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Cemeteries > Nannine Cemetery A - B


Nannine Cemetery, Western Australia

A - B

Recently researched and updated by John Pritchard with thanks

Nanine-1.jpg (110254 bytes)
Nannine Cemetery entrance

A Brief History and List of those persons known to be laying at rest there. (Caution-This document may contain names of deceased Aboriginal/Australian First Nations Peoples)

Australian First Nations Peoples.

For many years prior to European settlement, these people and their ancestors occupied a part of Western Australia currently generally known as the Murchison Region according to the traditions, culture, and practices of their times. Whilst no precise borders are recorded, it is known that the area was occupied by those who spoke various languages at the time of settlement. They have continued to practice those cultures, practices, and traditions after settlement according to their situation where possible in and around Nannine as part of the Murchison Region.

These early traditions and practices included the ceremonial treatment of the deceased, the recording of those events in the traditional memorials of the time, and in the memories of the individuals and groups involved. Following the settlement, WA State legislation made it a requirement for deceased people to be placed in more formal cemeteries, although this did not always happen for varying reasons for deceased people of both Aboriginal/First Nations and some other racial groups.

The Early Days of Exploration of the Murchison and the establishment of the town of Nannine.

Indications of the presence of gold were first discovered at a number of locations in the Murchison Region of Western Australia around the year 1890 after earlier limited discoveries in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions. The first recorded discovery in the Murchison was made by John Connelly on the northeast end of Annean Station towards Meekatharra.

The Murchison Goldfield was proclaimed in September 1891 and in May 1892, reports were being received that some of the men in this area were almost starving for a short time due to the inability of relief supplies and water reaching them. By September of the same year, there were reportedly an estimated 700 men working in the Murchison area. Some deaths did occur over time in this area, primarily due to lack of water and/or poor hygiene conditions. The name Nannine Wells was first used there by a surveyor in 1889.

The town of Nannine was gazetted on 21 June 1894 and was large enough to be given its own electoral district. The Town of Nannine cemetery reserve was gazetted on 1 January 1897 and in 1896, construction began on a railway line between Cue northwards to Nannine which was completed in 1903. A continuation of the line further north to Meekatharra was commenced in 1909.

Despite the absence of formal town records, the deaths of the following people were amongst those in or around Nannine in these early years and were briefly mentioned in newspapers of the time. Not all made it onto formal lists of those buried in the Nannine Cemetery. The following persons are amongst those mentioned:

  1. KENNA/KENNY Francis 'Frank' — 25yrs, Born in Mortlake Victoria in 1867, son of Patrick and Bridget Kenna of Ballangeich,Victoria. passed away on 8 May 1892 and the cause of his death was deemed to be typhoid fever. Four other men in the same rough bush accommodation were similarly very ill and death for some of them was seen as imminent. (Page 3 The Daily News 2 June 1892). Buried originally opposite the Gasgards Hotel in Simpson St, later exhumed with 5 others the week of the 14/10/1899 and buried at the Nannine cemetery, the outline of the burial site is marked with the 4 axles of a stagecoach
     


Frank KENNA - Photo Julie Kenna

  1. LAMONTE John Dye— aged 48 years passed away on 18 November 1894 from typhoid fever and the perforation of intestines at Annean Station WA and was buried there on 18 November 1894 as it was inadvisable at that time to take his remains to Nannine WA. He was born in Owego, New York, USA in 1846, Father: Samuel LAMONTE, Mother: Rachel DYE,
    He married three times, first to Mary M HARDING in 1870 in Ohio USA, then to Anna DOUGLASS in 1888 in California USA, (she later married William Talbot in 1888), and finally, to Hettie Ethel MOORE in 1893 in Strathan Tasmania, the family moved to Sydney NSW in 1883. Children: Rachel May born in 1871 & Leroy born in 1882 (born to Mary), Douglass Talbot born in 1884 (born to Anna) John Dye (born to Hettie). John Lamonte had been quite wealthy, owning the Garden Gully Mine in Cue where they lived and where he had royalties paid to him for an invention he made in mining, Reg 960/1894. (Page 3 of The Geraldton Murchison Telegraph 20 November 1894).


