Michael Charters
Michael Charters, head of Charters’ line of coaches, died aged 52 in 1891.The Barrier Miner Newspaper notes that, Mr Charters was ‘well known throughout the Riverina district before he arrived in the Barrier Ranges, where he was one of the earliest settlers. He arrived in Silverton about the time that place was first attracting attention, and secured the Government contract to carry the mails between that town and Menindee and Wilcannia. When the Euriowie tin fields broke out Mr Charters was one of the first hotelkeepers there, and invested and speculated largely in properties there. Of late he has resided principally in Wilcannia, paying Broken Hill an occasional visit, and his mail contracts have considerably increased. He was a true sportsman, and the owner of several well-known horses which have frequently run locally’.
Henry Waters
One of the earliest known graves at the Wilcannia Cemetery is that of Henry Waters, Wool scourer from Momba Station who died on 5th January 1874. A newspaper article dated 31 January 1874, recorded that the ‘The over powering heat experienced during the last two or three weeks has had its effect in different cases here. Mrs. Cresswell, of the Britannia Hotel, after a lingering illness succumbed on Tuesday morning early, and was buried in the afternoon. Mr. Henry Walters, the well-known wool-sorter and fellmonger here, died very suddenly on the same day at the Britannia Hotel. He was sitting on the sofa at the time of his seizure and never rallied'.
Cecil McDonald
On 17 August 1886, The Western Grazier reported that ‘a man named James Bryantreported to the police the death of a young man named Cecil Macdonald. From the statement made by Bryant it appeared that Macdonald, who is a man about 29 years of age was preparing to shear at Tarella when he took a violent cold and at last became so bad that it was resolved by his mates to send him to the hospital for treatment. They immediately collected the largo sum of' £14 which they placed in Bryant's hands to be expended for the sick man's benefit— an act which does honour to every man in the shed. The poor fellow however only reached the Dry Lake on Friday, at 2pm, when he suddenly died. He took bad on the previous Sunday.
John Robert Mack
On 9 June 1878, on board the paddle streamer, Ethel Jackson, on the Darling River near Wilcannia, John Robert Mack, the only child of Margaret and Captain Mercer Mack, tragically drowned from his father’s paddle steamer aged two years and three months.After that the Mack family moved to Wentworth where a few years later Maggie Mack died, aged just 24. Unable to deal with the grief, Captain Mercer Mack committed suicide two years later in 1883.
Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred was a first generation Australian, born to German immigrants who had emigrated from Prussia 11 years prior to his birth in 1857. They arrived and settled in Blumberg, South Australia, where Alfred was born 11 years later in 1868.Alfred married Jemima Milne in Wilcannia in 1892, where they lived, raising five children together.In his youth, Alfred was a keen bicycle rider and rower; he thought it all in a day’s work to ride from Wilcannia to White Cliffs when the occasion demanded it!!
William Thomas
Despite the beautiful memorial, this stone tells a tragic story.In November 1893, William Thomas was camped on the Mount Brown Road, just outside of Wilcannia with his wife. Mrs Thomas left the wagons to get some water and shortly after her departure heard a gun. She immediately returned to the wagons and found her husband lying dead. William had tied a bullock whip to the trigger of a Winchester rifle and shot himself. He left a note saying goodbye and that ‘all the fault is mine’.Just the year before William had been found guilty of larceny (theft) from a dwelling and was sentenced to 18 months of hard labour in Wilcannia Gaol, concurrent with a sentence of four months.William was 41 years of age when he died and was a well-known contractor in the district.
Edward Stanley Cramp
The Western Grazier Wilcannia, 5 July 1946 reported the death of well-known grazier, of Carmala Station, Edward Stanley Cramp. The paper noted that, ‘he served with the Third Light Horse in 1914/1918 in Palestine and Egypt. The late Mr. Cramp was born at Burra, South Australia, and took up the Carmala property 22 years ago. He was a member of the Lodge Moorabin.
