The brig Amy at Belmore Basin. Photo: Wollongong Library.
In the mid 1830s John Cunningham took on two apprentices at Wollongong’s Belmore Basin and one was named Davis (no relation).
That apprentice was a son of a schoolmaster named William Davis who became Wollongong’s second schoolteacher and had the less than luxurious pleasure of teaching his classes in the salubrious environment of Charles Throsby Smith’s barn.
His son (who was likely advised that teaching in a barn was not much fun and the building of boats might be a better bet) had been given the unusual name of “Rock” for a very specific reason.
The ship Mary Catherine under the command of Benjamin Rock Jones on its voyage to Australia first carried Mr William Davis, teacher, Mrs Sarah Davis and their children William, George, John, Benjamin, Elizabeth, Mary and Ann. But another child was born to the couple during the voyage and, in honour of the captain, was given the name Rock Davis.
William Davis was appointed a schoolmaster almost straight off the ship on 21 October 1833.
At Wollongong he was paid £50 per annum for teaching eight boys and 12 girls. Later returns show William as receiving only £40 and Mrs Sarah Davis as receiving £10, presumably teaching sewing.
Upon being appointed to another school the family moved and young Rock Davis went on to become a key part of a major ship-building industry dynasty conducted by the extended Davis family at Kincumber, NSW.
Here on Brisbane Water, the family built many vessels – and the settlement today known as Davistown is still today their legacy – but the move to the Kincumber area did not entirely sever the family’s connection with the Illawarra.
Up north the sons and grandchildren of William Davis went on to much success as serious shipbuilders at Cockle Creek, Terrigal and Davistown.
And it was a brother of Rock Davis, Thomas, who went on to build the brig Amy (220 tons; 31. 5 x 7. 5 x 3.3 metres) at Terrigal Haven in 1872. And this vessel still has in 2025 its own lasting Illawarra legacy in the form of a monument erected at Thirroul in 1898.
As the son of a long Australian line of sailors I would have hoped to have been schooled in what a “brig” actually was but, unfortunately, it is a term that has often been used rather loosely.
Fortunately, Wollongong Library holds a fine photo of the Amy at Belmore Basin prior to its demise.
After launching, the Amy was towed from Terrigal Haven to Sydney by the tug Goolwa. Its owner was Robert Cox, a Sydney timber merchant. In 1880 it was sold to Charles Warburton, Sydney, and appears to have been generally used as a collier after this date.
On the afternoon of 13 February 1898 the Amy (presumably carrying some coal, although one report claims it was ballast) was caught in a gale after leaving Wollongong for Sydney. It broke up off Thirroul Beach and all hands were lost.
And so it turns out one of the Illawarra generational legacies of the skills of Rock Davis had by 1898 come both full circle and to a sad end.
The Amy monument erected at Thirroul only listed the captain’s name but many years later I researched the names of the remainder of the crew that could be conclusively verified to have perished for them to be also included on the monument. However two unsolved mysteries remain. Was there another unlisted man and also an unlisted woman also aboard the vessel as some claim?
In yet another instance of history coming full circle one of the international crew who missed being listed on the monument in 1898 – Jorgen Herman Ludvigsen – had a pipe that Ludvigsen’s father used to smoke brought to Thirroul and placed against the monument in a photo you can see above.
His cousins brought it to Australia as a gift to the Sydney-based relations more directly descended from Jorgen Herman Ludvigsen with the initials JHL being engraved on the silver lid of the pipe.
This year was the 127th anniversary of the wreck of the brig Amy. But thanks to YouTube we can today look at a fine underwater video of the remains of the wreck.
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