25. Elizabeth (Bessie)⁴ CAPORN (Samuel³, Joshua² CAPORNE, Edward¹) (#4861) was born in Scotland 1823. Elizabeth died 17 April 1890 in Perth, Western Australia, at 66 years of age. Her body was interred AFT 17 April 1890 in East Perth, Western Australia, East Perth Pioneers.

She married William LAWRENCE in Fremantle, Western Australia, 6 November 1847.⁽²⁾ (William LAWRENCE is #645.) William was born in Bunkers Hill, Massachusetts, USA 1822.⁽³⁾ William died 16 July 1898 in South Perth, Western Australia, at 76 years of age.⁽⁴⁾ His body was interred 18 July 1898 in East Perth, Western Australia, East Perth Pioneers. He emigrated, ABT 1841. Point of origin: Massachusetts, USA. He was imprisoned in Fremantle, Western Australia, July 1856. William Lawrence (senior) (possibly named DOHRING, or DOERING) ran away to sea, and we understand he was born in Bunkers Hill, Massachusetts USA to a wealthy family. (Bunkers Hill is in Boston on the Charlestown Peninsula, but not currently a suburb?)

Another story researched by the preparer says William's father (or possibly grandfather) left Lawrencetown, County Galway, Ireland for reasons unknown probably settling in Massachusetts. The family were Roman Catholic to the point that their home in Lawrencetown contained a series of rooms in replica of the Vatican in Rome, Italy. Refer http://www.lawrencetown.com/lawrences.htm http://www.lawrencetown.com/index.htm

Anecdotal evidence says that a photo album book acquired by William either from or in Ireland was brought to Perth, WA. It was held by subsequent male Lawrences until Albert who then passed it to Verna, who passed it to this preparer in 1974 as a family book. This book was returned to Galway county library in 1986 (for an historical record) and contained photographs of the Lawrence home in Lawrencetown, East Galway, Ireland with the replica Vatican rooms and family photographs from the late 1700's and early 1800's.

To continue confirmed research - William Lawrence arrived in Australia about 1841 aged 19 years on an American Whaling Barque as a sailor (or as a stowaway named DOERING or DOHRING). He jumped ship at Albany and walked to Perth.

William (#645) married James Caporns' young daughter Elizabeth in 1847. James and family had arrived from England on the ship "Simon Taylor" in 1842. William and Elizabeth eventually produced 8 children. By 1852 he had teamed up with James Caporn to build boats plying the Swan River between Perth and Fremantle.

William was a boat builder with Samuel during the 1850's. In July 1856 William and James (Samuel Caporn's son) aged 21 were both gaoled for stealing gold sovereigns after a heavy drinking bout. James for 6 years and William for 8 years. They were given ticket of leave in 1860 and were free in 1864. William volunteered for the expedition to Cambden Harbour in the Kimberleys and later funded gold seekers Greave and Payne expeditions to Kalgoorlie and Yilgarn (1887) and eventually owned land in Perth covering the area from Hay St to Murray St. (summary by Peter Scotland from family notes)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Western Australian Historical Society Journal. THE BUILDERS OF PERTH By Mr J E Hammond Read before the society, July 31, 1931.

Ship Builders

I shall now deal with shipwrights and boat builders. One of the best known of these was the late Mr. W. Lawrence. He had five sons, three of whom learnt their father's trade. Mr. Sam Lawrence still carries on the old business, but now with the aid of one of the third generation. During the seventy years in which the business was conducted by the late Mr. W. Lawrence, and later by Lawrence and Sons, many boats were built, including three of the earliest steam boats to be built in Western Australia, namely, The City of Perth (about 50 tons), The Advance (about 90 tons), and The Enchantress (about 100 tons). Included among others they built and ran were the Lady Orde, the Bessie, the Jarranup, the Albatross, and the Duchess. Lawrence and Sons built the first and last pearling boat that plied to the North-West. The late Mr. lawrence was a most prominent man in the gold industry, as he supported prospecting and bought many shares. His son played cricket till he was 68 years of age. [end]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Western Australian Historical Society Journal. FROM OAR TO DIESEL ON THE SWAN By Mr K O Murray Read before the society, June 24, 1949.

