Dr Edward Willis Way was born in England on 6th October 1846. He travelled to South Australia with his family as a small child, arriving 14th November 1850. Dr E Willis Way as he was common referred to, studied at both Guys’ Hospital London and the University of Edinburgh. He was involved in a Royal Commission into the Adelaide Hospital in 1895 after promoting his daughter Nurse Bessie Way to a senior position. To avoid controversy, she then began the family legacy of health in the Goldfields.
Dr Edward Willis Way
Dr E Willis Way married in 1866 in London to Susan ENFER, and they had three children. Florence Jane Elizabeth (Bessie) on 18th December 1867, Kate Isabel on 12th October 1869 and George Lancaster in September 1871. On 17th February 1872, Susan died of consumption, and later that year in July, their son George died in infancy.
Dr E Willis Way returned to South Australia with his young daughters to his family and in 1873 he was appointed the Medical Officer of the Yalata Prison.
On 16th September 1874 Dr E Willis Way married Marion INMAN, only daughter of the late Richard Inman, Esq, of Wood Hall, Yorkshire, and late of Forrest Hill, Kent. Dr Way’s father officiated at the wedding. Their first child Grace Mary was born 4th October 1875, then Inman Edward on 1st September 1876, James on 21st December 1877 and Marion on 14th March 1879. Marion Inman Way, mother of 4, stepmother of 2, died on 21st May 1879.
It was reported in the Adelaide newspapers that on 19th June 1880 that Dr E Willis Way married Sarah HILL, the youngest daughter of Robert Hill of Belfast, Ireland. They had one daughter Selina on 29th January 1881. Sarah becoming stepmother to 6 children under the age of 13 when she married their father. Dr E Willis Way died on 28th September 1901 in Adelaide.
Florence Jane Elizabeth Way was better known as Bessie Way, Matron of Kalgoorlie Hospital. Bessie received many accolades for her work there. She was married on 7th October 1896 to Arthur Vernon Harvey in South Australia. Their daughter Janet Vernon Harvey was born in 1897. Then on 30th August 1901, Lieutenant Arthur Vernon Harvey was killed in action in the Boer War.
Bessie remained as Matron at the Kalgoorlie Hospital, raising her daughter Janet until she married Charles Stanley Tratman the Secretary of the Hospital. They lived at 78 Collins Street in the leafy suburb of Lamington. It was reported that on the 19th October, at Christ Church, North Adelaide, by the Rev. G. H. Jose, Charles Stanley Tratman, Captain 32nd Battalion, 8th Brigade, A.I.F., to Florence Jane Elizabeth Harvey, eldest daughter of the late Edward Willis Way, Esq., M.B., and niece of the Right Hon. Sir Samuel Way. Florence, or Bessie as the Goldfields loved her, died on 14th July 1949 while living in South Perth. Her husband Charles had died in 1946. Kate Way married William Arthur Irwin in 1898 in Perth. They lived near Bessie in South Perth, and Kate died on 5th August 1963.
William Arthur Irwin’s brother was Dr Henry Offley Irwin who married Kate’s half sister Grace Mary Way. Grace and Henry were married on 14th March 1898 in Albany. They built a wooden home at 42 Brookman Street in Boulder. Along this street at 42 Moran Street (corner of Brookman) was the home of Dr Brookman, and on the corner of Piesse & Brookman stood the brick home of Dr Sawell. Dr Irwin died 31st January 1939 and is buried at the Boulder Cemetery. Grace moved to Victoria, living near to Marion her sister and died in 1961.
Kalgoorlie Western Argus – Tuesday 10 August 1909, page 22
Inman Edward Way became a doctor like his father Dr E Wallis Way. On 13th June 1908 he was appointed the Resident Medical Officer of the Kalgoorlie Hospital. The same hospital that his sister Bessie Way was the Matron, his future brother in law Tratman, the Secretary. Dr Inman Way married Ethel Maude Cullen in 1913. He died on 5th May 1955 in Boulder, but was buried at Karrakatta. Ethel died 15th May 1982 in Sydney, New South Wales. Their home was at 39 Davis Street in Boulder.
At no. 3 is Dr Irwin and Dr Way.
James Way became a Colonel and was living in England from 1911. He died 24th May 1965. He was married twice and had family there. Then we come to Marion Way, the youngest daughter of Dr E Wallis Way and Marion Inman. Her farewell was held at the home of her uncle, Sir Samuel Way at the Adelaide Government House.
At Adelaide Government House Lady Way last week gave a farewell tea for Miss Marion Way, who is leaving Adelaide to be married to. Dr. Waldo Connelly, of West Australia, formerly of Bendigo, Victoria. Miss Way is a daughter of the late Dr. Wallis Way, and niece of the Lieutenant Governor. Mrs. Way, her mother is also leaving South Australia. She accompanies Miss Marion Way in Australia, and will proceed to England. There was a large gathering, for both, Mrs. Way and her daughter have many friends, and Dr. Way has left a memory that is revered throughout South Australia. Mrs Way (senior) did not proceed to England, but returned to Adelaide where she died 19th October 1906.
