Outback Graves

 

Whilst travelling through the outback it is quite common to see evidence of graves or small cemeteries. There are thousands of properties in the Australian outback, almost all have their own small cemetery, or a few graves protected from livestock by rails. For the early pioneers health was a major issue; medical assistance was weeks away, insect borne diseases, poor nutrition, scurvy, dysentery, falling from horses and suicide in the lonely outback all contributed to the death toll.

The deserted town of Farina on the Old Ghan Railway has an extensive cemetery, alas not many of the graves have a headstone. The Afghan ones are located away from the other denominations and face towards Mecca.

Many outback graves have no names. In the early days men tramped from place to place in search of work. Scores perished on their journey through this harsh environment, many succumbed to disease, or the oppressive heat, others were swept away in the sudden floods which poured down the creek channels. Usually those who died ‘on the wallaby’ were buried with a simple wooden cross, but many more have disappeared without trace. Crows and dingoes left little evidence of the victims.  Occasionally, scattered bones were found and buried years later, but usually not identified.

Even experienced Bushmen lost their lives. George Webb, buried on Mt Eba station in the Woomera area of S.A., was obviously a well respected man as his fellow Bushmen of Mt Eba erected a marble headstone in his memory, a very rare event. It reads Sacred to the memory of George Webb, Bushman, who perished from thirst near this place in February 1887 aged 58. This stone erected by his fellow Bushmen at Mt Eba.

“Perished from thirst” was a harsh reality of outback living. It was vital to keep the body at its ideal temperature of 37° C. The temperature of the surroundings can rise well above this normal body temperature for hours every day in many remote areas, thus the body gains heat from the environment. We sweat to try and cool down. In the process we can lose as much as 10 litres of water each day. This water has to be replaced or the core body temperature rises and death is the result. This can happen within a few short hours in the extreme temperatures of an outback summer. By the time a traveller was missed in summertime it was usually too late to save him.

One regular duty of outback police was to search for lost travellers. Between 1892 and 1896 the Birdsville police found 9 people who had perished. One colourful character was William Moonie who controlled the dingo fence along the Simpson Desert between the S.A. Border and the Toko Ranges. In 1895 he was last seen buying six crates of whisky from the Birdsville Hotel. His body was found 35 km north on Roseberth Station, surrounded by empty bottles. His grave site is now unknown.

Even today lives are lost, people don’t realise how quickly you can perish from thirst. One family member is a Search and Rescue Coordinator. He told me the story of one girl whose car had broken down just a short distance from town. She was found just a few kilometres away from the car on the roadside. It was flat country and her family couldn’t understand why she had died so quickly. A young policeman set out to recreate the journey. He had plenty of water [the girl had none] and a shady hat [the girl was bare headed.] After walking just 10 km he had drunk all the water and realised he was delusional and in trouble. He only just made it into town where he spent time in hospital and ‘the medics finally decided he was not going to lose his kidneys.’

At Beltana S.A. we came across a grave telling of a family tragedy. Anne Johnson aged 32, wife of William Johnson, and her 4 young children were all accidentally burned to death on 15 Dec 1881. Young William was 7 yrs 6 m, Anne 4 yrs 5 m, Bertha 2 yrs 6 m and baby Agnes just 2 months 2 weeks old. The marble headstone was erected as a ‘Mark of Respect by T Pearce’.

It is the children’s graves which are so heartbreaking. At the J.C. Hotel ruins (formerly Canterbury) on the road from Windorah to Bedourie we came across one oh so hard to read. In loving memory of our dear son George Adam Geiger who strayed away 2 July 1893 and died of exposure aged 2 years and 4 months.

George was the eldest child of George Geiger and Lizzie Newton who had married in 1891 and had 5 sons from 1891 to 1900. One can just imagine his mother heavily pregnant, or occupied with a new baby, and young George is lost. What heartbreak for a young Mum.

Another grave here is for two Bowman girls. Kathleen Charlotte died 12 Nov 1895 aged 1 year 6 months and Eileen died 2 July 1901 aged 2 years 6 months. They were the daughters of Frederick Bowman and Gertrude Annie Bell who married in 1888. They had five children, Kathleen and Eileen, another daughter Hellen who was born and died in 1902, a daughter Gertrude Mary [b 1889] and a son Frederick Alexander William who was born 1896.  He lived to adulthood and married Alice Emma Easterly but their daughter Heather died in 1929 when Alexander himself was in his early thirties.

Next stop was Clonagh Station near Cloncurry. My husband was a jackeroo here in 1970 and remembers two graves at the entrance. Barbara Armstrong was 15 when she died; the other is for William James Reid who died 1 April 1893 aged 2 years 6 months. He was the son of Samuel Gamble Reid and his wife Rosina Ann Ferguson who had several children, William born 1890, Clayne Lorrane in 1892, Leslie Elliot in 1898 and Doris May in 1901. William was another little boy who wandered away and died alone in the bush.

There are now an increasing number of modern plaques to record long ago burials. At the J.C. Hotel ruins is one reading

In one of these unmarked graves lies George Telford Weale who died of dysentery here on 9 June 1886. He was born in London 20 Sept 1840. Arrived Queensland 1864 and surveyor of Darling Downs until 1881 when he went to SW Qld to survey new pastoral leases.

At Lawn Hill there is one erected by the Queensland Police Department to remember one of their own lost whilst on duty.