Frederick Bonser
Frederick Bonser was an engineer at the waterworks at Wilcannia for many years. He and his brother William came from St Kilda, Melbourne in 1913. Apparently, his brother had an exceptionally good knowledge of fruit growing and fruit drying and is said to have been the inventor of the method of drying fruit now universally adopted at Mildura and elsewhere.On 16 August 1946, the Western Grazier records a tragic sequence of events for the Bonser family. They reported that:On Tuesday morning about 10.30 am, Mrs. P. Bonser went to bring in her cow, which was grazing on the flat between her home and Bourke Street. It was here she was attacked by a ram owned by Mr. Pearce, Bourke Street. An eye-witness, Mrs. J. McLennan said the ram charged at Mrs Bonser and knocked her to the ground. Mrs. McLennan ran to her aid and assisted her home, where Dr. Bonar was called. Mrs Bonser was admitted to hospital in a serious condition, no visitors allowed to her bedside.Her injuries included a broken wrist, broken bone in the leg and internal injuries, also shock.
Leslie Bennett
Leslie Bennett was born in Mildura in1931 and died in Wilcannia as a 21 year old, in 1952.There’s nothing extraordinary about Bennett except for his cause of death. On the day of his death, he was working as a driver for a transport company. It seems he and a colleague were transporting a load of dead rabbits; his colleague driving the vehicle and Leslie sitting on top of the load in the trailer. Sadly, the truck overturned and Bennett was trapped beneath 6000 lbs of dead rabbits, where he was smothered to death before he was able to be extricated.
Murphy family
Amelia Murphy was the first wife of local pioneering hero, Edmund Francis Murphy. Edmund’s early education was at St Patrick’s College, Melbourne, before an incident with scarlet fever changed the path of his life forever. After being sent home from college Edmund followed his brother into station life, working along the Darling River before eventually setting up as a merchant at Wilcannia.In 1881, Edmund became caught up in the tragic gold rush to Mount Browne, in the north western corner of NSW. He reports in his autobiographical and very entertaining book ‘They Struck Opal’ that the nearest store was 200 miles away at Wilcannia. The prospectors had no food supplies, except for what each man carried – a few pounds of flour and some sugar and tea’. Supplies had to come from Wilcannia by bullock team, a trip that would take some weeks. However the storekeepers at Wilcannia did not know there were approximately 1000 starving men on the field so they were very slow in shipping out the supplies. After heavy rain the miner’s camp was struck with a devastating fever, which ‘whipped through the settlement like fanned flames over dry grass.. with the heaviest toll among the strong young men’. After recovering from the fever himself, Edmund headed to the Granites, as Tibbooburra was once called, where he then had to face a devastating drought.
The Mitselburg family
Prussian born Frederick Jacob Mitselburg and his wife, Catherin Mullen, came to Wilcannia, then known as Mount Murchison at the time, from South Australia. They were one of the first European families to move to the area.Sadly, this grave recording the deaths of three of their young children stands as monument to the harsh realities of the outback in the early days, when infant mortality was high due to poor sanitation and lack of medical care.
James Johnson
James Johnson was born 11 November1867 and died 5 June1897.James was born in Kooringa, 166 kilometres north of Adelaide. In his adulthood he found work as a teamster, driving a team of bullock. It was in this capacity that he found himself in Wilcannia at the time of his sad, but it must be said, rather unusual death. His death was deemed so peculiar that it graced the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald that on 8 June 1897 noted:A PECULIAR DEATH, WILCANNIA, Monday.A teamster named Johnston, 30 years of age, died here on Saturday under most peculiar circumstances. About two months ago he was drenching a bullock affected with pleuro. While in the act of administering the medicine the beast coughed in Johnston's face, and he felt some of the mucus substance go down his throat. Next day he felt languid and heavy, and continued in that condition for about six weeks, when pleuro pneumonia developed itself. Johnston was brought into Wilcannia and placed under the treatment of Dr Atkins, but succumbed on Saturday. The doctor is of opinion that the disease was contracted from the bullock.
