1896 – There was great suspicion about Kalgoorlie when James Moore went missing for a day. He had acted as accountant/confidential clerk for local auctioneer J Miller and Co for two months and had gained the confidence of his employers. However, he was missing, and so were the keys to the business safe. Moreover, heContinue reading “Rumours flew over missing man”
Tag Archives: australian cemeteries
Siblings drown while fetching water
While a river-side plaque tells the story of a sad drowning in Menindee’s Darling River, the nearby cemetery reinforces just how dangerous it was to early settlers. Robert and Elizabeth Scobie, aged 9 and 7, had only been in Australia for six months when they drowned in 1883. They had emigrated from Scotland, and theirContinue reading “Siblings drown while fetching water”
Ruby remembered with racist headlines
This story has been written as a snapshot of media attitudes and language regarding First Nations people in the 1940s. It highlights how much things have changed, and how much they haven’t. None of the attitudes reported in any way reflect my personal views. Ruby Jackson’s final resting place lies at the end of aContinue reading “Ruby remembered with racist headlines”
Gone and quite forgotten
Headstones are an effort to leave a permanent reminder of our demise. But they too, return to dust. There are countless gravestones like this over our big country, decaying, decayed, destroyed. I shall tell the sad story of two of them now, and revive their memory, if only for a short time. James Gray’s crackedContinue reading “Gone and quite forgotten”
Grim demise for Gaiety Girl
1906, Kalgoorlie – Lilian Harcourt, 34, died a barmaid, but she had packed some excitement into her short life. She ‘breathed her last’ at the Shamrock Hotel, one of two hotels she had worked in for the majority of the past five years. “Rheumatic gout, upon which supervened a wasting complaint, was the cause ofContinue reading “Grim demise for Gaiety Girl”
Train takes life of exemplary teetotaller porter
1889 – Benjamin Ezzy was a porter at the Bathurst Railway Station who made a fatal mistake. The 21-year-old had worked there for four years, having risen from the dirty position of lamp cleaner to porter by 1889. It was 2.30 one October afternoon when the goods train from Wallerawang arrived on the “up line’.Continue reading “Train takes life of exemplary teetotaller porter”
Flow in river claimed two lives
A recent flow of water had been enticing many swimmers to the Bogan River below Yee War’s garden near Nyngan, New South Wales. But on February 5, 1931, after 5pm, there were only three present. Only one lived to tell the tale. Rosie Pines, 44, a strong swimmer who had herself helped rescue a womanContinue reading “Flow in river claimed two lives”
Train accidents ran in the family
To have one son killed while working in a railway yard is unfortunate, but to have a second son die almost the same way three years later is beyond words. Twenty-seven-year old Robert Webster was a shunter at the Kelso railway station, the other side of the Macquarie River to the Bathurst Station, New SouthContinue reading “Train accidents ran in the family”
Swimmer not strong enough
1928 – Leslie Wren Ellis was a waterside worker who perhaps should have stayed waterside. He planned to buy a fishing boat which was moored in water off the town of Thevenard, South Australia. The best way to inspect it was to swim out to it, and although his friends advised him not to doContinue reading “Swimmer not strong enough”
Contrary winds keep Charles from vital medical help
1890 – Charles Frederick Otto Michael had retired as post-master at Gawler, near Adelaide, after a stroke but had “lately been enjoying good health.’’ While visiting his adult son at Fowlers Bay, South Australia, 900km west of his hometown, he broke a leg. As there was no doctor in that out-of-the-way place his son had toContinue reading “Contrary winds keep Charles from vital medical help”
Way to go Australia 