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Daniel Scott

Daniel Scott (1800-1865), Harbour Master, was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Daniel Scott and his wife Janet, née Campbell. His father was a flagmaker for the navy and merchant service.

Daniel Scott arrived 5 August 1829 on the Calista, the second ship to bring passengers to the colony. He invested in the Fremantle Whaling Company which paid for the construction of the Whalers Tunnel underneath Arthur Head. He was also a shipbuilder, and a lead miner.

It was his warehouse (where the main entrance of the Esplanade Hotel now stands) that accommodated the 75 convicts who were the first to arrive in June 1850 on the Scindian.

He was granted: lots 11 and 12, on the western side of Cliff Street towards the southern end; lots 102 and 103 on the western side of Pakenham Street, between Leake Street and High Street; lot 152, which is the site of the warehouse mentioned above, now the main entrance of the Esplanade Hotel, on the corner of Essex St; and lot 267 in Beach Street. He also took one lot at Kingston, on Rottnest, but that township was never developed.

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The prominent three-storey building is Daniel Scott's house. Part of a panorama from 1870, taken the vicinity of the Harbour Master's house (the first courthouse) on Arthur Head, by an unnamed photographer. The first two buildings visible are the police station on the right and the Water Police station on the left.

By 1855 Scott had purchased William Lamb's lot 5 (Lamb died 1853, but had left the colony for SA in 1849), and he built a substantial three-storey house on the NW corner of Cliff and High Streets (Neville 2007: 137) where the Union Bank building (1889) now stands as part of Notre Dame University. Scott owned the property until his death in 1865, when his wife became the owner. It was sold to the bank in 1879 (Library records). As it was known in 1869 as the house of Commissary-General Eichenbaum, the manager of Mrs Scott's estate (she having died in 1865, soon after her husband in the same year) might have let it to him - and then to the Seuberts, who kept is a superior lodging house (where, among others, historian J.K. Hitchcock stayed).

Scott was Deputy Harbour Master from 1829, and then Harbour Master from 1839-1851.
He was the first chairman of the Fremantle Town Trust 1848-1851, 1853-1854, and 1856-1858.

In 1830 Scott married Frances Harriet Davis, daughter of John Okey Davis, who had arrived on the Lotus in October 1829; they had eight daughters and three sons: Jane Frances Scott, Mary Ann Scott, Caroline Elizabeth (Scott) Elliott, Emma Maria Scott, Sophia (Scott) Fauntleroy, Louisa Jane Scott, Walter Scott, Katherine (Scott) Samson [William Frederick], Julia (Scott) Mason and John Campbell Scott. He and Frances were 'married by Special License on board the ship Marquis of Anglesea, the Harbour Master's Office, this eighteenth day of March 1830 by me J. B. Wittenoom Chaplain of the Swan River ... in the presence of us Mary Ann Lamb John Okey Davis'. Mark Currie was Harbour Master (with Scott as Deputy) and was using as his office the wreck of the Marquis of Anglesea, which had been carried onto Anglesea Point in a storm in 1829, and proved useful for many purposes.

The eldest son, Daniel Henry Scott (c. 1834-c. 1874), carried on his father's business; he married Caroline Samson, b. 1845, daughter of Lionel Samson, on 6 October 1870 in St John's, and having died aged 41 of 'debility' in 1874, was buried in Skinner St Cemetery 5 April by Rev. Bostock, leaving no children. Caroline has an impressive monument in the Jewish section of Fremantle Cemetery.

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The headstone which was on the grave of Jane Frances (1831-33), the eldest daughter of Daniel and Frances, had been in use as a hearthstone in the cottage of the Gourley family in East Fremantle, and was discovered in about 1945. It is now on a plot at Anglican A142 in Fremantle, next to the memorial to Daniel Scott at Anglican A141. >

"Sacred to the Memory of Jane Frances Scott. Eldest Daughter of Daniel and Frances Scott of Fremantle. Aged 21 Months and 9 Days. March the 9th 1833."

Recorded as dying at 65 of 'Fatty degeration of heart & enlargemt. liver', Daniel snr was buried 20 February 1865 by the Rev. George Bostock in the Skinner Street Cemetery. I have no information as to his remains being reinterred in the new cemetery in Carrington Street, nor that his gravestone or other monument was brought there. There is no such monument on the Heritage Trail.
Frances Harriet Scott died at 57 of 'change of life' and was interred 2 November 1865, only nine months after her husband's death, also by Rev. George Bostock in the Skinner St Cemetery.