...mentions the Lawrence families role in their boat building and ferrying services on the Swan River.

Elizabeth (Bessie) and William Lawrence and their family lived in a shingled roof cottage at the corner of Mill Street and Mounts Bay Road, Perth. The well known boat building yards almost opposite, were the birth place of many well known river craft, including the paddle steamer DUCHESS. [end]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THEY KEPT THIS STATE AFLOAT 1829 - 1929 West Australian Shipbuilders by Rod Dyson (Fremantle Maritime Museum)

Extract pp152 - 155.... On December 1st 1852 William Lawrence wrote to the WA Colonial Secretary thus: -

"I hereby tender to carry the mails from Perth to Fremantle and back to Perth from1/1/1853 to 1/1/1854, (weather permitting), for 2 shillings per diem. The mail to be delivered in the summer season at 7am and in the winter at 7.30am. Also to take all the ship's mail by day or night for 20 shillings, (if express, 40 shillings) Signed, William Lawrence"

... By December 1869 William was established as a boat builder and his first yard was on the corner of Mill Street and Bazaar Terrace, now The Esplanade. He then purchased two blocks of land in Perth, Lots Y158 & Y159 running from Aberdeen Street to Newcastle Street and bordered by Fitzgerald Street. However the family lived near to their business and owned four lots in Mill Street. William himself resided at 18 Mill Street and his sons lived at Nos 2, 6 and 8 Mill Street.

Gold was an obsession with William and he financed and sometimes went on expeditions looking for the precious metal and after many trials and tribulations was party to the find of first payable gold in the Yilgarn district. Prior to this discovery though, he requested from the government a covered wagon and horses to prospect a reef within 90 miles of Perth. This was in August 1872.

Our first letter from him firmly places him in the boating industry is dated 15/1/1874 in which he tenders to build two boats for the Water Police, for £87. The tender form is signed by Lawrence & Son. (the son was Samuel).

The Governors recommendation was that Lawrence & Son be given a contract ahead of TW Mews and George Bell.

Again in 1874 they tendered to construct a buoy boat for the Harbour Masters department and fortunately along with the specification, we have the drawings of her by George Forsyth, Harbour Master.

In 1876 they again tendered to build a vessel for the Government to be used in the North West, this time a schooner of from forty to forty five tons burthen.

The first registered vessel built by William Lawrence was the Venus, a cutter of 13 tons and launched on the 5th November 1867. She was taken to the pearling grounds off Cossack and worked there for many years.

Next came Tribune, a cutter of 38 tons built in March 1869.

He was also engaged in building and repairing yachts as shown in the Inquirer (newspaper) on the 18/1/1871 when he advertised the smart yacht Black Swan for sale. Also he was in partnership with George Randell at this time in the ownership of the steamer Friends to assist the dredge Black Swan in her work on the (Swan) River.

Another ad appeared in the Inquirer in April 1871 when he advertised a fast and well built cutter, adapted for the pearling industry just launched. Then in September 1871 came a steam cutter named City of Perth , of 61 tons. Her dimensions were 87 x 17 x 5.5 feet. The newspaper reports that,

"the steamer City of Perth was successfully launched from the yard of W. Lawrence & Sons on Wednesday last, (26th September). She is a smart looking craft of about 50 tons and is intended for the passenger trade between Perth and Fremantle and to make the trip in one hour.

Her engines are of 20 horsepower collective and were fitted up by G Randell & Co for W. Lawrence and Sons who are the sole owners."

In 1875 the Lawrences received a contract from Randell-Knight & Co to build another steamer for their company. While the hull was being constructed Mt Randell went to Melbourne to have the Atlas Company of Engineers construct the engine. These arrived in Perth just as the vessel was launched, which was on the 1/11/1875. She was then taken around to the William Street jetty for fitting out. This was completed by Christmas and she was named the Enchantress. She took her place alongside the Lady Stirling for holiday trips where she became on3e of the most popular steamers. This of course was in conjunction with her normal scheduled trips. She was broken up during 1885.