John LAMONTE - Photo Ancestry.com

  1. TIMPERLEY Ernest — son of Percy Oughton Timperley and Elizabeth Edith nee BAILEY and was born on 11 September 1895 in Cue WA but passed away at Nannine on 24 December 1895. He was their youngest Son and
    was a healthy child. Reg 1553/1895. (Page 2 of the Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette 1 January 1896).
  2. Others at or around Nannine in the period from 1890 to 1896 included:
    Alfred MAIN  — age 32 who died on 30 May 1892 from pneumonia
    BYNONON Mr  — 8 April 1892  died after a few days of delirium from Typhoid.
    ANDERSON Adam — died on 9 May 1892 from Typhoid sickness after 7 days of insanity.
    HARDY John — passed away on 11 April 1892 after 7 days of typhoid sickness insanity.
    DOWSE Robert — age 23 yrs from Victoria passed away on 31 May 1892 from typhoid sickness,
    CARTWRIGHT Mrs — from suicide January 1892.
    REYNOLDS Mr — a miner from sun exposure in January 1892.
    ERCELL Mr — from typhoid sickness in December 1892.
    ROBERTS John — in April 1892 from Typhoid sickness.
    BYSON Benjamin — in April 1892 from Typhoid sickness.
    OSTLUND unnamed male — Father: Axel OSTLUND, Mother: Melanie SINGLE.

It is unclear exactly where all deceased people were laid to rest during the period from 1890 to Jul 1896 in and around what later became the town of Nannine as little specific detail of these deaths exists. The town of Nannine was not founded until Jul 1896. It is also known that there were a number of camps around Nannine.

Because of the conditions that the miners and others were living under in June 1892 at Nannine and surrounding areas, typhoid sickness became rife, the Victorian Express newspaper issued the following on page 3 as part of its editorial on the issue of 3 June 1892.

“ I reported to you that in reply to a deputation from the diggers, the Warden stated that if any further sickness took place he would cause the erection of a hospital tent. Two men have died since and several are sick but the hospital tent is still in the air, and there isn’t accommodation for a sick bungarra (lizard), let alone a Christian. If the Geraldton merchants who supply our stores here wish to do a real stroke of business, let them take a tip from me, and send  up a waggon load of Dan Marsh’s cheap coffins, for nearly all the empty gin cases have given in, and the next few poor devils will have to be buried in a sheet of Mulga bark.”

Shifting of some graves from the original Pioneer site in Simpson Street Nannine to the Cemetery at Nannine.

About six to eight pioneer graves were authorised at Nannine by Warden William Ardagh Gardiner Walter before the townsite was surveyed in 1892, at a site near what became Gascard’s, Nannine Hotel in Simpson Street, and these were fenced around. However, the action was taken to remove them to the Nannine Cemetery in 1899 following concern about the interference being done to them by cattle and dogs.

The names of the persons who were relocated to the Nannine Cemetery from this site are known to include Frank KENNY, and Robert DOWSE whose names appear above along with another six such victims of typhoid in 1892.
Also see separate lists on this website for many “Lonely Graves” burials in the Murchison Region desert areas and other specifically named cemeteries in Western Australia.

Nannine Cemetery (26.885S 118.341E)
35 kms South West of Meekatharra
98 Burials

Nannine is located between Cue & Meekatharra within the Shire of Meekatharra
The registration district for nannine is the Murchison.

 

ARMSTRONG Charles W — 11 mths, bur 6 May 1907. Section & Loc unknown, Reg Murchison 40/1907. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BAPTIE Samuel Alex — 24 yrs, died April 1902, Section & Location unknown, was born in Foster, Victoria in 1873 and his Parents were James and Catherine nee Simpson, he was also well known in Cue WA and died in the Nannine Hospital after a fortnight there, the cause of death was peritonitis, his occupation is not recorded. Reg 1621/1902. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BARKAS John George — 27 yrs, died 26 Jul 1909, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Daylesford, Victoria in 1873 and his Parents were Gabriel and Jane nee Glendenning, he was the Brother of George Barkas, the cause of his death was a mining accident in which he was drowned in a sudden inrush of water into the Royalist Mine at Nannine WA, his occupation was that of a miner at Nannine where he had lived for about 6 years. Reg Murchison 47/1909. Buried at Nannine Cemetery. Mine Death - www.wavmm.com


