Of Tragedy and Valor
Leonard Bolger

Leonard Bolger was born in 1871 at Port Victor (Victor Harbor) to parents Edward R Bolger and mother Mahalia Bolger (nee Weymouth).

Records show that Leonard fathered 2 children prior to his marriage in 1895.

• James Leonard Franklin (1890 - 1915).
  James was born the illegituimate son of Leonard Bolger & Sarah Ann Franklin. He was cared for by the State Children's Department SA.

• Alice Selina Voce (1894 - 1952).
  Alice was born illegitimate daughter of Leonard Bolger & Emily Higgins. She was cared for by of the State Children's Department SA.

  • • Ronald William Mott was born in 1923 the son of Alice Voce. He died: 16 November 2013, aged 90 years

In 1899 at age 28 Leonard volunteered for the SA Naval Force  for 3 years and extended for another 3 years in 1903. His S.A. Naval Record gave his complexion was dark, his hair D.B. (Dk. Brown), his eyes blue and he had a scar over his eye.

He served on the aboard the HMCS Protector. The Protector was a large flat-iron gunboat commissioned and purchased by the South Australian government in 1884, for the purpose of defending the local coastline against possible attacks in the aftermath of the 'Russian scare', of the 1870s. She arrived in Adelaide in September 1884 and served in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I and World War II. 

Leonards occupation was  listed variously as Storekeeper, Fisherman & Harbour Master. He also drove the Horse Tram at Victor Harbor.

On the 21st August, 1895, at Encounter Bay Leonard married Fannie Howe, the youngest daughter of the late Mr. J. C and E. Howe. Witnesed by Charles Cakebread, Farmer, of Encounter Bay & Rose Rumbelow of Encounter Bay.

Leonard lived (at various times) in Victor Harbor, Goolwa, Narrung & Port Albert.

          1927 - Victoria (see The Register 3/6/1927)

          1931 - Port Albert, Vic (electoral roll)

          1936 - Port Albert, Vic (electoral roll)

          1944 - 87/90 Esplanade Town on the Goolwa (water rates account).

          1948 - 87/90 Esplanade Town on the Goolwa (general rates account).

Death Notice - BOLGER

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931-1954) 

Tuesday 27 October 1953

On October 26, at Yarram , Victoria, Leonard, beloved husband of the late Francis, dearly beloved father of Jean (Mrs. J. Rosenzweig, Tanunda), devoted granddad of Barbara, Kay, Maisie, Ruth and Geoffrey, late Narrung and Goolwa, South Australia. In his 82nd year. Resting where no shadows fall. Funeral Tuesday, Yarram."

The fishing boat Lerunna

In 1937 Leonard Bolger purchased the Lerunna for £325 to be used for shark fishing out of Port Albert, Victoria. At the time 5 ft sharks were selling in Melbourne, gutted, at £3 per cwt.  Lerunna arrived at her new home port on 21 August after an uneventful passage of three days, with a crew of two including her owner. Leonard would return to Goolwa by 1947. 

Tasmanian Fishing Boat Arrives at Port Albert

The Mercury (Hobart, Tas.: 1860-1954) , Tuesday 24 August 1937

The fishing boat Lerunna, which was sold recently by a Hobart owner, Mr. W. Gates, to Mr. L. Bolger, of Victoria, reached Port Albert at 6 p.m., on Saturday after an uneventful trip. Mr. Bolger will use her in the shark fishing industry. He stated that there was a market for sharks in Melbourne up to £3 cwt. being paid for sharks about 5ft. long. The Lerunna left Hobart on August 18.

Vessel Leerunna

Vessel number HV000800

Designer Alfred Blore

Builder Harold McKay

Date 1914

Vessel Dimensions: 14.32 m × 13.72 m × 1.68 m (47 ft × 45 ft × 5.5 ft)

https://arhv.sea.museum/objects/208052/leerunna 

LEERUNNA, originally known as LERUNNA, was built in 1914 by Harold McKay in Woodbridge Tasmania.  The name LERUNNA, or LERANNA, is the eastern Tasmanian Indigenous word for flounder, or stingaree.  LEERUNNA was built as a fishing vessel for William Gates, who was first to receive a certificate of competency as a master of a fishing  vessel in 1890. It was designed by Alfred Blore as an auxiliary fishing yawl.

LEERUNNA is 47 ft in length, batten seamed and made of locally sourced Huon Pine. It was  originally gaff rigged, and is now a sloop, further installed with a 51 year old 6 litre Gardener diesel engine.  LEERUNNA was the first fishing vessel in Tasmania to have a pot hauler winch, a mechanism designed to  minimize the effort required in the lifting of heavy fish nets and traps. Created from a shark line hauler,  this mechanism was used primarily for crayfishing. A comprehensive account of LEERUNNA's operational  history by Graeme Broxon is detailed below: Lerunna seems to have worked in the scale fish industry in  south and eastern waters under her original ownership. Gates was a prominent figure in Tasmanian  fishing, and in the late 1920s Lerunna worked on the behalf of the Tasma Fish Company (a cooperative of  four owners including Gates), which was in opposition to Hobart’s leading fisheries cartel, the Casimaty  brothers. In June 1927 fishermen Leslie and Edward Bennett were arrested for stealing fish from Lerunna  at the Tasma Co.’s sheds at Battery Point. 

