This account of the escape of John Boyle O’Reilly is taken from the book “John Boyle O’Reilly – His Life Poems and Speeches” by James Jeffrey Roche published in 1891.
As it describes events that occurred in the South West around Eagle Bay, Bunker Bay and Cape Naturaliste I have attempted to add place names that are missing from the original or indeed any report I have seen of his escape. You can read the original Life of John Boyle O’Reilly on Wikipedia.
It is a good read!
John Boyle O’Reilly was a Fenian – a member of an Irish group that aimed to rebel against British Rule in Ireland and establish a republic. He was arrested when he was betrayed and sentenced to death – almost immediately commuted to life imprisonment.
Image: 1890s John Boyle O’Reilly image from James Jeffrey Roche’s book.
O’Reilly spent time in UK prisons such as Pentonville, Millbank, and Dartmoor, among others. He attempted to escape from Dartmoor but was recaptured before he was eventually transported from England. By 1867 the process of transporting convicts from Britain and Ireland to Australia was almost at its end but O’Reilly found himself among a group of Fenians aboard a ship travelling to what was then called the Penal Colony of Western Australia. That ship, which left England in October 1867, was the Hougoumont and it would prove to be the last vessel ever to transport convicts to the southern continent.
O’Reilly arrived at the Western Australian port of Fremantle in January 1868, although he would spend only a few weeks at the prison. He was then detailed to work in a road-building party near the town of Bunbury.
To this day he remains a legendary figure in Western Australian history, almost entirely because of his dramatic escape from the colony. John Boyle O’Reilly was the first man to ever successfully escape from the penal colony. Most convicts in the colony were engaged in some form of land improvement and O’Reilly was part of a small group striving to build a road through the forest outside Bunbury.
Any potential escapee faced a choice between escaping into the sea or the unforgiving, unmapped, and mostly deserted Australian interior. Even so, it is estimated that around one third of the, almost ten thousand, convicts sent to Western Australia made escape attempts despite a range of punishments that included one hundred strokes of the lash; six months in solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water; and two years working in irons. Practically all of the escapees were apprehended by the authorities but O’Reilly, aided by a priest McCabe and a local farmer named James Maguire, would prove a stunning exception to this rule.
On the night of 17 February 1869 O’Reilly slipped away from his convict camp to meet with Maguire at a pre-arranged rendezvous point. The farmer led O’Reilly to the Collie River from where they (three Maguires and O’Reilly) used a rowing boat to sail, unnoticed, through the port of Bunbury and 40 miles down the coast to a deserted beach believed to be what is now called Bunker Bay in Geographe Bay where they landed through the surf.
They had no food or water and searched through the nearby paper bark trees for water to no avail. There was an Englishman Johnson living in what is now called Eagle Bay who Maguire knew and thought well of. The Maguires went to Johnson promising to return to O’Reilly with food and water. Maguire returned about midnight with food and water and then returned to the Johnsons to avoid suspicion. O’Reilly spent the night in a makeshift shelter.
The next morning the Maguires returned and went to the top of a nearby hill with a “strong glass”. They spotted the American whaler Vigilante approaching the last headland in Geographe Bay (as prearranged by Father McCabe) and launched the boat through the surf and rowed out past Shelly Cove/Pt Marchant. However when the Vigilante was within two miles of them she changed her course and sailed past.
Bitterly disappointed they returned to the beach at Bunker Bay. They had to take Johnson into their confidence as the Maquires now had to return to Bunbury and make arrangements with another whaler to take O’Reilly to USA. They made arrangements with Johnson for him to bring O’Reilly food and water in the meantime.
O’Reilly thought that the Vigilante might still be searching for him. He asked Johnson’s boy if there was another row boat, as the one he had arrived in was too heavy for one person. Johnson’s boy said there was one buried in the sand at the ‘horse range’ further up the coast. I can only think that this was somewhere near Meelup as most beaches along that section of coast don’t have enough sand to bury a boat in. It can’t have been closer to Dunsborough than Meelup as there would have been too great a risk of being discovered. O’Reilly walked 6-7 miles along the beach and eventually found the dory. He refloated it and made it water tight with paperbark. The next morning he set off and before night he had passed the headland (Cape Naturaliste) and was in the Indian Ocean. The next day he drifted north and around noon again saw the Vigilante. Although he was close enough to hear voices the Vigilante did not see him and sailed off again.
O’Reilly rowed through the night and by morning was off the sandhills on the headland of Cape Naturaliste (The Other Side of the Moon). He reached them at noon and walked back to the Johnsons at Eagle Bay by nightfall. He remained there for 5 days until the Maguires returned with the news that Captain Gifford of the bark Gazelle would take O’Reilly on board.
Image: 2000s Cape Naturaliste map.
The next morning they all went down to the Bunker Bay beach where they had left the rowboat. The Johnson’s accompanied them to see them off. O’Reilly and the Maguires launched it through the surf and rowed towards the headland (Shelley Cove/Pt Marchant). By noon they saw two whale ships coming towards them and toward evening they met up and O’Reilly was taken on board.
O’Reilly eventually reached the United States after a long voyage. He quickly established a reputation as a poet and author. He established contact with Fenians in the US and they raised money to buy a whaling ship (the Catalpa) which sailed to Fremantle and successfully rescued the remaining Fenians held in Western Australia.
A big thank you to Dunsborough photographer Ian Wiese for researching and editing this interesting piece of South West history.
This account of the escape of John Boyle O’Reilly is taken from the book “John Boyle O’Reilly – His Life Poems and Speeches” by James Jeffrey Roche published in 1891.
