Early shipwrights: Ned Jack - Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council

Early shipwrights: Ned Jack
Edwin Alexander (Ned) Jack was born in Hobart in 1859, and
learned how to construct boats from the late T Morland. After
Ned went out on his own he constructed many vessels in Hobart
including the fishing boats the Legara, Parata, and Myllipa.
In 1885 Ned moved to Launceston, and together with Fred
Moore started boat building near Canal Street. Two years
later he moved to Trevallyn, and his yard was never idle after
that time. One of the finest cruising yachts built was the
ketch-rigged Lahloo, for Mr McCaughn, of Melbourne, which
afterwards became a fishing boat on the Derwent. Among the
trading and fishing ketches built at Trevallyn were the Dawn,
Ada Burgess, Harriet Alice, Ivy Florence, and the Anglo-Svea.
When asked how many boats he had built Ned said he was
unable to give an estimate, but they certainly numbered well
over 1,000. From the time he started he was always building a
boat or two at a time, and as many as 25 had been turned out
in a year. Ned died in 1946.
The Parappa 1915
One of the typical fishing boats built in the Jack boatyard in the early 1900s was the Parappa which
was originally built for Ned and Jack Pulfer as a gaff-rigged yawl, with a low freeboard, a stern coach
house, a large wet well and a low fo’c’stle. Her original gaff rig was replaced by a Bermudan rig around
the 1950s. In 1921 Parappa was sold to Hobart fishmonger William Bowtell, and then in 1936 she
was bought by the Jager family of Lune River, who repaired, adapted and modernised her for
fishing around Tasmania over the next 68 years. The well held about 80 score of crayfish
- at 24 to a Tasmanian fisherman’s score, ie about 2000 crayfish.
The Riawe 1912
The Riawe is another Ned Jack boat built in 1912 from Huon pine. With a carvel construction,
at 36’ Riawe was built for Capt. James Holyman as a freight vessel, as well as for recreational use and
guided herds of cattle between Robbins Island and Smithton on the mainland. She continued as a
cargo vessel on the Tamar after being purchased by Gordon Allison in 1929. Shortly after war broke
out in 1939, Riawe was commandeered by the Navy and taken to Devonport.
Charles Gulliver bought Riawe in 1954 and converted her for cray fishing, working between the
Tamar River and Triabunna. He renamed her the Lady Pam and had the misfortune to put her on the
rocks on Cape Barren Island. Gulliver got ashore and walked overland to a settlement, then returned
by sea when the weather cleared, expecting to find a wreck. Instead he found the vessel intact with
only minor scratches and was able to tow the boat off. The next owner was Wallace Cox from
Bicheno who operated the craft from 1963 until 1968.
The Julie Burgess 1936
Another of the well known vessels built by Ned Jack in 1936 for Captain Harry Burgess was
the Julie Burgess (left). 64ft (19.5m) long, 16ft (4.9m) beam, 7ft (2.1m) draft, 38 tonnes gross,
(34t net) the ketch was used in the Bass Strait cray-fishing industry, except when she was used
as a cable ship in Bass Strait at the outbreak of World War II. She was eventually retired in
1985. Five generations of this leading Devonport family owned and operated fishing vessels
in the Bass Strait from 1898.
The Devonport City Council purchased Julie Burgess from Captain Dick Burgess
and has since refurbished her.
Rhona H 1942
The Rhona H was another Ned Jack vessel, a traditional gaff rigged topsail
ketch launched in 1942. At 52ft the Huon Pine fishing vessel was built for
Frier Youl of Symmons Plains. She was sold in about 1950 to Max Hardy,
a Stanley fisherman. Max borrowed 4,000 pounds to buy the Rhona H.
‘It seemed to us to be all the money in the world then. It was a battle, but we
worked away at our goal, and ended up having her for 26 years, fishing for
crayfish, couta and shark in Bass Strait and on the West coast.’ says Max.
Max then built the Jennifer Hardy especially to fit into Temma Harbour. But
while he was fishing out of Temma, his beloved Rhona H was lying idle at
Stanley, so he sold Jennifer Hardy to son Garry for $1.
After 40 years of fishing, in 1989 Rhona H was converted for Tasmanian
chartering. Rigged as an auxiliary gaff ketch with jib headed topsails,
Rhona H was Hobart-based for many years, conducting East Coast
charters till the late 1990’s. In 1998 she sailed from Sydney to Hobart with
the Tall Ships fleet. In 1999 Rhona H moved to Launceston where she
conducted many Bass Strait crossings under skipper and owner
Bruce Potter, including twice competing in the Three Peaks Race,
Vintage Division, as well as regular trips to the
Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart.
Photo Bruce Potter.
Greater detail about Ned Jack and his vessels can be found in the February/March Issue of Fishing Today : www.tsic.org.au