Erected in memory of Senior Constable Alfred Wavell shot and killed in the execution of his duty at Lawn Hill 27 October 1889 attempting to arrest Joe Flick horse thief. Erected during Police Week 1989. The 100th year of his death

Between Boulia and Bedourie is the lonely grave of Joseph James Dunne. At 10 years 9 months he was kicked to death by a donkey he was riding. The modern brass plaque on the railing adds more detail to the story than the simple stark stone headstone.

We then drove through Glengyle Station, all 5500 square kilometres, north of Birdsville. There is a memorial to a William J.S. Hutchison who drowned on the property on 9 July 1920. He was aged 20. He was droving cattle from Clifton Hills Station and went for a swim in the Georgina River on Glengyle.  He was a strong swimmer but alone. His body was recovered three days later.

A large modern plaque records the story and that, at age 14, he had found opal and was considered to be the founder of Coober Pedy.  The following letter from Sidney Kidman was spotted in the Birdsville Visitors Information Centre. It’s dated 12 December 1921, some 17 months after Will Hutchison’s death.

Sidney Kidman

Pastoralist

1 Verco Buildings

North Terrace

Adelaide

12^th December 1921

Mr H.R. Hutchison

Meramie

Wirrega

Dear Sir

I am in receipt of your letter and in reply beg to advise that Mr and Mrs Edwards have not yet arrived from Glengyle yet – We are expecting them any day now and when they arrive I will drop you a note.

I very much regret your Son was drowned at Glengyle and I am sure Mr Edwards will look after his grave for you and should I sell the property at any time, which is not at all likely, I will ask the Purchaser to look after your Son’s grave.

Any information Mr Edwards can give you when he comes down I am sure he will be pleased to do so.

Yours faithfully

Sid Kidman

A check of the current phone book shows there are still Hutchison’s living at Meramie West, Wirrega, SA 5268 and Glengyle Station is still owned by the Kidman Company.

Further research suggests William Hutchison was born in Mt. Gambier in 1900 and educated at St.Patrick’s College Ballarat and was a prominent sportsman during his school years.

On the Birdsville Track itself you pass the Mulka Store Ruins. It was founded by the Scobie family. Alexander Scobie sank many wells on the track, looking for water. It took him two years of adversity, pain and hardship until he found a suitable supply at what he called New Well where he built a home. He ran sheep and bred stock horses but the sheep were taken by dingoes and the horses were sent to war, being those used in the charge at Beersheba. Alexander and his wife Mary brought four children with them, three more were born here. But two of the seven children are buried here, behind the house, under the tree on the hill.  Edith Adeline and George both succumbed to pneumonia. The Scobies sold out to Poddy Aiston who ran the store, renamed Mulka, until his death in the early 1950s. The South Australia Heritage Department has a very informative sign here about Poddy Aiston. Sadly the Scobie family receives but a very fleeting mention.

Returning closer to civilization, near Menindee we visited the small graveyard at Kinchega Homestead where the unnamed graves are the last resting place of the crew of the Paddle Steamer Providence which blew up on 9 November 1872. They were towing a barge laden with wool and had been held up due to lack of water. In November 1872 the river levels were up so they headed south again. They stopped at Menindee for a drink. On returning to the ship they stoked the fire and headed downstream but it appears they didn’t refill the boiler and there was an enormous explosion. The captain John Davis, Edward Sparkes (engineer), John Roach (fireman), and Thomas Gunn, Chinaman (cook), were killed.   Charles Seymour was thrown a considerable distance into the air and fell into the river, receiving no injury but a broken leg. Another man named Henry Trevorah who was in the cabin, escaped unhurt. He was a miner on his way from Wilcannia to Adelaide to visit family.

Also close to Menindee is the headstone commemorating Dost Mahomet. He was one of three Sepoy camel drivers recruited for the Burke and Wills expedition. With 24 camels he arrived in Melbourne in June 1860. Dost was one of four men who manned the Burke and Wills camp at the Dig Tree whilst they headed north. He was subsequently evacuated to Menindee. He was injured by a camel and lost his arm. After the end of the Expedition he stayed in Menindee where he worked for William Ah Chung, the local baker. Dost Mahomet is buried where he used to make his daily prayers. The headstone was erected in 1952, ninety years after the end of the ill fated expedition.

We’ve covered thousands of kilometres in our outback journeys, in the comfort of an air conditioned vehicle. We have excellent maps. We carry lots of water, 50+ litres in the trailer tank and extra jerry cans in the vehicle. We have a Satellite phone, an HF radio and an EPIRB [Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon] to call for help in case we get into trouble. The Flying Doctor is just a radio call away.  Think what it was like for the pioneers who had little knowledge of the interior of this hot dry continent, who wore clothes totally unsuitable for the extremes of heat and cold, who could not physically carry sufficient water to ensure their survival, who faced flash flooding and starkly dry waterholes.

They were brave men and women who ventured out into such inhospitable land to try and make a go of it. I salute them all.

Acknowledgements:

Westprint Outback map, Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks.

Alex Sticher, Vistior Information Centre, Bedourie.

Lyn, Wirrarri Visitor Information Centre, Birdsville.

Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks Heritage Survey 2.0 Historical Background (2002) Lyn Leader-Elliott and Iris Iwanicki, pages 75-7.

http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/heritage/pdfs/surveys/birdsville/section_3.pdf

Menindee History http://members.iinet.net.au/~mewilson/menindeehistory.htm

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