drowning – Way to go Australia

Shark alarm led to drowning

1910 – A dark night, a precarious fishing spot, a meat truck and a cry of “shark’’ came together in the death of 18-year-old Alexander Stemp. Stemp, a New Zealander, was a seaman on the cargo and passenger ship Rippingham Grange, which was loading meat at the Parsons Point jetty at Gladstone, Central Queensland onContinue reading “Shark alarm led to drowning”

Great flood takes eight lives during fruitless rescue

1894 – Albert Cummins and the Buchanan family refused to leave their houses when the waters rose. They changed their minds when rescuers came, only to drown before reaching safety. The highest floods yet recorded at Ingham in Far North Queensland came early on a Sunday in April. The town had already had 111 inchesContinue reading “Great flood takes eight lives during fruitless rescue”

Fell from his horse and drowned

1886 – “No-one was better known or more respected in Gladstone than James Hawthorne”, a newspaper declared when he suddenly met his end. While death notices described the 42-year-old as a saddler, a James Hawthorne was mayor of the town some years earlier and it can be assumed it was the same person. James wasContinue reading “Fell from his horse and drowned”

Great flood takes eight lives during fruitless rescue

Hats found floating after playdate

1913 – Eight-year old Mary McDermott was visiting her friend Penelope Bowdler, 10, in East Cobar, New South Wales on a Saturday morning in October. Mrs Bowdler saw them playing about 11am and at noon went to check on them again. Their hats were found floating in a six-foot-deep waterhole only 30 yards from theContinue reading “Hats found floating after playdate”

Drain dies in bath

1907 – There is a sad irony in a man named Drain breaking his neck in a swimming bath. Thirty- year-old Charles Drain was visiting Central Queensland’s Gladstone from the nearby copper mining region of Nanandu, now known as Many Peaks. The copper from the mine was used as a flux in the Mount MorganContinue reading “Drain dies in bath”

Too young to fight, but not too young to die ready

Sixteen-year-old Vincent O’Farrell was too young to go to war, yet it was not enough to save his life. He drowned when washed off his horse while crossing Little Gin Creek, in the Longreach region, central Queensland, in 1917. Newspapers reported a ‘black tracker’ unsuccessfully dived for the body. Little Gin Creek is aContinue reading “Too young to fight, but not too young to die ready”

Fence the dams, the town cried

Charters Towers, 1885 – The drowning death of Nell Richards led for calls for the town’s dams to be fenced before any more children were lost. Elizabeth Ellen, known as Nell, was watching her younger sister bathe with several other children at Mr Mill’s dam at the top end of Mosman Street. Nell was onContinue reading “Fence the dams, the town cried”

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Albany Memorial Park holds history in its bones

Like ribs on a skeleton, the many aged gravestones of Albany Memorial Park cemetery protrude from either side of the highway as you make your way down the slope of Middleton Road towards the glistening Southern ocean. The cemetery covers about 2.5 hectares and has about 5000 graves, ranging from unmarked, through simple wooden markersContinue reading “Albany Memorial Park holds history in its bones”

Pilot smashed between launch and barque

1891 – Ship’s pilot Arthur Thompson was crushed between two boats as he attempted to move from one to the other. He had just piloted the barque Mary Stewart through King George’s Sound as it was towed by the launch Escort. They were two miles beyond Bald Head – near Maud Reef in a lineContinue reading “Pilot smashed between launch and barque”