William Stamp, 54, was chief engineer at No 4 Pump Station on the outskirts of Merredin. One day in March, 1928, he walked into the engine room dripping wet and asked a fellow employee “how’s things?’’ When his co-worker asked why he was wet, he said “Things are not too good with me. “I haveContinue reading “Strychnine ends sorrows”
Tag Archives: australian history
A bitter epitath
Alex McKay was one of nine people murdered by the Jimmy Governor gang, touted as Australia’s last outlaws. McKay’s gravestone stands proudly in the Gulgong Cemetery, New South Wales, slightly apart from other graves. It declares he was “brutally murdered by the blacks.” The Governor story is well studied in Australian history, with its overtonesContinue reading “A bitter epitath”
Ornaments and oddities
Graves are sometimes embellished in intensely personal ways, which tell a bit about the person and the times in which they lived. Here are some of the meaningful, poignant or sometimes plain strange things I have seen decorating graves. Then there are embellishments which stand for hard work. I can’t quite get my head aroundContinue reading “Ornaments and oddities”
Dying so far from home
In Australia’s pioneering days, many died far from home. “Rev John Otley Rhodes, missionary in Ceylon who died in Bathurst, March 21, 1881 on his way to England in search of health, aged 36 years.” – Bathurst cemetery “John Kirkup born at Healthpool, Northumberland, England, died 23rd July 1883 in his 50th year, and wasContinue reading “Dying so far from home”
Way to go Australia 