Fremantle Pilots:
Daniel Scott was the son of a flagmaker for both the royal and merchant navies. As a boy he ran away to sea and at 21 was Captain of a small cargo ship that traded between the Gold Coast in Africa and the Caribbean. During one voyage he rescued three men adrift in an open boat and was subsequently commended by the Royal Humane Society.
On 5 August 1829 he arrived in Fremantle on board the Calista, and was appointed Deputy Harbourmaster and Pilot for a salary of £100. He built his own jetty in Fremantle, and operated his own boats up and down the coast establishing critical trade routes for newly formed settlements. Captain Scott was also largely responsible for having the first sea-going vessel built in the colony of Western Australia, launching the Lady Stirling in May 1836.
An active leader in pressing for local government in Fremantle, he was elected as the first chairman of the Fremantle Town Trust in January 1848 and held the position three times over the next ten years. He was also an honorary member of the local volunteer company and he strongly supported the local Church of England. His religious convictions had been strengthened by his experiences as a young seafarer and he became a guarantor for the first Anglican church built in Fremantle (St John's).
In spite of all these time-consuming public and private activities Captain Scott continued to provide good service as Harbourmaster, often using his own boats and equipment for government duties. An injury to his arm gradually moved him away from pilotage duties, and he resigned his official position as Harbourmaster in February 1851. Fremantle Pilots website.

SCOTT, (Capt) Daniel, b. 1800 (Eng), d. 20.2.1865 (Frem), arr. 5.8.1829 per Calista, m. 18.3.1830 Frances Harriet DAVIS b. 2.10.1807 d. 2.11.1865 (Frem). dtr. of John Okey, she arr. per Lotus. Chd. Jane Frances b. 1831 d. 1833, Mary Ann b. 1832 d. 1903, Daniel Henry b. 1834 d. 1874, Caroline Elizabeth b. 1835 d. 1922, Emma Maria b. 1837 d. 1853, Sophia b. 1839 d. 1899, Louisa Jane b. 1841 d. 1919, son b. 1843 d. at birth, Walter b. 1844 d. 1865, Katherine b. 1846 d. 1941, Julia b. 1848 d. 1920, John Campbell b. 1850 d. 1851. Formerly master of a small cargo ship trading in West Indies. Frem. Harbour Master 8.1829 until resignation 2.1851. 1st Chairman Frem. Town Trust 1848-1851 & 1853-4 & 1856-8. Owned Mary Ann & Pelsart 1853. Promoted business in Geraldton: formed the Geraldton Smelting & Mining Co., which lapsed after his death. Member Frem. Bd. of Educ. 1861. JP 1855. Employed a T/L man 1863 at Frem. His widow employed 6 T/L men 1863-1870 including 2 ostlers & a cook. (Erickson)

Coles:
Daniel Scott (1800-1865), harbourmaster, was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Daniel Scott and his wife Janet, née Campbell. His father was a flagmaker for the navy and merchant service. As a boy Daniel ran away to sea and at 21 was captain of a small cargo ship that plied between the Gold Coast and the West Indies. On one voyage he rescued three men adrift in an open boat and was commended by the Royal Humane Society.
On 5 August 1829 he arrived in the Calista at Fremantle, where he was appointed deputy-harbourmaster and pilot at a salary of £100. He soon found time for commercial ventures. At Fremantle he built his own jetty and used it for his lightering business. Several of his boats traded up and down the coast and his Mary Ann was commissioned by Governor (Sir) James Stirling to transport provisions from Garden Island to the early mainland settlement. Scott was largely responsible for having the first sea-going vessel built in the colony; its launching as the Lady Stirling in May 1836 was a gala occasion. He was also part-owner of the whaler Napoleon in the 1840s and commanded her on one whaling voyage in 1842. In Fremantle he was assigned several blocks which he developed in different ways. On one he built a well for watering ships, and on another a warehouse for wool and grain; it was later used as a convict prison.
With enormous energy Scott supported the pioneers who opened up the colony and he acquired land in several districts. However, he showed little desire to settle as a farmer and his chief interests were centred on Fremantle. An active leader in pressing for local government, he was elected the first chairman of the Fremantle Town Trust in January 1848 and held the position three times in the next ten years. He was also an honorary member of the local volunteer company and he strongly supported the local Church of England. His religious convictions had been strengthened by experience as a young sailor and he became a guarantor of the first church built in Fremantle.
In spite of all these time-consuming public and private activities Scott continued to give good service as harbourmaster, often using his own boats and equipment on government duty. Through injury to an arm he had difficulty with his pilot duties, and he resigned his official position in February 1851. Free to devote all his time to commerce, he concentrated on the Geraldton area, urging the government to open the district for mining. In 1864 he formed the Geraldton Smelting and Mining Co., but it lapsed after his death at Fremantle on 20 February 1865.
Seven months after arrival in Western Australia Scott married Frances Harriet Davis; they had eight daughters and three sons. The eldest son, Daniel Henry, carried on his father's business.

References and links

Coles, P.J. 1967, ADB entry.

Erickson, Rica 1987, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, UWAP. Available online.

Hitchcock, J.K. 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia, 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Hutchison, David 2007, 'Mystery of a headstone', FHS newsletter, Spring: 7-9. [The headstone is that of Jane Frances Scott - shown above.]

Neville, Simon J. 2007, Perth and Fremantle: Past and Present, privately published, WA.

Fremantle Pilots website

Wikipedia page

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 22 June, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/scott.html (it was last updated on 2 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.