Catalpa .. the Irish have escaped from Fremantle Prison

One hundred and thirty years ago, Australia nearly went to war with the United States of America, and it all would have started on our shores.  Right here in our peaceful seaside community of Rockingham.

In 1876 The Georgette pursued a Whaler ship, The Catalpa; eventually they fired a shot across the whaler's bow.  Captain Anthony the master of the Georgette pointed to the stars and stripes and proclaimed:- "That's the American flag. I am on the high seas. As I am in international waters my flag protects me.  If you fire on this ship you fire on the American flag."

To fire on the Catalpa would most likely have created a major diplomatic incident; fresh in the mind of the officer on the Georgette was that Britain had just lost a 3 million pound case involving a similar situation with an American ship.  He was also unsure of whether he was in international waters so he haplessly let the Catalpa sail away into the sunset.

What was on board the Catalpa that was to create such an incident, and today conjures up images of heroism, daring and amazing communication skills? Not what, but whom.  James Darragh, Martin Hogan, Michael Harrington, Thomas Hasset,  Robert Cranston and James Wilson, all inmates of Fremantle Prison, there were supposed to be two more but they were not able to be available on the day of the escape.

So why were these people so important!  They were Fenians who were imprisoned on charges of Treason and sentenced to death. Fenians were the American version of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.  The Fenians had one goal – to ensure a free and independent Irish Republic.

To understand from the beginning, one has to comprehend that at that time in history, many Irishmen were dying of hunger and living in extreme poverty, they had no choice but to join the British Army, about the same time there was a huge uprising from the Irish against the British. In 1865 hundreds of men were arrested on suspicion of complicity. The government took these arrests in two categories, civilians and British Military Serviceman.  Civilian’s were treated as political prisoners and in 1869 were granted clemency and freed. British Military Serviceman, were sentenced to death.  The British Government then commuted many of the death warrants to long term prison sentences.

The last convict ship that brought prisoners to our shores, was the Hougoumont, on board were 62 of these men, they arrived in Fremantle in 1867, one of them was John Boyle O'Reilly.  This ship signaled the end of the convict era.

John Boyle O’Reilly was an NCO in the 10th Hussars when arrested in 1866 for assisting fellow soldiers to join the rebellious Fenian movement. Found guilty at his court martial, his death sentence, like the others were commuted to one of 20 year's penal servitude, which automatically meant transportation (anyone sentenced to seven years or more was transported).    O'Reilly eventually joined a work party near Bunbury. During 1868 he developed a close relationship with the local clergyman, the Rev. Patrick McCabe. He confided in the priest his plans to escape, but McCabe dissuaded him from putting them into effect. In February 1869, through McCabe, O'Reilly met Jim Maguire, an Irish settler in the district working on land clearance. Maguire was able to quickly organise passage on board an American whaler that was replenishing its supplies in the area.

Eventually O'Reilly made his way to Boston in the USA where he became a respected citizen and editor of The Boston Pilot newspaper. He also became a quite well known writer and poet. But he never forgot his fellow fenians still lavishing in Western Australia.

1871 all convicted Fenians had been pardoned except for those who had served in the British military. Of these, ten were still in Fremantle Prison. One wrote a letter, which was smuggled out of Fremantle Prison and posted to America, where it came into the hands of John Devoy and John Boyle O'Reilly. This letter sowed the seeds for a rescue mission which took four years to plan and which was funded by Irish families from all over the world.

In 1875, John Devoy and John Boyle O’Reilly discussed how they might rescue the Fenians still serving time in Western Australia. The initial plan had been to storm Fremantle Prison and rescue the Fenians by force of arms; O'Reilly rejected that plan, and instead suggested that the rescue party pick up the escapees according to a prearranged plan. He also suggested the purchase of a whaling ship, which would be seen to be on legitimate business in Fremantle. O'Reilly's plan was adopted, and ultimately led to the rescue.   The Catalpa was purchased and sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts. Its cost was $US5,250, a further $US15,000 refitting the vessel as a whaler. It was registered to John T. Richardson's whaling company. On Thursday 29 April 1875 it started on its fateful journey.

John Breslin and Thomas Desmond were given the task of traveling to Fremantle, making contact with the prisoners and preparing for their escape. George Anthony (John Richardson's son-in-law) was captain of the vessel, and at first only he knew what its ultimate mission was to be.

