved to the neighbouring island of Nanumea
. While with Jack Buckland
Meri had visited Vailima
in Samoa
as Jack had become a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson
during the 1890 voyage of the ‘Janet Nicoll’ on which Stevenson and Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson were passengers.
Fred Whibley wrote to his brother Charles Whibley
“Read R L Stevenson's & L.O's "Wrecker" - there in Tommy Hadden, towards the end will you find the missus's previous 'usband. He was a scorcher!. Stayed at R L S' s at Vailima 6 mos on end, with Matavaka - my missus. - She has given me quite a picture in her own tongue, - of their life there - in "the Master's house, and of the amenities. - Some day, - if you might be interested I would detail it to you. - It would be off the line of what you may have heard or read at home, but all favourable to the decent, peace-loving, sensitive quiet, good man, who to me is little short of a fetish.”
, and took another partner where he died in 1919. The children were adopted and being raised by their large extended family of Uncles, Aunts and cousins overseen by Grandfather Luaseuta. Missionaries kidnapped the girls taking them from their family, clan and Island except Lillian whom evaded capture for a number of years by being hidden by her cousins. The girls are still known in Tuvalu as "the stolen ones". The daughters were sent to mission schools in Samoa
then on to be educated in New Zealand
by George Ellis, the brother of Albert Ellis
, with both brothers having worked at John T. Arundel
& Co. Lillian maintained a connection with Tuvalu
and on her death her ashes were returned for burial on Niutao
.
During the time Fred was an island trader, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies with the trading companies moving from a practice of having traders resident on each island to trade with the islanders to a business operation whether the supercargo
(the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship would visit an island. From 1900 the numbers of palagi
traders in Tuvalu
declined so that by 1909 there were no resident palagi
traders representing the trading companies.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. He ended up as a 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:...
trader on Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
in Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
in the central Pacific ocean.
Fred was born in 1855 in Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town about eight miles east of Gillingham in England, beside the Roman Watling Street off a creek in the Swale, a channel separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England, the youngest son of Ambrose Whibley, silk mercer, and his first wife, Anne Parkes. Educated at Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school was founded in 1532 by two brothers, Robert and Nicholas Thorne....
.
After the death of Anne in 1855 Ambrose Whibley married Mary Jean Davy, the daughter of John Davy, an iron merchant of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Fred was the half-brother of Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory commentary”.-Life:...
, journalist and writer and Leonard Whibley
Leonard Whibley
Leonard Whibley was a Greek scholar who edited ‘A Companion to Greek Studies’ from 1905 to 1931.-Life:Leonard was born 20 April 1864 at Gravesend, Kent, England, the second son of Ambrose Whibley, silk mercer, and his second wife, Mary Jean Davy. Leonard was educated at Bristol Grammar School and...
, classical scholar and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
from 1899-1910. Fred’s sister, Eliza Eleanor (Lillie) Whibley, married John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
, owner of John T Arundel and Company which operated in the Pacific.
Early life
From 1873 to 1888 Fred Whibley worked as a clerk in a bank. In 1888 at the aged of 33, Fred left England for the United States of America. From his letters to his brother Charles WhibleyCharles Whibley
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory commentary”.-Life:...
he appears to have been involved in gold mining. The Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
began in 1896 although clearly Fred did not find success as in 1898 he writes to Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory commentary”.-Life:...
asking whether his brother had repaid $15 to Gordon T Legg, who was the manager of the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia
Union Steamship Company of British Columbia
The Union Steamship Company of British Columbia was a pioneer firm on coastal British Columbia. It started in 1889, from the beginnings of local service on Burrard Inlet near Vancouver, and expanded to the entire British Columbia coast...
. Fred Whibley had borrowed the money to travel from 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,...
B.C., to Sydney, Australia, where his sister Eliza was living with her husband John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
.
Fred Whibley had the reputation as the black sheep
Black sheep
In the English language, black sheep is an idiom used to describe an odd or disreputable member of a group, especially within a family. The term has typically been given negative implications, implying waywardness...
of what was otherwise a respectable Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
family. Not always the gentleman, while in 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,...
Fred appears to have fallen out with a Mrs. Machin as he writes to his Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory commentary”.-Life:...
about “dirty letters from Vancouver, but let them go. Mrs. Machin is a b-tch from B-tchville, and invents the most impossible lies. She is only fit for Bedlam. I say so much and finish with her and Vancouver for good.”
Niutao, Ellice Islands (Tuvalu)
While in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia, Fred declined an offer from John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
to work for his company John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
& Co., which mined guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
on Pacific atolls and which within two years would evolve into the Pacific Islands Co. and then subsequently the Pacific Phosphate Co., which exploited high-grade phosphate deposits on Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
and Banaba (then known as Ocean Island) that were refined to create superphosphate. Fred Whibley appears to be one of those Europeans who chose to live on an isolated Pacific atoll as an escape from the constraints and social expectations of respectability in the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
.
