The bravery of a 13-year-old Nova Scotia boy more than 200 years ago may have influenced the province’s legacy of helping people in distress, according to a Halifax writer.
In November 1797, a British warship ran aground off the coast near Herring Cove. A young boy braved stormy conditions, rowing a small dinghy through the rough waters to reach desperate survivors.
For two centuries he has been known only by a nickname — Joe Cracker.
Few know the tale today, but a dirt road and a small plaque in Halifax keep his memory alive.
Halifax scientist John R. Dickie said he became fascinated with the story of the HMS Tribune three decades ago. The wreck was a favourite of local divers at the time and was easily accessible from shore.
“I just learned more and more about it, as I did with any shipwrecks that we dove … the story intrigued me,” Dickie said.
“There were so many pieces to it. And … the heroism of the boy was a nice added dimension.”
Dickie’s fascination led to the publication of his 2009 book Age of Heroes. It tells the story of the wreck and uncovers details about the enigmatic Joe Cracker.
The ship that would become HMS Tribune was launched in Rochefort, France in 1793 during the French Revolution with the name Charente Inférieure, Dickie said. It was renamed La Tribune the following year and served the French navy.
It was captured by the British in battle in June 1796. The British repaired some damage and pressed it into service as HMS Tribune.
In November of the following year, the Tribune was about to enter Halifax harbour with more than 200 Royal Navy sailors, marines, and some women and children who were permitted aboard.
According to Dickie, it was a clear day and the ship’s sailing master convinced the captain there was no need to wait for a harbour pilot.
The ship ran aground on Thrum Cap, which extends two kilometres out from McNabs Island.
The next high tide lifted the ship from the shoal. By then a nor’easter had swept in.
As the winds caught the sails and the ship got underway again, the crew realized that their rudder had been damaged, Dickie said.
The ship began to drift toward Herring Cove. Four sailors were sent in a small boat to notify the village that the ship was in distress.
The Tribune crashed stern-first into the rocks just off present-day Tribune Head. It sank quickly in the dark of night, and only the masts remained above the surface.
The survivors clung to the masts and the rigging.
Villagers began to gather on the shore, lighting bonfires. They were close enough to the wreck to call to the survivors but were afraid to venture into the rough waters to attempt a rescue.
As the night wore on, more and more people fell into the wind-tossed ocean. By the next day, only about eight survivors were left, according to Dickie.
A 13-year-old boy from Herring Cove could take no more of the suffering. At 11 a.m., he set off toward the ship in his skiff.
He navigated through torn rigging and floating debris and rescued two people who had survived the night. He was able to get them back to the village, Dickie said.
“In doing so, he shamed the adults into going back and rescuing the others,” Dickie said.
“He tried to go out himself again, but he was just a boy and he used all his energy in the first rescue, but it accomplished what needed to be done, which was the recovery of the rest of the survivors.”
In the end, more than 200 people died in the shipwreck. Eight people from the ship and the four men who had been sent out on the small boat were the only survivors.
The boy became known as Joe Cracker — ‘cracker’ denoting excellence. Joe was just a generic first name.
An account late in life by Brenton Haliburton, Nova Scotia’s chief justice and a lieutenant in the army in charge of York Redoubt at the time of the wreck, mentions that the young man was given a career in the navy.
Haliburton said he wasn’t up to the task and returned to Herring Cove.
Dickie dug deeper into the naval and tax records and discovered that Joe Cracker’s real name was almost certainly John Davis.
He said Haliburton’s account says that after leaving the navy, Davis was brought before a local magistrate accused of stealing fish, which may have tarnished his reputation.
Dickie said remembering him as Joe Cracker removes the subsequent failings that marked him as an ordinary human being.
It preserves his memory as a true hero who was willing to perform a selfless act for the sake of helping others, he said.
“We’ve seen that in people reaching out to help people who were stranded here during 9/11. We’ve seen the efforts people made in hopes of maybe recovering any survivors during Swissair,” Dickie said.
“You can’t help but wonder if that aspect of our culture today was influenced by that example of that boy so long ago.”