1909 – Railway fettler John Donahee was instantly killed when he was run down by a passenger train from Cowra. Donahee and another fettler, Mackay, were on a railway tricycle, about a quarter of a mile west of the Blayney station. The passenger train from Orange was due, and the men were cautioned to watchContinue reading “Simple mistake costs life”
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Fireside solitude was deadly
1868 – This is an ode to seven-year-old Ellen. She was sitting, alone, on a stool with her back to the fireplace. The stool canted and she fell backwards into the fire. Few other details are known, except that a woman nearby went to Ellen’s grandfather’s place and a doctor was called. Why she was,Continue reading “Fireside solitude was deadly”
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Brothers face grim ends on greatest cattle drive
It was a real wild west story – the Clarkson brothers planned the greatest cattle drive ever in Western Australia’s short colonial history. In early 1874 Henry, with his older brother William, two half-brothers and other proven outback men bought up cattle from around Albany and drove them via Augusta, through the Margaret River regionContinue reading “Brothers face grim ends on greatest cattle drive”
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Lightning hit trio, killing one
1928 – Charles Dunbar’s life was over in a flash. The workman was camped out about 50 miles north of Yalgoo, WA, which is still a remote place to be today. He was with his boss, Mr McPherson and the boss’s son Ross, when the three of them were hit by lightning. It was aboutContinue reading “Lightning hit trio, killing one”
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Heat too much for teen
1901 – Eleanor Mary Spencer was one of two people to die of ‘heat apoplexy’ (heat stroke) at Cue on January 7, 1901, claimed The Southern Cross Times and numerous other newspapers. It was a week of temperatures above 38 degrees, in the remote Western Australia outback mining town. The other victim, they said, wasContinue reading “Heat too much for teen”
Noongar woman a trailblazer
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”
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”
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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”
Molten metal a nightmare death
1909 – Mining accidents were common in the early days of the 20th century, yet when Ambrose Fox was burnt to death by an explosion of molten metal in the Great Cobar mine, his funeral was said to be the largest the town had ever seen. The 44-year-old was killed after a repaired appliance knownContinue reading “Molten metal a nightmare death”
Way to go Australia 