Private Journal of Gunner William H. Bound, RN Detailing Service Aboard HM Schooner SANDFLY
Date13 December 1872 -19 September 1874
Object number00056167
NameJournal
MediumPaper, ink, cardboard
DimensionsOverall: 230 × 195 mm
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift of Shirley Dentith and Adrian Bound
DescriptionPrivate journal kept by Royal Navy Gunner William H Bound relating to his outbound voyage to Australia aboard the ship Clara, and subsequent service aboard HM Schooner SANDFLY between 13 December 1872 and 19 September 1874.HistoryThis journal is one of two associated with HM Schooner SANDFLY, one of five vessels specially constructed by Sydney shipbuilder John Cuthbert during the early 1870s for use by the Royal Navy to conduct anti-blackbirding operations in the South Pacific. SANDFLY was launched from Cuthbert's shipyard at MIllers Point on 5 December 1872 and commenced service with the Australia Station the following year. William H Bound, RN joined SANDFLY as the schooner's gunner on 22 May 1873 and served aboard the vessel for nearly three years.
Shortly after Bound joined SANDFLY's crew, the schooner was involved in the seizure of the brig AURORA in October 1873. Aurora was engaged in blackbirding and was seized for violating the Imperial Labour Act, which banned the practice. SANDFLY participated in hydrographic surveys in the waters of Papua New Guinea early the following year, but suffered damage to its rudder during a severe storm and had to be assisted back to Sydney by the crew of the paddle sloop HMS BASILISK. During SANDFLY's third voyage during the latter half of 1874, the vessel was attacked by a large group of islanders in canoes while operating near Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands.
SANDFLY is perhaps best known for the 'SANDFLY Incident', which occurred in October 1880 (after Bound had left the vessel) while the schooner was conducting hydrographic survey work near Guadalcanal in the Solomons. The schooner's commander, Lieutenant James Bower, went ashore at nearby Mandoliana Island with five of SANDFLY's crewmen to survey the eastern shoreline of the adjacent island of Nggela Pile. While encamped, the survey crew came under attack by a group of islanders from nearby Gaeta. Four of the sailors were killed in the initial assault; Bower escaped but was later captured and killed, while the remaining crewman eluded the attackers and swam 16 kilometres to the community of Honggo on Nggela Pile, where he was rescued and taken to safety by other islanders. On 22 October the surviving sailor reached SANDFLY and reported news of the attack to the schooner's officers, who in turn undertook a punitive raid at Rita Bay, opposite Mandoliana Island. No islanders were encountered, but several canoes were burnt on the beach. As the shore party returned to SANDFLY, they were fired upon by a group of islanders, resulting in the death of one sailor and wounding of another. SANDFLYsubsequently returned to Sydney to report the incident, and reprisal raids carried out by the crews of HM Ships Emerald, Cormorant, Alert and Renard resulted in destruction of several houses, canoes and crops belonging to the islanders, as well as the execution of four of the perpetrators who attacked Bower and his men.
SANDFLY was paid off three years later and sold for £1000 to Messrs. Sahl and W.H. Moseley. In an ironic twist, it was soon bound for Tonga to participate in trade with the South Sea Islands--a venture that during the 1880s often included blackbirding. By August 1884, Sandfly had reportedly been bought by the Tongan government. It was later purchased in March 1890 for £350 by Mr H Beattie on behalf of a Sydney-based syndicate. On 3 December 1893, SANDFLY was wrecked on the island of San Christobal in the Solomon Islands while undertaking a trading voyage. All of the crew survived.
William H Bound, RN was born on 20 January 1844 and joined the Royal Navy on 22 December 1855 at the age of 11. He served as a seaman for four years before being promoted to Petty Officer in 1859. Bound was assigned the rank of Gunner 2nd Class on 15 September 1870 and detached to the 104-gun First Rate ship of the line HMS Royal Adelaide. He joined the crew of the 22-gun corvette HMS CLIO for passage to Sydney (where Clio was serving as the flagship of the Australia Station) and was transferred to Sandfly upon his arrival. Following his service on Sandfly, Bound transferred to the 21-gun screw corvette HMS PEARL (which replaced CLIO as the flagship of the Australia Station) on 11 January 1876. He returned to the United Kingdom in June 1876 and was assigned to HMS Excellent, a shore-based installation in Portsmouth, where he served as a 'theoretical instructor' of naval gunnery.
Bound served as a Gunner 2nd Class on several other British warships between 1882 and 1892, including HM Ships Monarch (the first seagoing British warship with gun turrets), Hibernia (which transported convicts to New South Wales in 1818-1819), Neptune (an ironclad turret ship originally built for Brazil, but acquired by the Royal Navy in 1878), and Pembroke (a 74-gun Third-Rate ship of the line). On 1 August 1889, Bound was assigned to HMS President, a drill and training ship berthed at London's West India Docks, and served there until January 1896. During his time aboard President he was promoted to Chief Gunner. Bound's final assignment with the Royal Navy was at the Admiralty, where he was promoted to Honorary Lieutenant and served between 20 January 1896 and 31 March 1904. He was pensioned on 1 April 1904 and died at the age of 75 on 12 January 1919.SignificanceThis journal is one of two that are significant due to their association with HM Schooner SANDFLY, one of five vessels specially constructed by Sydney shipbuilder John Cuthbert during the early 1870s for use by the Royal Navy to conduct anti-blackbirding operations in the South Pacific. Sandfly was launched from Cuthbert's shipyard at MIllers Point on 5 December 1872 and commenced service with the Australia Station the following year. William H. Bound, RN joined SANDFLY as the schooner's gunner on 22 May 1873 and served aboard the vessel for nearly three years.
