St Ives Cemetery – grave tales

St Ives AKA Ives Find Cemetery (no headstones)
Reserve 18492 (Cancelled in 1991) on the Gold Fields St Ives Mine Site
(not accessible without permission from mine)

DOUGLAS William – d about 12 Aug 1933, 69 yrs, a half a mile west of St Ives Hotel, Occ: Prospector, Cause: Natural Causes, Son of John and Agnes DOUGLAS in Richmond River NSW, Buried: 15 Aug 1933 by R Glasson, Witnesses: A E Foch and G D Williams, Reg: 163/1933 East Coolgardie (Kalgoorlie), Buried St Ives Cemetery.

In October. 1926, William Douglas unearthed a big nugget weighing 101 ounces. The biggest at that time found at St Ives. Describing his prospecting experiences, Douglas, who was a native of the Richmond River, NSW, said that he came to the Coolgardie Goldfields in March 1893 where he prospected for a good while. He found the Camperdown Mine at Siberia (Waverley), where he got the best gold he had ever obtained in his life. He did prospecting for years afterwards but had frequent spells at woodcutting for the WA Goldfields Firewood Supply Company at Kurrawang. When wood cutting in the bush, he always kept his eyes open for a find. He went to Hogan’s find on J Creedon’s property at Mount Monger before being attracted to Saint Ives where he prospected very hard ground with indifferent results.

SPENCE / SPENCER Edward James Ascott – d 8 Aug 1923, 59yrs, at St Ives, buried by Robert Newman Wills and C G McKenzie, Witnesses: A J and C Bond, Father: John SPENCE, Mother: Mary DEMPSEY, Cause: Bronchial Asthma and heart failure, First married to Florence Ida HANCOCK (17yrs, died 1904) in Zeehan Tasmania at the age of 24yrs, secondly he married Mable ‘May’ CHADWICK (30yrs) in 1907, Children: First Marriage – Amy Mabel born 1892, Charlotte Stella born 1897, Edward James born 1904,  Reg: 47/1923 Boulder, Buried St Ives Cemetery. (First Burial)

St Ives Progress Association at the St Ives Government Battery - Far left front row CRUTCHETT - Photo from J L Toy

St Ives Progress Association at the St Ives Government Battery – Far left front row CRUTCHETT – Photo from J L Toy

OBITUARY – THE LATE MR E. J. SPENCE.
Kalgoorlie Miner 16 August 1923

The death of an old resident of St. Ives in the person of Mr. Edward James Spence took place at his residence on August 8. The deceased, who was well-known in Westonia, having been employed on the staff of the Edna May Deep Levels mine for some years had been in ill health for the last two years with a chest complaint, which was accentuated by the effects of a bad mining accident.

Members of the progress committee having selected a site for a cemetery on the Widgiemooltha road, about a mile south of the St. Ives Reward mine, the funeral took place on Thursday afternoon, August 9. All the residents of St. Ives attended the funeral to pay their last respects to the deceased. The Church of England burial service was impressively read by Mr M. A. McKenzie, of the Ives Reward mine. The deceased leaves a widow and three children.

Selecting specimins from a costeen on the St Ives Reward Junction Mine - Western Mail 27 May 1920

Selecting specimens from a costeen on the St Ives Reward Junction Mine – Western Mail 27 May 1920

The following two tabs change content below.
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.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.