Charles PARKER was born in 1873 and his wife Hannah nee REES was born 1872. They were married in 1892 and came to Australia to live at Hill End in New South Wales.
Five of the couples daughters were listed as deceased by 1903. Their last three children were born in Kalgoorlie, Violetta May in 1898, Ethel Pretoria in 1900 and Emile in 1903. Their daughter, Violetta May died in Boulder in 1899 aged 10 months. Ethel was to die in New Zealand in 1986.
Charles worked as a Shift Boss but died in 1912 at the young age of 39 due to ‘Miners Lung’.
Ref:- The Road to Kalgoorlie by Tony Bozich
Moya Sharp
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Yes Moya, a very touching story. Mrs Parker wrote me a lovely letter in 1986 and commented on my booklet ‘Immortal Names They Are’ – from memory, a relative of hers had visited Kalgoorlie Boulder and picked up a copy of it at a Hannan St newsagency I think then run by former champion Mines Rovers and East Perth footballer Brian McGregor – I had left a few copies there.
I probably have her letter somewhere among my many papers.
Incidentally, Brian McGregor played junior footy with me in 1954 in a team led by the unforgettable Alex Epis.
And that was the year when Mines were unbeaten until the grand final which Kalgoorlie won by 7 points.
Just one more point – at about that time one Dave Cuzens played for I think Kalgoorlie, and he soon after like Epis became a star in Victoria, winning the best and fairest for Richmond twice.
And it mustn’t be forgotten that combined Goldfields teams thrashed both Claremont and East Fremantle on Kalgoorlie Oval in the 1950’s when the WANFL competition was very strong – Jack Sheedy played for Old Easts on the wing.
Hi Tony
It is indeed a great story. Mrs Parker must have been a vert strong lady to cope with the loss of so many children and then her husband.
Sorry, inadvertently I wrote Mrs Parker – I meant Ethel. Tony
Actually, an inadvertent error by me – I meant Ethel for Mrs Parker. tony bozich
Thanks For Your Photo & Valuable Information Ethel Married A Jonas In NZ
Thank you all so much for this interesting article. My grandmother was Ethel pretoria and of course Emile was her brother. I remember both of them really well today. My dad (Roy Jonas) said Emile wanted to fight everyone after a few beers. Looks like he lost most of them because he had a nose that looked like an elephant seal and the skin was like an over ripe straw berry (use your imagination)