Joseph McKerrin – grave tales

Boulder Cemetery – Photo by Danelle Warnock

Kalgoorlie Miner 1 February 1927, page 4

Mr Joseph McKerrin, licensee of the Court Hotel Boulder, who had been seriously ill for several days, died yesterday. The deceased who suffered from miners complaint for a number of years after working on the Golden Mile, then embraced hotelkeeping for a livelihood. He was a prominent member of the committee of the Goldfields Licensed Victuallers’ Association, and a recognised staunch supporter of the Labour movement. He was a highly respected citizen of Boulder. Quoting “The Kalgoorlie Miner”, 1 February 1927, page 4.

Joseph’s wife Nell took over the licence of the Court Hotel from her husband and later took on the licensee of the Narrogin Hotel in Armadale near Perth. She died while there in 1947 at age 79yrs and is buried in the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth. Her full name was Mary Ellen Fleming, electoral rolls for the 1913-1918 period record her as Ellen Fleming, proprietor of the Golden Mile Hotel, plus two newspaper articles – Licensing Act transfers for 1913 (transfer to Ellen) and then in 1918 (transfer from Ellen). She was born in 1868 and was a spinster when she married Joseph. She arrived in Western Australia on the 1 June 1904.