As it describes events that occurred in the South West around Eagle Bay, Bunker Bay and Cape Naturaliste I have attempted to add place names that are missing from the original or indeed any report I have seen of his escape. You can read the original Life of John Boyle O’Reilly on Wikipedia.
It is a good read!
John Boyle O’Reilly was a Fenian – a member of an Irish group that aimed to rebel against British Rule in Ireland and establish a republic. He was arrested when he was betrayed and sentenced to death – almost immediately commuted to life imprisonment.
Image: 1890s John Boyle O’Reilly image from James Jeffrey Roche’s book.
O’Reilly spent time in UK prisons such as Pentonville, Millbank, and Dartmoor, among others. He attempted to escape from Dartmoor but was recaptured before he was eventually transported from England. By 1867 the process of transporting convicts from Britain and Ireland to Australia was almost at its end but O’Reilly found himself among a group of Fenians aboard a ship travelling to what was then called the Penal Colony of Western Australia. That ship, which left England in October 1867, was the Hougoumont and it would prove to be the last vessel ever to transport convicts to the southern continent.
O’Reilly arrived at the Western Australian port of Fremantle in January 1868, although he would spend only a few weeks at the prison. He was then detailed to work in a road-building party near the town of Bunbury.
To this day he remains a legendary figure in Western Australian history, almost entirely because of his dramatic escape from the colony. John Boyle O’Reilly was the first man to ever successfully escape from the penal colony. Most convicts in the colony were engaged in some form of land improvement and O’Reilly was part of a small group striving to build a road through the forest outside Bunbury.
Any potential escapee faced a choice between escaping into the sea or the unforgiving, unmapped, and mostly deserted Australian interior. Even so, it is estimated that around one third of the, almost ten thousand, convicts sent to Western Australia made escape attempts despite a range of punishments that included one hundred strokes of the lash; six months in solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water; and two years working in irons. Practically all of the escapees were apprehended by the authorities but O’Reilly, aided by a priest McCabe and a local farmer named James Maguire, would prove a stunning exception to this rule.
On the night of 17 February 1869 O’Reilly slipped away from his convict camp to meet with Maguire at a pre-arranged rendezvous point. The farmer led O’Reilly to the Collie River from where they (three Maguires and O’Reilly) used a rowing boat to sail, unnoticed, through the port of Bunbury and 40 miles down the coast to a deserted beach believed to be what is now called Bunker Bay in Geographe Bay where they landed through the surf.
They had no food or water and searched through the nearby paper bark trees for water to no avail. There was an Englishman Johnson living in what is now called Eagle Bay who Maguire knew and thought well of. The Maguires went to Johnson promising to return to O’Reilly with food and water. Maguire returned about midnight with food and water and then returned to the Johnsons to avoid suspicion. O’Reilly spent the night in a makeshift shelter.
The next morning the Maguires returned and went to the top of a nearby hill with a “strong glass”. They spotted the American whaler Vigilante approaching the last headland in Geographe Bay (as prearranged by Father McCabe) and launched the boat through the surf and rowed out past Shelly Cove/Pt Marchant. However when the Vigilante was within two miles of them she changed her course and sailed past.
Bitterly disappointed they returned to the beach at Bunker Bay. They had to take Johnson into their confidence as the Maquires now had to return to Bunbury and make arrangements with another whaler to take O’Reilly to USA. They made arrangements with Johnson for him to bring O’Reilly food and water in the meantime.
O’Reilly thought that the Vigilante might still be searching for him. He asked Johnson’s boy if there was another row boat, as the one he had arrived in was too heavy for one person. Johnson’s boy said there was one buried in the sand at the ‘horse range’ further up the coast. I can only think that this was somewhere near Meelup as most beaches along that section of coast don’t have enough sand to bury a boat in. It can’t have been closer to Dunsborough than Meelup as there would have been too great a risk of being discovered. O’Reilly walked 6-7 miles along the beach and eventually found the dory. He refloated it and made it water tight with paperbark. The next morning he set off and before night he had passed the headland (Cape Naturaliste) and was in the Indian Ocean. The next day he drifted north and around noon again saw the Vigilante. Although he was close enough to hear voices the Vigilante did not see him and sailed off again.
O’Reilly rowed through the night and by morning was off the sandhills on the headland of Cape Naturaliste (The Other Side of the Moon). He reached them at noon and walked back to the Johnsons at Eagle Bay by nightfall. He remained there for 5 days until the Maguires returned with the news that Captain Gifford of the bark Gazelle would take O’Reilly on board.
Image: 2000s Cape Naturaliste map.
The next morning they all went down to the Bunker Bay beach where they had left the rowboat. The Johnson’s accompanied them to see them off. O’Reilly and the Maguires launched it through the surf and rowed towards the headland (Shelley Cove/Pt Marchant). By noon they saw two whale ships coming towards them and toward evening they met up and O’Reilly was taken on board.
O’Reilly eventually reached the United States after a long voyage. He quickly established a reputation as a poet and author. He established contact with Fenians in the US and they raised money to buy a whaling ship (the Catalpa) which sailed to Fremantle and successfully rescued the remaining Fenians held in Western Australia.
A big thank you to Dunsborough photographer Ian Wiese for researching and editing this interesting piece of South West history.
Click on this link to view or purchase Ian’s prints Ian Wiese’s Photography blog.
Footnote: An Irish pub J.B. O’Reilly’s in Cambridge Street West Leederville is named after John Boyle O’Reilly.
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