In 1937 Lerunna was sold to Port Albert interests for £325 to be  placed in the Bass Strait shark fishing industry, and a further £150 was spent refitting her, now rerigged as  a ketch with a Bermudan mizzen. At the time 5 ft sharks were selling in Melbourne, gutted, at £3 per cwt.  Lerunna arrived at her new home port on 21 August after an uneventful passage of three days, with a crew of two including her owner. Her new owner was Leonard Bolger, formerly of Goolwa SA. Leonard was a fisherman at Port Albert for many years, but had returned to Goolwa by 1947. 

A relatively small vessel  working in dangerous waters, Lerunna (or Leerunna) has been involved in a number of incidents over the  years. At around 1 a.m. on 4 August 1915 Lerunna was working off Wedge Island when one of her crew of  three, Patrick Markey, fell overboard and drowned. At the time Lerunna was operating under a crew of  three including her master E. Sproule. 

In September 1938 she was involved in a rescue when another Port  Albert shark-boat, the 14-ton former Furneaux Group trader Coogee, sprang a leak and foundered in a  gale. In January 1947 she made headlines by being involved with the first recorded landing of explorers on Rodondo Island off Wilson’s Promontory. Later the same year she was reported being forced to shelter for  about a fortnight from heavy weather in the Kent Group. 

After about ten years working out of Port Albert, Victoria, Harold Rattenbury nearly lost her on her delivery voyage back to Hobart when she sprang a leak  off the Kent Group in Bass Strait. She was beached at St. Helens, but the source of the leak could not be found, so she continued on to Hobart. Here, on being hauled up on Taylor's Slip at Battery Point, the  garboard plank fell off between the stern post and the well. Its fastenings had completely decayed and it  was only being held there by the external water pressure. 

Late in June 1952 fears were held for the safety  of Lerunna and her crew of three including the owner’s son Ray when the vessel failed to return after she  was a fortnight out of Dunalley on a crayfishing trip to the Furneaux Group that was expected to take a  week. It was later found that she had been sheltering from bad weather at Preservation Island, and on 27  June put into Lady Barron with a large cargo of crays. On 30 July 1987 Leerunna was rolled completely over off Port Davey by a six-metre wave and lost her wheelhouse. 

A few years after this, Leerunna was sold to Brisbane owners who converted her into a yacht with minimal external alteration. Later in 1993 she was  advertised for sale for $85,000, and sold to new owners who took her to Townsville, but by 2014 was  based on the Clarence River NSW, where she has recently undergone further restoration without  significant modification. 

The Argus, Friday 7th August 1931

PORT ALBERT, Thursday - A fierce gale struck the Port Albert fishing fleet when it was nine miles out to sea at 1 o'clock this afternoon. The fishing gear was abandoned, and the boats almost filled on the run to the boat harbour entrance. Grave fears were entertained for Messrs. Beansland and Lipscombe, who were last seen with sails set some miles out to sea. Messrs. Goulden Bros and crew, and Mr. L. Bolger and crew, after reaching port, decided to go in search of the missing men. They found them returning. They had been driven out to sea several times."

Gippsland Times, Thursday 16 January 1936

"... To detect a snake crossing a fresh water stream is nothing extraordinary, but many people are unaware that sea water is not a deterrent when such reptiles are intent upon shifting quarters. While at work last week beaconing the channel leading to Boat Harbor, Mann's Beach, Mr. Len Bolger noticed a snake swimming across the channel. It was soon disabled with a boat hook, and when taken aboard fought desperately. The snake was found to be of the tiger species, and measured 5 feet. - 'Standard.' "

MARRIED 50 YEARS

The Advertiser, Wednesday 23 August 1945

Mr. and Mrs. L. Bolger, of Goolwa, celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding at the Victor Harbour Town Hall on Tuesday night last when about 50 guests attended. They were married at Encounter Bav on 21st August 1895, by the Rev. T. S. Williams. 

Mr. Bolger is the youngest son of the late Mr. and Mrs. E. R. Bolger, and his wife was formerly Miss Fannie Howe, youngest daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Howe. 

The loyal toast and that of "The Forces" were proposed by Mr. W. G. Sawyers, and that of the couple by Mr. E. L. Bolger, of Port Lincoln. Musical items were rendered by Mr. W. Barnett, Mr. K. S. Rumbelow, and Stan Barber, and dancing was indulged in by the younger members of the party. Members of the family present were Messrs. E. L. Bolger, Mesdames H. Turner, K. Harris, N. Sawyers, and D. Lewis.'

Public Notice - BOLGER

The Advertiser, Thursday 21 August 1952

 Jean, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. Bolger, late Narrung and Goolwa, wishes to announce her parents 57th anniversary of wedding, solemnised Encounter Bay, August 21, 1895. Present address, Port Albert, Victoria."