William Henry Hayes (abt. 1830 - 1877)

Born about 1830 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Husband of Amelia Littleton (Moffatt) Hayes — married 25 Aug 1857 in Penwortham, Colony of South Australia

Husband of Emily Mary (Butler) Hayes — married 26 Jul 1865 in Royal Hotel, Christchurch, New Zealand

Descendants

Died 1877 at about age 47 in Jaluit, Marshall Islands,

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Gillian Thomas [send private message] and David Urquhart [send private message]

Biography

Bully Hayes is Notable.

Captain Hayes - a Legend in His Own Lifetime ^[1]

William Henry Hayes was first christened "Bulli Hayes" by the South Seas Weslyan missionary, Dr. Stephen Rabone from the Samoan word "bulli" meaning elusive.

William Henry Hayes was born in 1829 at Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States where father, Henry Hayes worked the river barges. He is said to have had two brothers. ^[2]

Hayes served in the United States Navy in China, was dismissed in 1846. ^[3]

After this, perhaps on the ship Canton, he is said to have gained more deep water experience sailing down-easters, East Coast States to San Francisco via Cape Horn with passengers keen to join the Californian gold rush. ^[4]

Thereafter, his maritime activities as a trader swing between Singapore, Sydney, San Francisco, and Calcutta.

He is believed to have left New York as a passenger of the Canton on the 4th of March 1853, although when the ship reached Singapore on the 11th of July 1853 it was captained by Hayes, and sold by him there shortly after arrival.

An alternate story says Hayes arrived from New York in Melbourne with a party of gold diggers on the barque Canton. Certainly, in 1853, Canton, a barque arrived in Melbourne from New York and Rio de Janiero with 85 passengers. ^[5] Canton was in Melbourne again in 1854, the newspapers reported her arrival as 27/5/1854 - Canton, American barque, 108 tons, (capt.) Gibbs for Guam. ^[6]

On the 25th of August 1857, at Penwortham, South Australia, Bully Hayes married a widow, Amelia Littleton (born Amelia Moffatt) whom he took to live in San Francisco. There were no children of this marriage. ^[7]

In 1859, Captain Hayes purchased the brig Ellenita in San Francisco for $800 He paid nearly $500 of the purchase money and then had the brig thoroughly overhauled and repaired. A few hours after midnight Hayes and the Ellanita slipped away, leaving debts unpaid and without clearance or paper work of any kind. ^[8]

The loss of his ship, the Ellenita near Samoa in 1859 left Hayes bankrupt in Sydney where he was sued for debt and confined in debtors' prison, Darlinghurst gaol, 17th-19th January 1860. ^[9]

Goldfields Hotelier

September 1862 - sailed the Cincinatti to Otago & joined the Buckingham family entertainers. He followed the Buckinghams to Arrowtown. ^[10]

About 1863, Hayes opened the Prince of Wales Hotel in Arrowtown across the street from the Buckingham's Provincial Hotel where they staged theatrical performances. Seduced Rosetta Buckingham, the most talented member of the Buckingham Family entertainers who became pregnant and went to live with Hayes as his de facto wife. (Hayes's first wife was still alive and living in San Francisco.) ^[11]

Hayes and Rosie Buckingham left Arrowtown for Nelson

"The Notorious master of the notorious schooner "Black Diamond" ^[12]

Borrowed to buy the Black Diamond in Sydney; defaulted on the payments.

Loaded a cargo of coal in Newcastle and left for Nelson

Stopped in Auckland- left without paying

Sheltered at the Croixelles; brother-in-law , wife and child drowned. ^[13]

wife & child drowned 1864 in Croixelles Harbour, Nelson New Zealand^{[14] [15]}

Black Diamond was seized by Sydney bailiffs.

Abducts a young girl 5 months later ^[16]

1st February 1865, Hayes became the registered owner of the “Shamrock”, funded by a “rich Auckland widow”

On the 26th of July 1865, at the Royal Hotel, Christchurch, Hayes married Emily Butler, by whom he had a son and two daughters.^[17]

Gunrunner

smuggled guns to the Maoris during the Maori wars,

left Auckland on the brig. Rona

It is about 1868 that the slippery escapades of William Henry Hayes earn him the nick-name "Bulli Hayes" when the South Seas Weslyan missionary, Dr. Stephen Rabone used the Samoan word "bulli" meaning elusive when speaking of Captain Hayes.