In May or June 1898 Fred arrived in Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
in Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
(then known as the Ellice Islands) to work as the resident island trader buying 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:...
for the Henderson & Macfarlane company, which then dominated the 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:...
trade in Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
. Henderson & Macfarlane operated their vessel SS Archer to call on islands in 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...
, Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, and Kiribati
Kiribati
Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...
(formerly the Gilbert Islands).
Fred was called “Felele” by the Niutaons; he choose as his wife, Meri Matavaka of the Luaseuta family of Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
. Meri being a Tuvaluan variation of ‘Mary’. Matavaka used white magic to capture the men's hearts and created a love triangle that Fred eventually won. Meri’s previous “avaga” (married one) had been Jack Buckland
Jack Buckland
John Wilberforce Buckland , also known as ‘Tin Jack’, was a remittance man who lived in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. He travelled with Robert Louis Stevenson and his stories of life as an island trader became the inspiration for the character of Tommy Hadden in The Wrecker...
the former palagi
Palagi
Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...
trader on Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
; she had refused to go with Jack Buckland
Jack Buckland
John Wilberforce Buckland , also known as ‘Tin Jack’, was a remittance man who lived in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. He travelled with Robert Louis Stevenson and his stories of life as an island trader became the inspiration for the character of Tommy Hadden in The Wrecker...
to when he moved to the neighbouring island of Nanumea
Nanumea
Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about four hundred miles of Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line.-Geography:...
. While with Jack Buckland
Jack Buckland
John Wilberforce Buckland , also known as ‘Tin Jack’, was a remittance man who lived in the South Pacific in the late 19th century. He travelled with Robert Louis Stevenson and his stories of life as an island trader became the inspiration for the character of Tommy Hadden in The Wrecker...
Meri had visited Vailima
Vailima
Vailima may refer to:*Vailima is a village in Samoa, notable as the last residence of Robert Louis Stevenson*Vailima is a genus of jumping spiders*Vailima is a beer brewed in Samoa by Samoa Breweries Limited...
in 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...
as Jack had become a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
during the 1890 voyage of the ‘Janet Nicoll’ on which Stevenson and Fanny Vandegrift Stevenson were passengers.
Fred Whibley wrote to his brother Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley
Charles Whibley was an English literary journalist and author. Whibley’s style was described by Matthew as “often acerbic high-tory commentary”.-Life:...
“Read R L Stevenson's & L.O's "Wrecker" - there in Tommy Hadden, towards the end will you find the missus's previous 'usband. He was a scorcher!. Stayed at R L S' s at Vailima 6 mos on end, with Matavaka - my missus. - She has given me quite a picture in her own tongue, - of their life there - in "the Master's house, and of the amenities. - Some day, - if you might be interested I would detail it to you. - It would be off the line of what you may have heard or read at home, but all favourable to the decent, peace-loving, sensitive quiet, good man, who to me is little short of a fetish.”
The end of the era of European traders
Fred and Meli had three daughters Lucy (born 1899), Felicita (born 1905) and Lillian (born 1911 as a twin, the brother died at birth), with Meri also dying following the birth. Following Meri’s death Fred moved to FunafutiFunafuti
Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...
, and took another partner where he died in 1919. The children were adopted and being raised by their large extended family of Uncles, Aunts and cousins overseen by Grandfather Luaseuta. Missionaries kidnapped the girls taking them from their family, clan and Island except Lillian whom evaded capture for a number of years by being hidden by her cousins. The girls are still known in Tuvalu as "the stolen ones". The daughters were sent to mission schools in 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...
then on to be educated in 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...
by George Ellis, the brother of Albert Ellis
Albert Fuller Ellis
Sir Albert Fuller Ellis was a prospector in the Pacific, he discovered phosphate deposits on the Pacific islands Nauru and Banaba Island in 1900. He was the British Phosphate Commissioner for New Zealand from 1921 to 1951.Ellis was born in Roma, Queensland, his family moved to Auckland where he...
, with both brothers having worked at John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel
John T. Arundel was an entrepreneur who was instrumental in the development of the mining of phosphate rock on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Banaba ....
& Co. Lillian maintained a connection with Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
and on her death her ashes were returned for burial on Niutao
Niutao
Niutao is a reef island in the northern part of Tuvalu. It is one of the nine districts of Tuvalu, and one of the three who consist of only one island, not counting the three islets inside the closed lagoon. Niutao has a population of 663 .-Geography:There are two lakes , which are brackish to...
.
During the time Fred was an island trader, structural changes occurred in the operation of the Pacific trading companies with the trading companies moving from a practice of having traders resident on each island to trade with the islanders to a business operation whether 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...
(the cargo manager of a trading ship) would deal directly with the islanders when a ship would visit an island. From 1900 the numbers of palagi
Palagi
Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...
traders in Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
declined so that by 1909 there were no resident palagi
Palagi
Palagi or papaalagi is a term in Samoan culture of uncertain meaning, but sometimes used to describe foreigners or anything that does not 'belong' to Samoan culture...
traders representing the trading companies.
External links
General information- Tuvalu from UCB Libraries GovPubs