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A Strange Coincidence

06/01/2017 By 6 Comments
Just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything you read in the paper (sorry TROVE its not your fault). I was going through a pile of archived newspaper cuttings, collected many years ago, before TROVE existed, and of course I read and checked all the ‘Mine Accidents’. There have in the past only been two mine deaths that were missed in the Eastern Goldfields so I was confident they would be there. I came across several news articles about a double fatality on the Lake View and Star in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. I of course looked up the names on the WAVMM, but couldn’t find them. How could they have been missed???
Men of the Lake View and Star

Men of the Lake View and Star

This was the heading:-        EXPLOSION IN A MINE. TWO MEN KILLED.
The Daily News 14th Feb 1900
The Commissioner for Police received information this morning of an explosion which occurred at the Lake View and Boulder Junction mines late on Monday night. Two miners, Harry Wren and  John Davey, were severely injured, and both subsequently succumbed to their injuries. Wren died before he could be conveyed to the hospital, and Davey about ten minutes after he reached that institution. Both the deceased were married men, with families at the Boulder.
 
There were several articles in different newspapers, so I had no doubt at first that it was correct. Then it got complicated. I couldn’t find any registration for the deaths for either man, or a burial for them. Then to confuse matter even more I found the following article.

Evening Star 14 February 1900

Evening Star 14 February 1900

You will agree, that the coincidences are most unusual. So I then started to look for the two marriages, a double ceremony, to two sisters, which it says occurred about 6 months before , so in 1899. I thought this will be easy, and yes! no luck finding this either.

So obviously something was amiss. I then did another search for any mine deaths in 1900 and then in February. The only two names which fitted these dates were Henry UREN and John DAVIDSON. I suppose that at least the date and the name ‘John’ were correct. These two names were already on the register and when I searched them in TROVE, it came up with several articles with the correct names. I am so relieved that they hadn’t been missed and that I finally found them but it look absolutely ages. Mind you, I never did find that double marriage to two sisters in Boulder.

The two men are buried side by side in the Presbyterian section of the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. The next time I am at the cemetery I will go and visit the graves. I’m sure that the information on the weddings will turn up. I hope that we will also find their employee cards in the Lake View and Star Project.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History
My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.
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Comments

  1. Karin Herlaar says
    08/01/2017 at 7:49 pm

    Hi Moya,

    Indeed the coincidences are most unusual. They must have been very close. It’s sad.
    I’ve noticed that on Trove it takes some time for articels to be online, so I think that the information about the marriage will turn up in the future.

    I very much enjoy your posts from outback Family History!!
    Thank you.

    Kind regards,

    Karin Herlaar
    Netherlands

    Ps. Maby you can post a photo of the graves of the men?

    Reply
    • Moya Sharp says
      12/01/2017 at 6:30 pm

      Hi Karin Yes I will indeed find the graves on my next visit to the cemetery and if they have a headstone of will add it to the story. Thank you so much for your kind comments, its much appreciated.

      Reply
  2. crissouli says
    13/01/2017 at 6:10 am

    I have included your blog in INTERESTING BLOGS on Friday Fossicking at

    http://thatmomentintime-crissouli.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/friday-fossicking-13th-jan-2017.html

    Thank you, Chris

    Reply
  3. Judy Webster says
    13/01/2017 at 8:23 am

    I discovered this blog via Chris’s ‘Friday Fossicking’ post. As I’m sure you know, the gold in Croydon (North Queensland) started to run out at around the time it was discovered in Western Australia, and some people moved to WA because of that. Many miners at Croydon in the 1880s-1890s had been born on the Victorian goldfields or in other mining areas. Hospital admission registers for North Queensland are a super source for family history (and other aspects of history), and I’ve indexed the names of patients at Croydon for 1888-1925 (http://www.judywebster.com.au/croydon.html).

    Reply

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