On 29 March 1876, the Catalpa berthed at Bunbury, and Captain Anthony sailed to Fremantle on the coastal steamer the Georgette with the Fenian agent John Breslin.  Breslin's and Thomas Desmond's tale of how they successfully posed as businessmen in Fremantle, so as to gain people's confidence and establish lines of communication, is yet another fascinating sub-plot to the main story, they posed as investment opportunists and as such were welcome into every high class home and military establishment in Perth, where they were treated as kings, this is how they became privy to all the information they needed in order to help rescue the Fenians.

Finally, it was arranged for contact to be made with the eight Fenian prisoners who were to be in work parties outside the Prison, telling them when the escape was to take place, two prisoners were left behind, one for sickness and one in solitary confinement.

Everything now depended on when the ship could sail. Captain Anthony had a shock in store for him: when he came to send the crucial coded telegram containing the date of his departure, he found Bunbury telegraph office closed for Good Friday (something they had not accounted for in their original planning). Luckily he was able to locate the telegraph operator and persuade him to send the message. Fortunately the Fremantle telegraph office was open for business at the other end to deliver it. The plan to bring the Fenian prisoners, who had escaped from Fremantle Prison work parties, to Rockingham, then by longboat to the Catalpa was set to be put into effect on 17 April, Easter Monday.

On Easter Sunday, 16 April 1876, the Catalpa lay at anchor between Rottnest and Garden Islands, 48km south west of Rottnest Island lighthouse. Early on Easter Monday the Catalpa weighed anchor and began sailing a course that kept it in an area between Rottnest and Garden Islands.

The escape of the Fenian prisoners involved good organization, good communication and good planning.  Basically, the six of them affected their getaway using two horse drawn buggies, driving them to Rockingham where James Bell, a worker with the Jarrah Timber Company, saw them arrive at around 10 am. He asked them what should be done with the horses and carts they abandoned on the beach. When they replied that they did not much care what he did, he decided to ride to Fremantle and alert the authorities, arriving there at 1 pm.

For the Fenians a whaleboat was waiting to row them out to the Catalpa. Upon hearing the news in Fremantle the water police sent their fast police cutter to Rockingham. They arrived just in time to observe the Catalpa's whaleboat heading towards the horizon. The coastal steamer Georgette, still in port, was then commissioned to help in attempts to recapture the escapees.  The men were pursued by the police in the coastal steamer Georgette and had to battle rough seas. They took 12 hours to reach and board the Catalpa

The mobility of the Catalpa, designed to maximise its chances of avoiding apprehension, made it difficult for the whaleboat to rendezvous with it easily. As a consequence the longboat sighted the mother ship in the distance at 5.30pm, but by 7pm a squall caused them to lose contact in the gathering darkness. This meant that the crew and passengers of the open boat were forced to spend an unwelcome, uncomfortable and unscheduled night at sea.

The next day both the cutter and the coastal steamer returned to the Rockingham area. The Georgette carried a force of Pensioner Guards commanded by Major Finnerty. But the Superintendent of Water Police, J. F. Stone, was in charge of the whole operation.

The Georgette pursued the Catalpa and eventually fired a shot across the whaler's bows, demanding that the prisoners be handed over. Captain Anthony denied having any prisoners on board and, pointing to the stars and stripes, and shouted the words that if not taken seriously could have changed the course of history, he stated "That's the American flag. I am on the high seas. As I am in international waters my flag protects me.  If you fire on this ship you fire on the American flag."

Due to the bad weather, the poor Fenians were still at sea on the whale boat and had not at that time reach the Catalpa.  About 2pm the Georgette, spotted the whaleboat fast approaching the mother ship, and gave chase. The escapees eluded them and were hauled on board the Catalpa which set sail immediately, heading for the open waters of the Indian Ocean with the Georgette following in close pursuit.

After a short time, the Georgette steamed slowly across the stern of the Catalpa, but did not fire any more shots. She kept the whaler company for an hour, then slowly swung off, steaming back to Fremantle empty-handed.

News of the escape of the Fenians spread around Perth and Fremantle and was a complete embarrassment to the establishment and authority of the day.  The people on the other hand thought it marvelous and created songs about the event and sung these songs in pubs and the town; it soon became a criminal offence to sing such songs.

It took four months for the Catalpa to reach the destination of New York, where she arrived to a hero’s welcome on 19^th August 1876