Fields Find Cemetery –
Coordinates: -29.03668, 117.25572
On mining reserve No 14350
12 known burials
In a thicket of acacias on the low side of the present Yalgoo Road, hidden from passing motorists, lies the Fields Find Cemetery. It is a good 1 ½ km by car from the old mine, but half of that as the crow flies, going slightly southeast.
This spot was no doubt chosen originally because of its relatively flat nature, and the chances of digging a hole of a suitable depth without striking rock were good. It was in an out-of-the-way spot with little chance of interfering with future mining and also readily accessible by a slight detour from the old Yalgoo Road.
Nearby was also S Oliver’s slaughteryard also the rubbish and night soil disposal area around 1900. As far as is known the area was never consecrated or gazetted as a cemetery reserve although it was used as such for 50 years. When 5700 acres of land surrounding the mine was gazetted in 1912 the cemetery was not excluded. It now forms part of the Fields Find Common.
It would be nice to think that all of the broken bottles that surround it are the end product of some mighty wake from the quenching thirst of the grave diggers while toiling in the sun but they were probably washed down from the rubbish tip during a flood. All the unbroken ones have now been gathered by bottle collectors.
No official burial register has been found and the following map and list of burials have been gleaned from the remaining headstones, newspapers, police records, family letters etc.
Ref – Fields Gold A story of the Yalgoo Goldfields by Alex Palmer.
In 1999 the cemetery was restored by Richard Douglas, of Warriedar Station.
Fields Find Cemetery map
BOXLAFF Mary Parkes – d 3 Aug 1945, 82yrs, at the home of Emil Carl De Pomeroy BOXLAFF (Husband), Fields Find, Father: Harold De Pomeroy, Reg Yalgoo 1/1945, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
Mary Boxlaff – Photo Outback Family History
Wiluna Miner 17 August 1945,
On Wednesday, August 1st, Mrs Mary Parks Boxlaff, aged 82, died at Fields Find. A Constable went out to make inquiries and found death was due to natural causes. The remains were interred in the Field’s Find cemetery the next day, Mr. Monck carried out the duties of undertaker and minister. The deceased lady, with her husband, who also resides at Field’s Find, arrived in the State from Victoria about thirteen years ago, and had resided at Fields Find since.
HAY George Hopetoun – d 22 Dec 1901, 15 months, at Ninghman Mine, Cause: Cholera, Born 26 Sep 1900 at Donnybrook, WA, Father: George Henderson HAY, Mother: Isabel Mary HALLS, Reg 2966/1902, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
HOGAN Daniel – d 31 Aug 1899, 22yrs, at Yalgoo, Father: Michael HOGAN, Mother: Ellen McDERMOTT, Born: Stansfield South Australia, Reg 2463/1899, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
Coolgardie Miner 4 September 1899, page 6
TERRIBLE FATALITY
50 PACKAGE OF GELIGNITE EXPLODE
A Geraldton telegram received on Saturday states that a terrible mining fatality occurred on Friday at Fields Find, Yalgoo. Fifty packages of gelignite stored at. the 180ft level in the company’s main shaft exploded by concussion from a shot that had been fired. Daniel Hogan, Edward ‘Ned’ King, Frederick Smith, and William Payne were blown to pieces. Hogan’s body, though terribly mutilated, was recovered but portions of one leg and one arm are missing. The timber of the mine was considerably damaged. The bodies of the other victims are covered by thousands of tons of earth.
