Teen sulky driver hits stump

Posted bySharyn MoodiePosted inUncategorized

1922 – Fourteen-year-old John Geoghegan was driving home in a sulky with his sister when it hit a stump and overturned.

Busselton cemetery. Image Sharyn Moodie 2020.

They were about six miles from Jarrahwood, a small settlement between Busselton and Nannup in Western Australia.

His sister was thrown clear.

A local woman, Mrs. Buckingham, who was riding home, found the boy pinned to the ground, but was unable to move the cart.

By the time she had summoned help, John was dead. An inquiry found suffocation was the cause.

He is buried in the nostalgic Busselton cemetery.

John’s headstone is broken and lying on the ground. Image Sharyn Moodie 2020

Sources:

 Geraldton Guardian, Thursday 25 May 1922 , p3

Kalgoorlie Miner, Thursday 25 May 1922 , p4

Busselton, WA

Published by Sharyn Moodie

Travelling around Australia, I've found many amazing headstones, some almost illegible and rapidly crumbling. This page is an attempt to save some of the stories behind some of those interesting deaths. It is also an exploration of the way newspapers of the day reported them. These stories often use language and report in a way which is not seen as appropriate today, and are written from a very specific colonial context.

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