Blackbirder

"Blackbirding", the capture of Pacific Islanders to be transported as labourers in plantations was a problem in the South Pacific. ^[18]

In the Polynesian Society Journal of 1903 we read - The notorious Bully Hayes also managed to kidnap a number of the Niue people and carried them away to Tahiti, where he sold them. It will thus be seen that the Niue experiences of civilized nations has not been altogether of a character to give them an exhalted idea of our people or our methods. ^[19]

In May 1868, reports were received that Captain Hayes had been shot dead by one of his crew when on the brig Rona in the Fiji Islands. A few months later, the schooner Mary Ann Christina brought fresh news that he been seen alive on Tanna island in Vanuatu, unsuccessfully looking for labourers he could transport to the sugar plantations of Fiji or Queensland. Islanders in the Western Pacific had long been used to seeing a sailing vessel sail into an anchorage, looking for fresh supplies and water. As soon as a vessel was seen, the islanders would approach in canoes laden with fruit and cocoanuts. It was Hayes' practice to pay well over the usual price for cocoanut oil and copra, enticing more islanders to visit his ship, allowing them on board to trade. When sufficient numbers were on deck, Hayes and his crew would kidnap them and locking them below decks until they could be passed on to a plantation manager. His unfair dealing had ruined his reputation with the natives, and made it difficult for others Blackbirding in the islands. ^{[20] [21] [22]}

In March 1869 Hayes' ships, the brig Rona and brigantine Samoa left Huahine, in the Society Islands, Hayes on the Rona bound for Hawaii and California and the Samoa for Apia in Samoa. The Rona ran into a storm, sprang a leak and was abandoned. After 12 days in open boats, Hayes and his party reached Rierson's Island and later to Manihiki where they heard that the Samoa had run aground the previous month. The survivors of both ships reached Samoa on the 20th of August 1869, after a perilous voyage in a boat constructed from timbers salvaged from the wrecked Samoa. ^[23]

Captain Hayes was only one of many chancers trading and gun running in the South Pacific. About 1871, when trading in the Tuamotus (French Polynesia) Captain Hayes sold to the people of Huahine a ninepound gun, upon a slide, for $1000 dollars worth of cocoanut oil and oranges; and swords at $20 each, which had been bought from Spence Brothers of Melbourne at half-a crown. ^[24]

By 1872, news was reaching the newspapers that things had looked up for Billy Hayes, he had been seen in Pago Pago, Samoa and was doing very nicely as the sole owner of the brig Leonora (or The Water Lily she often went by other names) one of the finest brigs in the island trade. ^{[25] [26] [27]}

Pirate

In 1873, Hayes was taken into custody in the American naval corvette Narragansett to answer charges of piracy, slave-trading and murder on the high seas. As the evidence against him was not sufficient, he was allowed to go free.

His subsequent career attracted the attention of the British, French, and United States Governments; Hayes, however, proved too elusive. ^{[28] [29]}

In March 1874, Hayes' Leonora was lost on a reef at Strong's Island in the Solomons, though her crew escaped safely ashore. Stranded, Hayes set up a trading station, acquired a handful of "wives" and took over the island. Meanwhile, the complaints about his behaviour toward the Islanders in the Pacific made by missionaries had reached official ears, and in Sydney, Australia, H.M.S. Rosario was sent to investigate matters.

Unknown to Hayes, H.M.S. Rosario (three guns, Captain Depuis) left Sydney on the 22nd March for a cruise through the South Seas islands. She reached Fiji on the 13th April, cruised the islands of the Fijis for three months, till the 22nd July, then left via Rotuma for the Marshall Islands, , looking for information regarding Captain Hayes. Reaching Strong's Island, Hayes came on board to pilot the Rosario through the reef. Safely anchored, Captain Depuis set about gathering information about Hayes from Hayes' crew and King Tagusa, preparing to bring charges against Hayes. Getting wind of Captain Depuis' intentions, Hayes quietly left the Island in an open boat with only one companion. He was picked up at sea by the American whaler Arctic and landed at Guam in February 1875. ^[30]

1875 - Jailed in Manila for aiding political prisoners to escape. In 1875 Hayes sold his schooner to some political escapees at Manila for a good price. When accused of complicity, Hayes claimed his vessel was stolen, due to Government negligence. He eventually won monetary compensation.

Ships sailing in the Pacific routinely reported sightings of other ships during a passage. Sightings of Hayes in the Pacific were frequently reported in New Zealand newspapers. In December 1875 he "cropped up again in some fresh villainies" picking up a party of Spanish convicts from Guam and abandon them in the Pellen Islands, Jamaica when he discovered the authorities hot on his tail. ^[31]

Wife of Hayes receives a large consignment of donkeys which are kept in her garden in Samoa ^[32]

He turned up again in Samoa, where local traders were astonished to come across him in good spirits, walking on the beach. Asked where he was last from, he told them, from Frisco via Honolulu, Manihiki, Christmas and other islands; and bound for the Carolines. He was sailing a 'Frisco yacht of about 25 tons register, his mate an Englishman named Taylor, and there was a white woman with him. ^[33]

A few months later Hayes was dead, killed by his mate Taylor at Jaluit Atoll in the Caroline and Marshall Islands.

