User:Maypm/Pilot's Cottage, Kiama, New South Wales

The Pilots Cottage is in Blowhole Point Road, Kiama. It was constructed in 1881by the builders Watkin and Ettinghausen and was used as the residence of the harbor pilots until 1978. In 1983 it became the headquarters of the Kiama and District Historical Society and after extensive renovation it was converted into the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage Museum.

The Duties of the Pilot

The Pilot’s most important job was to ensure the safe steerage of ships into the harbor. This was a skilled and often hazardous task. When a ship approached they made a signal that they required assistance to steer the vessel. The signal was often a flag if it was daylight or a blue rocket if it was at night. The pilot would then take a boat out to the ship and climb aboard. If the weather was rough boarding the ship could be extremely difficult and dangerous. Once aboard the pilot steered the boat or issued instruction on the safest route to the harbor dock. Other duties of the pilot included the issuing of weather reports and storm warnings and the supervision of harbor operations and maintenance of buildings. He also had to collect fees, as Customs Officer, and he was in charge of the Life Saving Brigade.

The Pilots

Thomas Tulloch was the first pilot to live in the cottage after it was completed in 1881. Thomas was born in the Shetland Islands, Scotland in 1835. He came to Australia in about 1855 and soon after married Sarah Smith in 1857. Two years later the couple moved to Kiama and Thomas obtained work as the wharfinger (manager) at Kiama Jetty. In 1873 he was appointed to the position of pilot. He also held the job as lighthouse keeper for some time. The couple had five daughters. One local resident remembered him as Tom Tulloch who lived in the house close to the wharf with his bevy of girls and no boys. He died in 1888 and Captain William Fraser became the harbour pilot.

William Fraser was born in Walls, Scotland in 1858. At the age of 17 he came with his brother Robert who was ten years his senior. They found work as mariners and both eventually became sea captains. In 1885 William married Christina Thompson and three years later he was appointed to the position of pilot at Kiama. Robert was later to serve as pilot at Wollongong.

One of William’s greatest achievements was the establishment of a sea rescue brigade at Kiama. They held practice sessions over Storm Bay at regular intervals which were often mentioned in the local newspaper. The procedure was to fire a ball (to which a life line was attached) from a mortar over to the other side of the Bay and then enact a mock rescue. The picture shows the brigade during one of their practices and the small mortar (cannon) can be seen in the centre. William said in 1917 that he still owned this apparatus.

A widely report incident involving William Fraser occurred in 1888 soon after he was appointed to the pilot position. The Sydney Evening News reported:

“At about 2 o'clock yesterday morning Captain Fraser at the pilot station heard a whistle blowing and saw distress lights off the light house point here. He went at once to the harbour rowed out in a small boat, taking two men with him who were fishing on the rocks as assistants. At about five miles east of the lighthouse, the Government tug-boat Ajax, Captain Hutton, with, the dredge in tow, was found in a sinking condition. The stem of the Ajax was submerged and Captain Hutton and the two were found up to their waists in water. In accordance with the pilot’s instructions the Ajax then made for Kiama harbor.

William and the other men received an award from the Minister for Works for their “gallant conduct. In 1917 William was promoted to the position of pilot in Wollongong after his brother Robert had retired from the job. Captain Robert Wardlow Miller succeeded him.

Robert Wardlow Miller was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1878. He came to Australia at the age of 20 and shortly after married Florence Rundle in Newcastle. The couple had six children. For some years Robert was a mariner and eventually became a sea captain. He obtained the job as pilot at Newcastle and then at Moruya. Unfortunately Florence died at Moruya in 1917 at the age of only 35 and Robert had the care of his six children. The following year he obtained the position of pilot at Kiama. In 1921 three years after he moved to Kiama he married Beatrice Swanson who lived in the town. They lived at the pilot’s cottage until Robert’s retirement in 1938.

Francis William Hooper who was born in Wales was the pilot from 1938 until 1952. The last pilot was Athol William Triffit.

The Pilots Cottage Today

Today the Pilots Cottage operates as a Maritime and Regional Museum. It is run by the Kiama and District Historical Society. Detailed pictorial records of Kiama's past can be seen including cedar cutters, the basalt quarrymen and shipping history.