Joseph Carter

In 1875 the schooner Onward was working in the pearl grounds at Banningarra, 60 kilometres north of Nicol Bay [Karratha]. A twenty-four-year-old man called Joseph P Carter was aboard Onward. The vessel seems to have been unregistered, and it is unclear which role Carter had aboard, although the newspapers stated he was working.

Schooners often carried a European bookkeeper to keep track of the shell caught, to pay the crew and order provisions. The shell opener was often a European. Shell openers found the pearls and were considered trustworthy. They recorded pearls they found and handed them to the master or perhaps locked them away until the crew went ashore.

On 1 November, Carter was reading on his bunk. A Malay woman was cleaning another bunk in the cabin. She found a revolver in the bunk, which she held, and then pointed towards Carter. It does not appear she held any malice at all, and she was not aware the revolver was loaded. Carter was shot in his chest

Carter died three minutes after he was shot. Onward took his body to Cossack, arriving on 5 November. The body has decomposed in the November heat, so an inquest was held immediately. The inquest determined Carter’s death was accidental.

Carter’s body was buried that evening in Cossack cemetery. He was the sole support for his mother and two sisters.

On 23 December Onward was one of ten luggers in the Mary Ann Patch, near Broome, with more boats to the west of them. A cyclone struck. Multiple boats ad 56 lives were lost. Onward escaped destruction. Some boats ran into the creeks and were saved from sinking. Pearlers had not learned the dangers of operating in the cyclone seasons.