Reverend Patrick Davern
Reverend Patrick R. Davern died, along with 8 others in Wilcannia, of heat apoplexy in January 1896 when temperatures in the town reached 48 degrees Celsius!The National Advocate (Bathurst) 20 January 1896, records that ‘Wilcannia, Friday. The heat has been unbearable today. The thermometer registered 119' in the shade at 2 o'clock. Five deaths from heat have occurred since last night, the Rev. Father Davern being amongst the number. He intended to leave for Sydney yesterday, but complained of being unwell owing to the excessive heat. Last night Dr. Atkins was called in, and found the reverend gentleman unconscious. He expired at 2 o'clock this morning from heat apoplexy. He had been here for the past five years, and was universally esteemed by all sections of the community. The hospital is crowded, and a number of people are dangerously ill. More deaths are hourly expected’.
George Dutton
George Dutton was born in 1886 at Yancannia Station. He took the surname of his English-born father but was raised by his mother, Kutji, a Wangkumara traditional woman and his stepfather, Jeremy Tupii, a Malyangapa man. Jeremy Tupii took young George through the milia initiation ritual. As a stockman and drover, George became a vital part of the growing pastoralism industry sweeping the far west in the early 1900’s. The freedom afforded by the travelling life of a drover suited George, and he used his knowledge of the Country and the seasons to the benefit of his ‘bosses’, one of whom was Sidney Kidman. He knew where the vital waterholes were located, and he passed this knowledge onto the younger drovers. He was fluent in the Aboriginal languages of far western NSW and held onto the stories and songs. His travels took him into South Australia and wherever he travelled, he always immersed himself in the culture of that Country and people. At Finniss Springs, some Arabana friends put him through the wilyaru, a form of which had also been practised in his home Country. This rite made him an Aboriginal man of 'high degree' and his own people believed him to be 'clever'. George attended his last corroboree ‘dulbiri mura’ at Yandama Station in 1925. [J Beckett, 1978]
The Quayle family
Granny Quayle was born around 1873, near Cobham Lake, in the NSW Corner Country. She was named Hannah Hamilton, by her father, Scotsman W.F Hamilton, manager of Morden Station. Her Malyangnapa mother ‘Fanny’ Buugalli, named her Malyalari. Hannah/Malyaalari was raised with traditional customs and values and was a fluent speaker in Malyagnapa and Paakantji.Hannah met and married stockman and horse-breaker John “Jack” Quayle at White Cliffs in 1895. John’s Indigenous mother, Judy, had returned to her own people in the corner country, leaving three sons behind, who were raised by their English born father.Hannah and John Quayle and had 14 children, but only half survived into adulthood. She was proficient in her Malyangnapa language which she passed onto her children, along with cultural beliefs and practices.Hannah and John worked the Corner Country and Paroo River region as labourers, roustabouts, fencers, shearers and bore sinkers for the pastoralists, doing whatever work could be found. They also survived on bush tucker and many feasts were had with extended family after hunting parties.John taught the children the English way and Hannah continued their education in the Malyangnapa culture and language. He became a man of great independence and taught his children that ‘a person’s lot in life depended on what he was prepared to put into life’.
Arthur & Bertha Hayes
Arthur O’Hara Hayes was born at Monbulla Station in 1871, the eldest son of Alfred Hayes.Arthur left Mount Gambier when he was 22 and spent a number of years travelling. In 1900 he went to Kinchega Station, near Menindee, and worked for 30 years as overseer and later as manager. He married Bertha Agnes Effie Allan (Bertha) in 1916 and continued to live at Kinchega until he bought the property of Box Hill Station, also known as Box Vale Station, near White Cliffs in 1927.