On the boat 4/9/1878 in the Inquirer there appeared this item,

"Boat for the Lacepedes. Messr's Lawrence and Son, who obtained the contract to build a boat for the government for use at the Lacepede Islands have completed the work and handed the boat over to the government. She is a pretty model, well put together and is a credit to her bulders".

16/10/1878. Also in the Inquirer,

"NEW GIG, Messr's Lawrence & Son are now building a very fine gig, which is expected to be a match for anything in the shape of a boat plying on the river at present time. Her dimensions are 34 feet in length with a beam of 4 feet. Taken with her otherwise fine proportions she without doubt possesses the finest lines of any boat yet built in the colony and it is predicted that with a good crew this gig will be more of a match for the Venus of which many great things are expected at the forthcoming regatta.

The new gig will be rowed by four oars, and is to be called the Rose. Their last production in this line was called the Iris".

All the boat builders took these regattas very seriously, as it was a great way to advertise their business. They not only built the craft but raced them as well and in nearly every regatta held on the Swan you can find Lawrences, Mews, and Watson names prominent. This is evident in the papers of the day (that) reported all of the sporting events assiduously. END

Elizabeth immigrated, 20 August 1842. Destination: Swan River, Western Australia.

Elizabeth (Bessie) CAPORN and William LAWRENCE had the following children:

+ 54 i. Francis (Frank)⁵ LAWRENCE was born ABT 1847.

55 ii. Elizabeth (Bessie) LAWRENCE (#784) was born 1847.⁽⁵⁾ Elizabeth died 1876 at 29 years of age.⁽⁶⁾

56 iii. Female LAWRENCE (#813) was born in stillborn 1848.⁽⁷⁾ Female died 1848 at less than one year of age.

57 iv. William LAWRENCE (#649) was born in Perth, Western Australia 1849.⁽⁸⁾ William died 8 June 1907 in unknown, at 57 years of age.⁽⁹⁾ His body was interred AFT 8 June 1907 in Karrakatta Cemetery, WA, Karrakatta.⁽¹⁰⁾ He married Susannah BAILEY 22 September 1870.⁽¹¹⁾ (Susannah BAILEY is #814.) Susannah was born 1852.⁽¹²⁾ Susannah died 12 October 1910 at 58 years of age.⁽¹³⁾ Her body was interred in Karrakatta Cemetery, WA, Karrakatta.⁽¹⁴⁾ THEY KEPT THIS STATE AFLOAT 1829 - 1929 West Australian Shipbuilders by Rod Dyson (Fremantle Maritime Museum)

Extract pp161 - 168... 15/6/1881, on this date William junior became involved in a lengthy court case involving the sale of a marine steam engine to a Mr Smith. Smith required an engine to power his cabinet making works and agreed to purchase the 4.5 HP engine from Lawrence for £45, however, on installation it was found that it was not equal to the task and various engineers were called in, amongst whom was Edwin Randell, of Randell-Knight & Co. The engineers disagreed on whether the Horsepower was nominal or actual. It would appear that the magistrate became confused as he directed that the deal be rescinded and that the costs be shared.

+ 58 v. Ciscilia (Cecilia) LAWRENCE was born 1 September 1851.

+ 59 vi. Samuel LAWRENCE was born 8 December 1853.

+ 60 vii. Andrew LAWRENCE was born ABT 1855.

61 viii. Mark Alfred LAWRENCE (#811) was born 1861.⁽¹⁵⁾ Mark died 1863 at 2 years of age.⁽¹⁶⁾

62 ix. Walter LAWRENCE (#783) was born 1865.⁽¹⁷⁾ He married Lillian Evelyn FAULKNER 1895.⁽¹⁸⁾ (Lillian Evelyn FAULKNER is #817.)

+ 63 x. Eunice (Unis) LAWRENCE was born 27 April 1867.

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