Up
Descendants
Seamans Work Box
Whales Teeth

[ William Alan Wyatt ] [ Captain William Smith ]

Seaman’s Work Box Once owned by Captain William Smith, this seaman’s work box was used to carry the papers and personal effects of the above. Captain Smith was born on Navigator Island, Samoa, in 1840. He left to go to sea when he was twelve years old, as ship's boy aboard the Venus, and later the Offley, in 1852. Graduating to able seaman aboard the Calypso and Prince Regent, he had the work box built and at each port of call, he would add a piece of native timber to the covering of the box. From 1852 until 1870, he served aboard such ships as ‘Flying Childers, Maid of Erin, Waterwitch, Highlander, Calypso, and Othello', until he was granted his master of foreign going ship certificate for the Othello. He would captain almost all of the ships he had served in and more, in the years to come until the decline of the whaling industry. In his seventies and one of the last whaling captains still living, he was asked to show how to ‘try out’ a whale that had been caught in the Derwent River. Shortly after doing this, he became ill and died. He is buried in the Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart. The work box was passed to his daughter, Maryanne, and later to his great granddaughter, Phyllis McDermott. The work box was given to Phyllis’ son, Kim McDermott, in August, 2002. Smith Home