Granny (Annie) Morsey
Born sometime in 1875 at Bourke, NSW and dying at Wilcannia on 2 February 1976, aged 92.Annie Moisey/Moysey/Morsey was born to a European father, and a Gunu mother - the Gunu being a northern affiliation of the Barkindji tribes. Following the death of her mother shortly after her birth, she and her siblings were raised by her maternal grandmother. As a result, Annie became deeply versed in tribal lore and customs, and during the family’s movements north and west, she learned numerous Indigenous languages, using English only when talking to white Australians, proudly proclaiming ‘Barkindji’s our lingo so we’ll use it!’Annie’s first husband did little to help in raising their children, or the other children that Annie took into her care, of which there were many as her heart seemingly wept for all homeless or misfortunate children. Her commitment to giving these children a home, and her absentee husband made her the sole provider. She found work on surrounding cattle stations to provide for her ever growing camp.A decline in rural employment forced Annie to take her charges to the Pooncarie Aboriginal Reserve, however, her fierce independence and personality caused her to set up her camp outside the boundary of the reserve proper, to preserve her freedom. It was at this time that she was described by a nurse working at the reserve as ‘a splendid woman who worked tirelessly to make a decent living for her children’.
Hero Black
Believed born in 1882 and dying in 1955, aged approximately 73.Hero Black is acknowledged to have been the ‘King of the old Marra tribe’. He claimed hereditary descent from past tribal leaders and was paid respect and homage from Indigenous communities between Menindee and Wilcannia. Prior to his birth, and during his early life, the population of the Marra tribe dwindled until he was believed to be one of the last surviving members.Along with contemporaries such as George Dutton and Granny Moisey, Hero Black played a role in the preservation of local Indigenous language and customs. Hero worked as a fencer on Mena Murtee station outside of Wilcannia. It seems he was an active part of the community, being an avid accordion player, and putting on performances at social gatherings in the township. He married three times and is believed to have been survived by 20 children.A year before Hero’s death, aged 72, there was a royal encounter. When Queen Elizabeth II was touring Australia she visited Broken Hill in 1954. Hero travelled 120 miles overnight with his wife Gladys and their young children to see her. He spent the day guiding his family around the town showing his children, who had never been to the ‘city’ before, the ‘illuminations’. That evening, they travelled the 120 miles back to Wilcannia.
Edwards family
The Western Grazier Wilcannia reported the following on 18 Februay 1949:‘The late Mr. Edwards was born at Burra 88 years ago, and like many more: of his early days he grew up with horses and camels, and ultimately moved out as a teamster with cattle and camel wagons, some of these wagons are still to be found on his property at Karara together with the yokes and harness of cattle and camels. His early married life was mostly spent on the roads, for in those days it took weeks to travel from Broken Hill to Wilcannia, White Cliffs and Tibooburra, and just as long to return with wool.His wife, in all these travel, was as good an offsider to him as ever he had, and never hesitated to use the axe, to yoke up the cattle or to be horse-taller to the travelling wagons, apart from rearing and caring for her family.
Emma Jane Clark
Emma was born Emma McDougall to parents Thomas and Ann McDougall at Deniliquin in 1860. Her parents were hotel owners and were held captive by Ned Kelly and his gang at Jerilderie in 1879, where they lived and operated a hotel at the time. Emma was 19 years of age at the time and her sister’s horse was stolen by the gang during their escape!This was not Emma’s only brush with bushrangers, apparently also meeting Frank Gardiner and the Governor gang before leaving Jerilderie. The family left Jerilderie for Ivanhoe sometime in the 1880s, most likely around 1885, as shortly after their arrival Emma met Richard Clark and the couple were wed in Hay in 1887.Richard had a number of professions including rabbit trapping, and as a groom in the early days of the Cobb and Co Coaching Company.Emma and Richard would go on to have 12 children, 11 boys and a solitary girl. Sadly, five of these children died in their infancy. Two of their sons fought in WWI, one of whom, Joseph, was killed in action in France in June 1917.The couple purchased and ran Dromore station until their retirement in 1920, when they sold it and moved into Wilcannia.