New Zealand Herald 26th September 1877 page 2 ^[34]

"BULLY HAYES"

The Fiji Times of the Ist inst. says - The great rover and freebooter of the South Pacific, Bully Hayes, has, we learn, come to an untimely end. By the return of the Black Hawk from the Line Islands, we are informed that the American schooner Maggie Johnson brought the news to the island of Makin that Captain Hayes, while trading in a small vessel off the island of Jalmit, had a series of bickerings and quarrels with his mate, and, while in the act of going down the companion (ladder) to reach his revolver to shoot the mate, was struck by him on the back of the head with the iron tiller, completely smashing his skull. So ends the life of this fearless pirate. The unlawful acts and deeds committed against property and society by this noted freebooter are very many, but we much question if they are deserving of that amount of sensationalism with which it has been the fashion to surround them.

Research Notes

• This letter gives reference to children of Leonora McLean and the son of Emily Butlerletter by Roy Myers

Sources

1. ↑ THE NOTORIOUS CAPTAIN HAYES AGAIN., Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 4089, 29 September 1870
2. ↑ Encyclopaedia of New Zealand pub: 1966 - HAYES, Captain William Henry: “Bully”
3. ↑ China Navy
4. ↑ in 1849 the 198 ton Barque Canton sailed from New York on March 29th carrying only the 52 members of the Island City and Mining Trading Association who owned her [Forty-niners 'round the Horn] page: 11; by Charles R. Schultz pub: Univ of South Carolina Press, 1999
5. ↑ Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer 27th August 1853 page 2
6. ↑ The Argus 6th June 1854 page 4
7. ↑ South Australia Marriages - 31/368 / 1857 - William Henry HAYES & Amelia LITTLETON - marriage registered in the district of Clare
8. ↑ Captain William Hayes : Buccaneer, Blackbirder & South Seas Pirate- Tony Hayes quoting the San Francisco Herald of Sept. 5th 1859 "A Bold Operator"
9. ↑ The following estate was surrendered and accepted : William Henry Hayes, of Sydney, master mariner. Liabilities, 173. Assets value of personal property, 16. Deficit, 168. Mr. Morris, official assignee. Newspapers.com The Sydney Morning Herald Jan.23rd 1960 page 3
10. ↑ Te Ara Story : Buckingham, George and Buckingham, Rosetta
11. ↑ October-2015-newsletter.pdf Dunedin Family History Group : Arrowtown
12. ↑ SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMARY., Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2356, 7 February 1865
13. ↑ William Akerson, family
14. ↑ The Colonist, Volume VII, Issue 715, 2 September 1864
15. ↑ New Zealander, Volume XXI, Issue 2220, 10 September 1864
16. ↑ THE NOTORIOUS CAPTAIN HAVES AGAIN. -A CASE OF ABDUCTION., The Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 757, 24 January 1865
17. ↑ N.Z. MARRIAGES - 1865/6536 - Emily Butler & William Henry Hayes
18. ↑ James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, Bully Hayes, South Sea Buccaneer, in Rascals in Paradise, London: Secker & Warburg 1957
19. ↑ Journal of the Polynesian Society : Niue Island and its People vol: Xll pub: Wellington NZ 1903 p: 21
20. ↑ Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 123, 27 May 1868
21. ↑ Wanganui Herald, Volume II, Issue 319, 10 June 1868
22. ↑ Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 549, 31 August 1869
23. ↑ NZ Gov
24. ↑ THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC. VIII.—THE TRADE OF THE PAUMOTU GROUP., Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXX, Issue 5156, 28 February 1874
25. ↑ New Zealand Herald, Volume IX, Issue 2777, 21 December 1872
26. ↑ Wellington Independent, Volume XXVII, Issue 3686, 23 December 1872
27. ↑ Wanganui Herald, Wanganui Herald, Volume V, Issue 1788, 10 May 1873
28. ↑ The Otago Daily Times. SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1876., Otago Daily Times, Issue 4526, 19 August 1876
29. ↑ "Bully"Hayes, the Pirate of the South Seas.THE BUCHANEER OF 1876 - How Captain Hayes Stole Ships, Schooners, and Cargoes - He Slips through the Hands of the Captains of the American and British War Ships- How he Liberated Carlists - He Leaves San Francisco on the Lotus for a Cruise. Auckland Star, Volume VII, Issue 2132, 3 January 1877
30. ↑ THE NOTORIOUS HAYES ONCE MORE., The Colonist, Volume XVII, Issue 1839, 21 November 1874
31. ↑ Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1830, 29 December 1875
32. ↑ Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5348, 4 December 1876
33. ↑ TONGA AND SAMOA., Auckland Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2157, 5 February 1877
34. ↑ New Zealand Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4949, 26 September 1877

• Bully Hayes
• Ara Te Story: Hayes, William Henry
• Hayes, William Henry (Bully) (1829–1877) by John Earnshaw