The headstone of half-Aboriginal woman Mary Cuper stands tall and proud, set apart from the simple white crosses and the myriad unmarked graves belonging to other Noongar inhabitants of the New Norcia cemetery. Intriguingly, the words “at her sorrowful husband’s expences (sic) are found at the bottom of a description of her achievements. The townContinue reading “Noongar woman a trailblazer”
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Hunting trip ends in tragedy
1917 – Alfred Chesson, 19, accidentally shot himself on the way home from a hitherto-successful shooting expedition. The family lived at Day Dawn, a Western Australian gold mining settlement which today is a whisper of a ghost town, 6 kilometres from Cue. On Saturday afternoon Alf, his father, also Alfred, and a younger brother hadContinue reading “Hunting trip ends in tragedy”
Toddler “got in a scot” and drowned
1901 – Farmer Ernest Pye was walking near the Mudgee Racecourse, central New South Wales, about 7pm one evening when he heard a woman cry. Turning around, he saw a woman sitting outside her house with a child’s wet body in her arms. The woman was Helen Cook, the mother of ten children. She hadContinue reading “Toddler “got in a scot” and drowned”
Policeman hammered to death
Beverley, WA, 1884 – Constable Patrick Hackett, 26, may have been in a great mood the Friday he was murdered. He had, after all just become a father. His first child, a boy, had died ten days after being born, but now he and his wife of two years, Mary Anne, were the proud parentsContinue reading “Policeman hammered to death”
George didn’t make it to the mine
1900 – While accidents abounded in the Western Australia goldfields, poor young George Boggons died before he even got to work. The 18-year-old worked as a blacksmith’s striker on the Boulder Main 1 Reef, and usually caught a morning train to save himself some of the walk to work. Unfortunately, on this Wednesday in December,Continue reading “George didn’t make it to the mine”
First novelist was a convict
Port Arthur’s eerily-named Isle of the Dead is the repository of more than 1000 convicts, officials and their families who died at Tasmania’s infamous penal settlement. Many graves were not marked, and their stories are lost to time. But one convict has been remembered, due to his special place in history. Henry Savery’s writing skillsContinue reading “First novelist was a convict”
Misheard blast kills miner
1873 – Joseph Paxton’s mining company was said to be one of the best-managed in the Hills End district of New South Wales. However, when it came to mining in the early years of Australia, anything could happen. And unfortunately it did, to one William Oliver. Basically, Oliver heard a bang, thought the explosive chargeContinue reading “Misheard blast kills miner”
Boxing day tragedy
1880 – Young Parkes flour mill worker Joseph Sim was riding his horse over a hurdle at a Boxing Day event, when it caught on the post and fell on him. “He was immediately removed in an impossible condition to the hospital for medical attendance’’, where he died without recovering consciousness. While newspaper reports say the event happened onContinue reading “Boxing day tragedy”
Such was (Grace’s short) life
‘Such is life’ has long been a quintessentially Australian saying, grounded firmly in its supposed last-minute utterance by famous bushranger Ned Kelly. And it so neatly rounded up people’s forebearance of the tragedies of life that it appeared on the headstone of a one-month-old girl in Charters Towers in Queensland, Australia about 1888. The stoneContinue reading “Such was (Grace’s short) life”
Cameleer lived to 107
The Afghan cameleers of early Australia are an iconic part of our pioneering history. Bye Khan, who died in Bourke, NSW, aged 107, deserves a starring role in that history, not only for his longevity. Like most “Afghan’’ cameleers, he would have come to Australia from the north-west regions of India, to train and handleContinue reading “Cameleer lived to 107”
Way to go Australia 