Rose Clark
Rose Plank was born 29 June 1897 in Market Lavington, Wiltshire England, and died in Wilcannia on 4 September 1989, aged 92 years.Rose grew up in the Wiltshire Shire and was a nanny for ‘well to do’ people for some years prior to coming to Australia.While Rose was working as a nanny, she met Richard Ernest (Ernie) Clark who had been born in Mossgiel. Ernie had volunteered for WWI and was a serviceman in the 1st Pioneer Battalion AIF for three years between 1916 and 1919 and had participated in many European conflicts.Rose and Ernie met, most likely in a pub or a church, in England while Ernie was undertaking training or on a rest break. Rose became pregnant and later gave birth to their daughter, Josephine (known as Trixie) on 18 September 1919. By that time, Ernie had returned to Australia (in July 1919) and worked on his parents’ property of Volo, near Wilcannia.
Helen Hancock
The Western Grazier records the passing of Helen (Ellen) Hancock on 5 September 1947. Noting that:Another well-known identity in the district, Mrs. Ellen Hancock, of Caradoc Station, White Cliffs, died in the Broken Hill hospital, aged 66. The late Mrs. Hancock was born at Nuntherungie Station in 1881 and has always lived in the district. Her father at the time was caretaker of the Government tank at Salisbury. She was married in 1905 at Wilcannia, but it was not until 1913 hat a shift was made to Caradoc which, at that time, consisted of 27,000 acres. An additional area was obtained, to 37,000, which is the Caradoc area today. It is a very good property made better by the close attention the Hancock family paid to it… Her loss is mourned by a large circle of friends. Her interest in district affairs was very real, and her charitable acts were legion. Her husband predeceased her by 22 years, and she has since carried Caradoc on with the aid of her family.
Robert Leckie
Robert ‘Bob’ Leckie started out as a bullock driver and became one of the most respected pastoralists of the region.The Barrier Miner (13 April 1934) records the passing of Robert Leckie – Pioneer of Wilcannia, noting that:‘Described by a fellow pastoralist as a ‘king’ among men, Mr. Robert Leckie, of The Avenue Station, near Wilcannia, who died yesterday as the results of injuries in a motoring accident near Lithgow, will be greatly missed in the pastoral industry. One of the earliest settlers in the district, Mr. Leckie was looked upon as a man of sound judgement and his name was one of the most respected and highest in the pastoral world. He was about 78 years of age”.
William Baker
William was born in 1881 at Kangaroo Flat, Victoria. He was the oldest surviving son of William Baker and Maria Cushion and was three months old when his family moved to Wilcannia.William was a hairdresser by trade and owned his own shop. For a time he also kept the Queen's Head Hotel, and after the advent of motor vehicles, he operated a garage.He was married to Emily Sommerfield in 1904, although there were no known children of the marriage. He was a prominent and respected citizen, known for his kindness, compassion and charitable disposition. This led to him running for Mayor, after many requests, where he served the community of Wilcannia for nine terms.During his time in government, he was the driving force behind getting bridges built over Talyawalka, the establishment of a garden park, which still bears his name, and clearing large amounts of the township’s debts related to the water works. He obtained numerous grants for the relief of the unemployed and worked ceaselessly for a rail line to be built. He encouraged all manner of community activities, serving as president to both the local Jockey Club and Boating Club. His life was seemingly lived for the betterment of Wilcannia and its people.