11 King Street Boulder in March 1903
The Marriage of Arthur Waldo Connelly to Marion Way 1903 Boulder Western Australia. Dr Henry and Mrs Grace Irwin (their daughters were flower girls), possibly, Mr Arthur and Mrs Kate Irwin. The older woman it is assumed is Mrs Sarah Way as it was reported she travelled to Kalgoorlie on many occasions. The best man was Mr Selwyn Goldstein.
11 King Street Boulder in 1990 and then in 2003 – This would be the spot for the wedding photograph above.
Life for the Connelly’s according to various newspaper articles was a very social and prestigious one. Waldo played polo, while Marion’s various beautiful outfits were described in detail by the newspaper’s social pages. Their attendance at vice-regal afternoons alongside other medical practitioners, the Mayor of Boulder and other dignitaries was well documented.
Waldo and Marion also contributed greatly to the community. In September 1907, the Governor travelled to the Goldfields to present St John Ambulance medals to those who had taken part in the rescue of Modesto Varischetti. Marion was a superintendent at one of the many fundraising stalls while Waldo addressed the gathering:
“Dr. Connolly spoke generally of the importance of the work in a mining community. Accidents were of daily occurrence at the mines, and invaluable aid could be rendered by qualified members of the association before the doctors had time to arrive upon the scene. The speaker mentioned that it might be interesting to the membership to learn that steps were being taken to induce the council in Perth to erect a building near the mines, where lectures and practical training in rendering first aid could be given.
The doctor recalled a case at the Kalgurli mine, where a man was overcome by cyanide fumes whilst he was cleaning out a vat. It was only that he was immediately tended by a member of the association or he would have lost his life. The patient was so far gone that the helper had to resort to measures for securing artificial respiration. The speaker named a case wherein a man, whose leg was broken underground, had it set in splints by a mate, and the work was so well done that the doctor who saw the man come to the surface, had no need to take off the splints, but merely ordered him to be taken in the ambulance to a hospital.”
In September 1911, the Miners Phthisis Commission was held in Kalgoorlie, and Dr Arthur Connelly was one of the medical practitioners presenting at that commission. His experience as a doctor in the Bendigo mining fields gave him knowledge, he was able to share at that commission.
Dr Connelly was gazetted to the Australian Imperial Forces in October 1916. The family’s departure was reported in January 1917 where it stated Marion and their three daughters, at this point 13, 10 and 1 would reside in Melbourne during his tenure with the AIF. The article stated the Ede family would reside in the King Street home during this time.
In January 1919 it was reported that Dr Connelly had returned from the French Front of World War 1 and would be arriving back in Boulder with his family. Interestingly, due to the amount of action he saw, he was appointed as a “Returned Soldier Doctor”. The article states that “The Commonwealth Repatriation Department, it appears, does not accept the certificates of doctors other than its own appointees in dealing with the cases of men who have come from the front, and perhaps, after the lapse of months, apply for sustentation allowance on the ground of illness or other physical infirmities. The announcement of Dr. Connelly’s appointment will be welcome news to many returned soldiers”
In February 1920 “A farewell dance to their two eldest daughters Joan and Margaret, who returned to boarding school in Victoria last week, was given by Dr. and Mrs. Waldo Connelly at their residence, King Street, Boulder, last week. The spacious verandah and hall were used for dancing, and in the dining room, which was used for supper, the tables were laden with dainties of every description, set amidst a most artistic arrangement of roses”
Early the following year in 1921, it was reported that Marion Connelly had been in “indifferent” health and was going to Melbourne for an operation. The social pages showed no letting up of her tireless social activity which usually included hosting fundraisers for various local charities in her large home. Daughters Joan and Margaret were in boarding school in Melbourne, and Betty was now entering her education. Marion’s return to Boulder was short lived as only a few weeks after her return from her surgery was reported, it was announced that the family were leaving the Goldfields:
“Dr A Waldo Connelly, of Boulder, has decided to leave West Australia and take up his profession in the eastern States, so we soon will be losing another family who have borne the burden and heat of the day on the goldfields for many years. The doctor and his wife have been amongst us since the early times of the goldfields, his wife being well known to us all as Miss Marion Way. It is just horrid having to tell you of so many of our old friends seeking fresh fields and pastures new. It is ever thus with a Goldfields population, It is truly a life of comings and goings — more especially goings in the case of folk who have families to educate and who want to get the advantages available in the bigger centres”
Over many decades the extended Way family, through their connections to the Irwin and Connelly families contributed an enormous amount to the health of the Goldfields. From the very beginning based in tents with primitive conditions to living in beautiful homes and working in drastically improved facilities. When they left the Goldfields, they dispersed to South Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. No doubt they had treasured memories of their time together in the pioneering days of the Eastern Goldfields.
Moya Sharp
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