Headstone for Daniel Hogan, commemorated also William Payne, Frederick Smith and Edward King (bodies not recovered) 1979 – Photo SLWA
KING Edward Carr (known as Ned) – d 31 Aug 1899, 26yrs, at Yalgoo, Father: Samuel KING, Mother: Ellen KING, Born: Ballarat VIC in 1873, Reg 2464/1899, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
ORAMES John Henry – d 25 Oct 1907, 32yrs, at Yalgoo, Father: John Farrington ORAMES, Mother: Hannah COOK, Born: Kyneton VIC in 1875, Married: Elizabeth Janet ANDERSON in Geraldton WA in 1901, Children: Hannah Elizabeth Janet Jean born Geraldton WA 1902, Edith Anderson born Geraldton WA 1904, Edna Lillian Yvonne born Kyneton VIC 1908, Reg 2/1907 Yalgoo, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
West Australian 12 November 1907, page 1
PAYNE William – d 31 Aug 1899, 38yrs, Father: John PAYNE, Mother: Mary DOWLING, Born: 9 Apr 1861 at Reedy Creek, Robe SA, Reg 2465/1899, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
SMITH Frederick – d 31 Aug 1899, 27yrs, Occ: Water Carter, Father: George SMITH, Mother: Mary Victoria KELLY, Born: Geraldton WA in 1872, Reg 2466/1899, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
SMITH John – d 22 Sep 1900, 55yrs, Reg 2354/1900, Buried Fields Find Cemetery. (incorrect date on plaque)
John Smith – Photo Outback Family History
TOBIN Patrick – d 25 Dec 1941 age 74yrs, Occ: Miner and Hotel Keeper, Married: Ann MADIGAN in 1904 in Geraldton WA, Reg 8/1941 Yalgoo, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
Patrick Tobin – Photo Outback Family History
Mr. Patrick Tobin. one of the best-known men In the Murchison, has recently purchased a camel team and secured the contract to remove the battery from Mt. Gibson onto Brown’s Reward Central. This company expect to be in full swing within the next three months, and now it is up to the Minister for Mines to assist financially this company, providing they crush for prospectors at reasonable rates, and help to prove many of the shows that will be worked by doing away with the long and expensive carting to Warriedar. Patrick Tobin was also the licensee of the Fields Find Hotel in 1919.
Fields Find Hotel – Photo SLWA
WALSHAW Robert – d 4 Jan 1927, 54yrs, Occ: Tool sharpener/Prospector, Cause: Heart Failure, Born: Hill End, near Wellington, NSW on 3 Feb 1874, Father: Robert Henry WALSHAW, Mother Ann RALPHS Reg 1/1927 Yalgoo, Buried Fields Find Cemetery. (Headstone says WELSHAW)
Robert Walshaw – Photo Outback Family History
WILKS Selina Pearl – d 17 Aug 1911, 6 weeks, Cause: Convulsions, Father: George WILKS, Mother: Elizabeth CRAINE, Reg 3/1911 Yalgoo, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
Joe The Pole – d 1914 –1915 – real name not known, Buried Fields Find Cemetery.
Joe the Pole – Photo Outback Family History
Fields Find Cemetery Overview – Photo Outback Family History
Recommended reading:
Fields Gold A Story of the Yalgoo Goldfields -by Alex Palmer
Remnants of the toil of our forebears more than a century ago can be found hidden in the undergrowth at Fields Find. This raises many questions. How was so much achieved using little more than brawn and determination, under such adverse isolation and climate conditions?
Standing proud above all are the old concrete machinery plinths. How many hours of toil and sweat went into mixing and laying that concrete, all by hand? The skilfully constructed three-compartment vertical shaft, now in decay, partners a collapsed incline shaft. Why the change in technique? That layer of ash and charcoal surrounded by heat-distorted broken bottles, was the site of the old hotel? The tailing dump, once so carefully contained, now flows down the valley. How much gold is still locked in it? What did the ten souls interred at the cemetery do to earn their place amongst the acacias?
James J Field picked up 80oz of gold on the first day of his discovery in February 1895. Gold was mined there continuously until 1951, producing a total of nigh on 50,000 oz. Fields Find will blossom again as a gold producer; it is just lying in wait. Available from Hesperian Press:
Moya Sharp
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well done Moya, I am enjoying reading your posts! Hoping for a missing relative to surface – you never know where they may pop up!
Hi Marilyn If you have a name do let me know and I will see what I can find.