Bully Hayes
William Henry "Bully" Hayes (1827 or 1829 – 1877) was a ship's captain who engaged in blackbirding in the 1860s and 1870s and whose arrival on any Pacific Island would cause islanders to hide in fear of being kidnapped and shipped off to be a labourer on some distant plantation.
Hayes operated across the breadth of the Pacific in the 1850s until his murder on 31 March 1877 by his cook Peter Radeck, or "Dutch Pete". Hayes has been described as a South Sea pirate and "the last of the Buccaneers". However James A. Michener & A. Grove Day, in their account of his life, warn that it is almost impossible to separate fact from legend in his life; they described Hayes as “a cheap swindler, a bully, a minor confidence man, a thief, a ready bigamist” and comment there is no evidence that Hayes ever took a ship by force in the tradition of a pirate or privateer.
There are two stories as to how he earned his nickname "Bully": one explanation is that “Bulli” is Samoan for “elusive” or “evasive”; the second explanation is that he was called "Bully" because of his behaviour towards his crew. He was a large man who used intimidation against his crew, although he could be very charming if he chose to be, as well as being capable of generosity to Pacific Islanders in need.
Read more about Bully Hayes: Early Career, Australia, New Zealand, Blackbirding On The Rona, The Wreck of The Leonora, The Final Voyage On The Lotus, Louis Becke and Bully Hayes, Bibliography, Popular Culture
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