James Bradbury Parr
This gravestone contains a bit of a mystery. According to the grave, James Bradbury Parr was a Sergeant major in the Hussars, who died at the advanced age of 90 years and was buried with military honours on the first anniversary of Anzac Day, 1916.However, the following information is a summary from an article written by Nick Hordern for the Financial Review in January 2000 titled ‘Lest we forget the cult of the digger’.In April 1916, on the first anniversary of Anzac Day, the Darling Empire League unveiled this imposing headstone over the grave of James Bradbury Parr. Parr had been something of a living treasure in Wilcannia. Sixty-two years earlier, as a 28-year-old sergeant major in the 11th Hussars, he had ridden in the Charge of the Light Brigade. The good burghers of Wilcannia were at pains to emphasise the Diggers of Gallipoli as legitimate inheritors of the imperial mantle of Parr’s heroism. The headstone was ‘a tribute to those heroes of a past generation whose deathless deed has been so gloriously emulated today’. This was despite the fact that the Charge of the Light Brigade was a disaster. Parr’s headstone even (mis)quotes Tennyson: ‘Their’s not to reason why,/ Their’s but to do and die’. But a search of the records of the King’s Royal Hussars and other military archives in the UK has failed to find any record of Parr serving in the Hussars or any other cavalry regiment in the Crimea. He may have changed his name but the most likely explanation is that Parr was an imposter!
George Hooley
George Hooley was born in Gloucestershire, England in approximately 1844, where he lived until the age of 16 before emigrating to Australia. He arrived in Wilcannia around 10 years later, in the early 1870s, under contract to a firm called Fysh and Twesley, which he later severed ties with to start his own business as a general storekeeper. Unfortunately, like so many others, this venture did not survive the receding fortunes the community faced in the late 19th century.During this time, George married Sarah Jane Orr in 1880, with whom he would father 10 children and remain with until his death.
Walter & Rupert Dell
Walter and Rupert were brothers, aged nine and seven respectively. The two tragically drowned in a billabong on the western side of the Darling River.They were accompanying a labourer by the name of William Hughes who resided with their parents, having begged to go with him. Their father agreed, confident that Hughes would look after them. According to his testimony, Hughes had warned the boys to stay away from the river, afraid that they might fall in and not be seen again, so instead took them to the Chinaman’s Gardens where the boys had a melon, while Hughes had a conversation with the gardener while having a cigarette.Hughes saw the boys wandering the gardens; however, after 20 minutes Hughes began to get fearful, and started searching for the boys. He found their clothes on the bank of the billabong, and thinking they were hiding from him started calling out to them. This caught the attention of a passing man, who began to assist in locating the boys. It eventually dawned on the men that the boys were in the water. At this point, another man by the name of Garland joined them in the search, diving into the billabong. Sadly, the boys were found clinging to one another, deceased. It is believed that Walter, who could swim, had come to the aid of his brother Rupert, who could not, and was dragged down by him. A truly tragic story.
Herbert Butcher
Dr Butcher was a pioneer of science in the region who charted the method by which rabbits would eventually be controlled in AustraliaIn 1885, the NSW government offered £25,000 reward for a biological control of rabbits due to the devastating impact rabbits were having on the Australian landscape. This attracted the attention of renowned French scientist, Louis Pasteur, who proposed using the chicken cholera bacillus. Although this microbe did not prove viable, the work of Pasteur in isolating this biological control accelerated the introduction of microbiology to Australia.As a man of private wealth, Herbert Butcher did not need to practice medicine to make a living. Not needing to work and suffering for many years with a debilitating and incurable form of erysipelas, a skin infection, from being kicked by a horse, he instead focused his attention on researching a solution to the rabbit problem plaguing the region.
Charles Gibson
In 1890 Wilcannia was at its peak. The pastoral industry was booming, and opal had just been discovered at White Cliffs, making Wilcannia the central supply depot. There were approximately 90 steamers using the Darling River and Wilcannia was the third largest port in NSW.Sadly, during the buzz of activity, something must have seriously upset the local chemist, 35-year-old Charles Gibson. The Adelaide Observer, Saturday 10 May 1890, records that,‘About 8 o’clock last night the town was startled by the rumour that Mr Charles Gibson, proprietor of the Wilcannia Dispensary, had died suddenly.. The body was discovered lying at full length on the floor with a bottle of prussic acid close beside it. Deceased had been a resident of the town for about eight years, and during the greater part had carried on business as chemist and druggist.’
