I was recently sent the following story and photographs from the family history of Michael WALTON, many thanks for sharing with us Michael.
George William Crawford was born on 3 July 1894 in Wallsend New South Wales. His father was a coal miner, who moved the family to Outtrim in Victoria when George was about 2 years old. In 1903, the family passed through Kalgoorlie on their way to Gwalia, seeking their fortune. On 24 May 1903, their Gwalia cottage burnt down probably due to “the kerosene fiend” (as Katharine Susannah Prichard called it). The family barely escaped with their lives and moved again – this time to Collie, to the Cardiff CM, WA, where George’s father became a coal mine manager and helped build the community hall that still stands today.
George came from a long line of Scottish coal miners, but mining wasn’t for him. trains were his thing. He left home at 18 and moved to Kalgoorlie where he worked as a cleaner for the West Australian Government Railways. After about six months he was transferred to Laverton, where he lasted ten days before resigning and returning to Kalgoorlie. George worked as a conductor for the Kalgoorlie Electric Tramways in 1915, but shortly thereafter landed his dream job as a locomotive fireman. George was also to find his dream girl in Kalgoorlie.
Hannah ‘Annie’ May Newsome was born on the 28 June 1895 in Footscray Melbourne. Her family moved to Fremantle in 1901. She and her siblings took their new step-father’s name, so Hannah became Annie May Amess. In 1909 her step-father was killed in a shunting accident in Fremantle and the family moved to Kalgoorlie the next year. Both Annie May and her mother were admitted to the Kalgoorlie Hospital in 1910 for several months with endocarditis – a life-threatening condition in the days before penicillin.
Wedding Photograph of George William CRAWFORD to Annie May nee AMESS – 11 Oct 1916 Kalgoorlie.
George was admitted to the Kalgoorlie Hospital in September 1916 with an injury to his right hand. (His granddaughters to this day recall that he had part of a finger missing on one hand.) George was discharged on 3 October 1916 – eight days before his wedding to Annie May Amess at the Presbyterian Church in Kalgoorlie. Eight days before the above photograph was taken. George can be seen sitting down, nursing his injured hand.
His bride, Annie May, is standing next to him. The identity of the others in the photograph are not known for certain, but these are the best guesses. On the right, next to Annie May, is her sister Alice Maud Newsome/Amess who married Albert Victor Everett in Kalgoorlie in 1910. The elegant lady at the end is Annie May’s mother, Esther Ann Amess nee Dixon. Behind them is Annie May’s brother, Ernest William Amess, who served in the 11th Battalion and was wounded on 25 April 1915 as they landed at Gallipoli. On the left is seated George’s sister Ethel Maud Johnstone nee Crawford from Collie. She married Joseph Johnstone, who is standing behind George. At the end is presumed to be Annie Jane Crawford nee Whiley, George’s mother.
Certificate of Marriage of George and Annie Crawford.
After Esther Ann Amess died aged 48yrs in September 1917 (she is buried in the Kalgoorlie cemetery), George and Annie May left Kalgoorlie to live in Collie, where their son George Joseph ‘Nobby’ Crawford was born in December. Sadly on the 5th September 1919, Annie May became the first victim of Spanish Flu in Collie, she is buried in the Collie Cemetery. George moved to New South Wales and never returned to Western Australia. He was a union leader in the Federated Engine Drivers and Fireman’s Association during ‘The Great Lockout’ of 1929-1930 in the Hunter Valley. He died in Newcastle on 19 December 1956.
Collie Mail 6 September 1919, page 4
George was to remarry Martha Ann CASEY in NSW in 1920, they had a further two children, Robert Casey born in 1920 and Ernest William born in 1924. Martha died in 1928 aged 39yrs.
Moya Sharp
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