The Tragic Tale of a Northumberland Man.
At the turn of the century in 1902, John Thomas Pearce left his home in Northumberland when the call went out for miners to work in the remote Western Australian town of Leonora at the Sons of Gwalia gold mine.
His trade was a mining carpenter, and his skills would have been sought after for this type of work. The Sons of Gwalia Mine was the deepest mine in Western Australia, with its incline shaft just short of 4,000 feet (1.2 km) in length.
Timber was mainly used for shoring up the mine so his services would always be needed. Good rates of pay and assistance with passage by boat was being offered. I’m not sure what the employment conditions were in Northumberland at that time but for a young man it would be most an exciting opportunity to advance himself and provide a better life for his family.
Living conditions in the twin towns of Leonora/Gwalia at that time were very basic to say the least. Many of the residents were living in what could only be described as squalor, most in tents or shanty’s made out of timber, hessian and corrugated iron. There were also several boarding houses for single men. Unbelievably hot in summer, where the temperature can get to 45° to freezing in winter.
Gwalia in 1902 the year John Arrived – Photo SLWA
These living conditions may have been the reason why John decided to leave his wife of 13 years, and his two daughters, aged 9 and 12 in Northumberland, possibly with their family to support them, and travel to Western Australia alone to try to set up a home for them to join him later.
It took five years of hard work, sending home as much money as he could and trying to establish some sort of home in the town so his family could join him. He would also have to save the fare for his wife and children as well.
He was not alone in this type of arrangement. Often men would come on ahead to set up a home and the plan would be for the family to follow later. Also, particularly with Italians and Yugoslav men, the family would stay permanently in their home town and money would be send back to support the whole extended family. They would periodically pay visits back home. We only know that from the ages of their children and when they arrived here. Italian and Yugoslavs made up a large number of the employees as this mine in particular.
Others entered into this sort of agreement with their families with no intention of holding a reunion at some later stage. They were perhaps getting away from an unhappy marriage and responsibilities. Some also set up a new family in the place were they were working. The cases of bigamy in the papers of the time are rife. They called Western Australia ‘The Legion of the Lost’.
The Sons of Gwalia Headframe which still survived today.
The mine closed in 1963 – Photo SLWA
This however was not the case for John. I can find no record of him ever returning to England during the five years he was away from his family. Im sure that they would have corresponded during this time if he was able to write, and John would have been able to tell Hannah about the town and the people who lived there. One can only imagine her dismay when she arrived here as saw the red dust everywhere from the green of her home town.
The happiness of having the family reunited was to be short lived.
Only weeks after Hannah and the girls arrived John was tragically killed. His death certificate states:
PEARCE John Thomas — 38yrs, d 28 Apr 1907, at Leonora Hospital, Occ: Carpenter, Cause: Fracture Skull from an accident at the Sons of Gwalia GM, Father: Isaac PEARCE (Agent), Mother: Mary Ann ALDERSON, Born Northumberland, England, In WA 5yrs, Married to Hannah CHARLTON at Haughton Le Spring, Northumberland, England at age 20yrs, Children Jane Hannah 17yrs, Margaret 14yrs, deceased 2 females. (His wife and children had only just joined him from England), Reg 34/1907 Mt Margaret, PRES, Buried Leonora Cemetery.
John Pearce was engaged in putting new blocks in the winder brake, and the steel strap was slackened for the purpose. It is believed that whilst he was engaged in the operation, a bolt stripped the thread, resulting in the strap springing back and striking him on the head with terrific force. He was removed to the hospital and died during the night from a fractured skull.
Mt. Leonora Miner 4 May 1907, page 3
However in Western Australia John is not forgotten. His name is engraved in gold leaf on the Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial in Kalgoorlie Western Australia. Each year on the 3rd March, a dedication ceremony is held at the memorial to remember those who have lost their lives in the mining industry of Western Australia.
He also has a profile page on the Western Australian Virtual Miners Memorial – https://www.wavmm.com/listing/john-thomas-pearce/
Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial – Kalgoorlie Western Australia – Photo Paul Doust
The panel of the Miners Memorial with his name.
Leonora Cemetery Western Australia – Photo Find a Grave
Inscription:
He left his home in perfect health
Never thinking death was near
Not dreaming that he never would
Return to his wife and daughters dear.
John was a Member of the Federated Miners Union and the Gwalia Rifle club.
Johns daughter, Jane Hannah Pearce, stayed on in Gwalia, and the following year, when she was 18 years old, she married a miner called Harry TEDGE, he was a 25 year old miner from Manchester England. They had the following children:
Alfred Edward born 1914 (died 1915)
Harry born 1911
Margaret Lillian born 1915
Phyllis Edna born 1918
Jean E born 1920
Jean born and died in 1921
Frederick born 1922
Nancy Joan born 1924
Doris J born 1926
Elizabeth Tedge 1930
Johns youngest daughter Margaret, married Frank Edwin McGregor Thornton in Leonora in 1909. They had one child I know of, Francis Angus Thornton born 1910.
John left at least three siblings back in Northumberland, they were:
Isaac Wintle Pearce christened in Blyth, Northumberland in 1877
Mary Jane Pearce born 1879 Northumberland
Jane Pearce born 1880 in Northumberland
Thanks to John Pritchard, we now know what became of Hannah. She was still a young woman, she married Frank Madden in Perth WA in 1908 and died in Leonora in 1923. See notice below.
Kalgoorlie Miner 29 Jun 1923
This is Hannah’s death certificate.
MADDEN Hannah — 53yrs, d 28 Jun 1923, at Leonora Hospital, Married woman, Cause: Cancer & Heart Failure, Father: Robert CHARLTON (Miner), Mother: Hannah TODNER, Born Houghton le Springs, Durham, England, In WA 17yrs, Married twice, 1st to John Thomas PEARCE in Haughton le Springs England at age 19yrs, 2nd to Frederick MADDEN in Perth WA at age 37yrs, Children to 1st marriage: Jane Hannah 32yrs, Margaret 30yrs, Reg 11/1923 Mt Margaret, Buried Leonora Cemetery.
Should anyone wish to contact me my email is moyasharp@outbackfamilyhistory.com.au
On the 21st December 1963 the Sons of Gwalia mine closed down. The workers just walked off with what they could carry and in a few weeks the population went from 1,200 to 40. If interested you can read about it here – https://bit.ly/3fHI6AM
The mine is again operating today but as an open cut mine.
Moya Sharp
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