Captain John Marble

Captain John C Marble was one of eight children born to James Marble and Mary Tew on 31 October 1813 in Massachusetts, America. His brother George became a whaling captain. Two of his brothers Adonirian and Benjamin were aboard the brig Benjamin Franklin which was wrecked off the coast of Western Australia in 1850. The brig went down with all hands.

John went to sea as a green hand. He worked his way up to First Mate aboard the whale barque Pilgrim. He also worked aboard Oak and Java. He made Master in 1843, and his first command was Leonidas. Whaling voyages were generally two to three years long, but generally they lasted until the hold was full of oil. Should there be an opportunity to consign the oil during the voyage, a ship could remain at sea for longer.

In 1946 James commanded the Gold Hunter, and in 1857 the Kathleen. In 1960James took up his final command aboard the Ashawonks. She was a 337 ton barque fitted for whaling. She was built in 1830, and she was based at the whaling port of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She could launch four whaleboats, each manned with four pulling hands a headsman and a boat steerer.

James married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Wrightington in 1845.He was 31 years of age, and Lizzie was 20.Their first son Frederic was born in 1846.Sadly, he died in 1846 while John was at sea In 1850 Lizzie gave birth to a second son, George “Freddie” Marble. From 1857 Lizzie and Freddie sailed with James and were aboard for his final two voyages.

James was using Albany, Augusta and Busselton to resupply and load fresh water before the settlements were established. Early settlers were growing their own food and were happy to trade fresh vegetables for salted meat, leather and tools that whaleships carried aboard.

Lizzie was a keen shell collector, and James assisted her to build a noteworthy collection along the whaling route from America to the Antarctic. Lizzie also kept a journal with detailed reports of the day to day life aboard a whaleship. She recorded sea shanties lyrics, food, moorings, whales caught, and weather conditions throughout their voyages. She also made needlepoint pieces with an accomplished hand. Lizzie was a member of the small sisterhood of women who sailed with their husbands and children, keeping journals, and managing trade and supplies. Lizzie was fierce, resourceful and resilient.

In 1860 the Awashonks was part of the annual fleet headed south from America with Polar Star, Milton and Java. Awashonks was catching whales and producing many barrels of oil. It was not a voyage without adventure or tragedy, however .In 1861 a crew member died from pleurisy, another was injured when struck by a whale off the coast of Bali in January. A third man was lost overboard in July when he fell from the yardarm. The barque lost an anchor in July. In August a 19 year old English lad and a young Spanish hand fell overboard in separatee incidents. Both young men were rescued and recovered from their ordeals and cooked for the crew for the rest of the voyage. In October a whaleboat was stoved in by a whale and was lost.

There was also dysentery aboard the Awashonks. John fell ill and was confined to his bunk with the illness for approximately three weeks. He died on 22 October 1861, just before his 48th birthday.

Lizzie was bereft. She remained stalwart in front of the crew, however, and she instructed First Mate Hiram Cleveland to make for Geographe Bay on the Western Australian coast. Hiram took command and with Lizzie’s input he took the Awashonks to Geographe Bay.

Once on land, Lizzie arranged for a coffin and James’ body was placed inside and preserved in whale oil and rum. Lizzie was determined he should be buried in the family plot at Oak Grove Cemetery in Massachusetts. When the coffin leaked in November the crew willingly sealed it.

In December Lizzie fell ill with dysentery. She recovered after three weeks and continued to support Hiram to navigate Awashonks to Western Australia.

It took some months to return to America, whaling along the way. Once there, James was buried with his first son, parents and family at the Oak Grove Cemetery. Lizzie was buried with them in 1894 when she died at the age of 68 years.

The Awashonks continued whaling. In total she made 12 voyages between 1830 and 1871.

She made eight voyages from Falmouth to the Pacific, and four from New Bedford to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, two with the added time to whale in the North Pacific.

In 1871 she was with a large whaling fleet of 40 ships in the Arctic. The ice moved and crushed 33 of the 40 ships, including the Awashonks. Her crew was moved to a surviving ship and all were safe. It was a violent end to a barque with 41 productive years in the whaling industry.

Lizzie’s journals, documents, needlework, and her large shell collection are housed for display in the New Bedford Whaling Museum.