Rothsay Cemetery – nature took what nature gave

Rothsay Cemetery – Perenjori Shire

off Boonerong Road, Rothsay, Western Australia
Coordinates – 29.29060, 116.88470
Reserve 6295

Rothsay Cemetery Sign – photo Doug Hardman

Rothsay is an abandoned town in the Mid-West region of Western Australia. It is situated between the towns of Dalwallinu and Mount Magnet and 78 kms from Paynes Find.

A prospector named George Woodley discovered gold in the area in 1894 and initially the area was known as Woodley’s Find. Within a year all of the leases had been pegged and in 1895 Woodley sold his claim to a Scottish mining company. The local progress association requested that a townsite be declared in 1897 and it was gazetted in 1898. Later the same year the population of the town was 140, 110 males and 30 females.

In its heyday the town had a population of over 500 people. Later the town fell into decline but experienced a second lease of life when the entrepreneur Claude de Bernales reopened the mine in 1932. Today the town is abandoned but remnants of the strong room, the mine manager’s house and the derelict shaft are all that remain.

Ruins of Mine Managers House Rothsay – Photo Jason Clark

The town is thought to have been named after the Scottish town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, on the coast of the Firth of Clyde. Both spellings were in currency in the town’s early years, with Rothesay apparently used in the first instance.

Rothsay Cemetery – Photo Find a Grave

In natures ageless plan of time
Nature took what nature gave
Upon this mound, no tears fall
It’s just a stockman’s grave.

CHOPIN Alfred Cecil – d 19 Dec 1898, 24 years, Father: Alfred Kirk CHOPIN, Mother: Ellen Mary MCNAMARA, Born:  26 Aug 1874, Perth, Western Australia, Reg: 2458/1899, Buried Rothsay Cemetery.

Alfred CHOPIN – Photo Find a Grave

ESBENSON Rowaen Emil Rothesay – d 3 Sep 1898, 4 months, Father:  Fredrik August Emil ESBENSON (Engineer), Mother: Martine Dorothea THOMSEN, Born: Yalgoo WA, Reg: 2794/1898, Buried Rothsay Cemetery.

MASON John Daly – d 4 Jul 1898, 47 years, Born: County Galway, Ireland, Married with 1 son, Reg: 2792/1898, Buried Rothsay Cemetery.

MCLOUGHLIN William Patrick – d 29 Oct 1896, 30 years, Father: Michael MCLOUGHLIN (Farmer), Mother: Mary MURPHY, Born: Kyneton, Macedon Ranges Shire, Victoria, Married to Ellen Angela DOWLING, Children: Mary born 1894, William Thomas born 1895, Reg: 1994/1896, Buried Rothsay Cemetery. Mine Death – www.wavmm.com

William and Ellen MCLAUGHLIN on their wedding day – Photo Find a Grave.

PURCHASE Charles – d 11 Feb 1903, 58 years, Cause: Miners Phthisis, Father: Richard PURCHASE (Veterinary Surgeon), Mother: Isabella MORVELL, Married to Elizabeth LEWIS in 1873 Victoria, Children: Charles b 1874, Ellen b 1876, William b 1878, John b 1881, Ada Jane b 1887, Irene May b 1889, Elsie Elizabeth b 1891, Hilda May b 1893, Reg: 2965/1903, Buried Rothsay Cemetery.

Alfred Chopin photo Doug Hardman

Map of Rothsay cemetery – Image Doug Hardman

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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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