John George BARKAS

BELL Clarice Maud -infant, died 3 Dec 1913, Section & Location, unknown Father: Robert Walter BELL, Mother: Agnes Jamieson Linda OVENS, Reg Murchison 15/1913, Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BELL John James 'Jack' — 84 yrs, died 26 Aug 1999, Section & Location, unknown, He was born in the Murchison Region in 1915 and was the brother of Allan and Jean Bell. His occupation was that of a grazier on Hillside Station, WA. Reg (not shown due to privacy). Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

Nanine Bell John James-1.jpg (20861 bytes)
John James BELL

 

BELL William Thompson — 59 yrs, died 15 April 1902, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Tasmania in 1842 and his parents were James and Elizabeth nee Cole, Married to Susannah Stormont in Perth WA in 1901, the cause of his death is not recorded, his occupation was that of a contractor. Reg Murchison 1799/1902. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BENBOW Gilbert — 2 hrs, bur 2 Jan 1909, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Nannine WA in 1909 and his Parents were Ormonde and Selina Anne nee Beer who were married in Claremont WA, he was the brother of Edna Doreen Benbow who was born in Geraldton WA in 1904. Reg Murchison 8/1909. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BETTS Charles — 55 yrs, bur 10 Sept 1906, Section & Location unknown, he was born in 1851 and his occupation was that of a miner. Reg Murchison 49/1906. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BOGIE John  — age unknown, bur 29 Sept 1909, Section & Location unknown, he was married, the cause of his death was that he suffocated and was burned to death in an early morning fire at his employment at Jackson's Bakery in Meekatharra WA where he slept, he was also well known in Cue WA where he had lived previously. He had been living in the Murchison Region for 14 years and was a member of the Perth Working Men's Club. Reg Murchison 58/1909. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette 2 October 1909, page 2

BOURGOIN Lucy AKA Tace (nee Geurin) — bur 29 Nov 1906, 32 yrs, Section & Location unknown, she was born in Kapunda SA in 1874 and was the Wife of Martin Bourgoin and the Mother of Frederick and Eileen Bourgoin. She died in Meekatharra WA. Reg Murchison 68/1906. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

Nanine Bourgoin-1.jpg (17671 bytes)
Lucy BOURGOIN 

BREALEY George — 23 days, bur 13 Nov 1908, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Nannine in October 1908 and his parents were John Williams and Elizabeth Lilian nee Midwaters, Reg Murchison 67/1908. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BRAND Norman Douglas — 8 mths, bur 4 April 1903, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Nannine WA in 1902 and his parents were George and Angelena nee Morgan, but for his death, he would have been the brother of Harold Shenton Brand who was born in Geraldton in 1904. Reg 1555/1903. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BROWN Charles Lewis — 1 year, bur 15 Jan 1906, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Nannine WA in 1904 and his Parents were Edward (Ted) and Ann nee Quintrell, but for his death, he would have been the brother of Dorrie, Elizabeth, Florence, George, Jessie, Len, Lillian, Malcolm, Nicholas, Teddy, Violet and William Brown, the cause of his death was blood poisoning following an operation on his leg at Nannine Hospital. Reg Murchison 4/1906. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BROWN Robert — 67 yrs, bur 27 Sept 1916, Section & Location unknown, he was born in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight, England in 1849. Registration 23/1916. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

Nanine Brown Robert-1.jpg (16177 bytes)
Robert Brown

BBROWN William — 50 yrs, bur 13 Dec 1904. Section & Location unknown, Reg 1581/1904, Buried at Nannine Cemetery.

BURFORD May ‘Daisy’ — 26 yrs, died 2 Mar 1912, Section & Location unknown, the cause of death at the Nannine Hospital was typhoid fever, she was sister to Hilda and the mother of Harold, she worked at the Pioneer Hotel where she was very diligent but delayed getting medical help for herself until it was too late. Reg Murchison 14/1912. Buried at Nannine Cemetery.


May Burford


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