Since the launch of the WAVMM last year I have often been asked why I have decided to include miners from the whole of Western Australia instead of just the Goldfields. I thought this might explain why.
Dept of Mines Report
The following graph from the 1934 Department of Mines (Now the Dept of Mineral and Energy), shows the division of the various mining fields that make up Western Australia:-
The Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial is situated at the WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Hannan St, Kalgoorlie. The names which are engraved on the memorial are from the following fields:-
East Coolgardie, East Murchison, Mt Margaret, North Coolgardie, Coolgardie, Yilgarn, Broadarrow, Dundas and Phillips River. If you look at how the state is divided up you will see that this leaves The Murchison, Kimberley, Pilbara, Peak Hill and Yalgoo fields. To me it seemed wrong to not include the whole state and then to also expand the memorial to other types of mining.
It was a comment by one lady in particular that instigated my friend Criena Fitzgerald to join me in this epic project. She had lost three family members through the various conditions of ‘Miners Lung’ and asked if they could also be included on the memorial. I explained at the time that the memorial was only for men who had died because of a mining accident. She told me that her family had sacrificed three of its members to mining and although they didn’t die in an accident they nevertheless lost their lives to the industry.
Dr Fitzgerald had recently completed her book ‘Turning Men Into Stone’ about the various conditions of Miners lung and how it affected not only the victim but his entire family. Never has there been a work as details as this. She and I agreed that half of the ‘Western Australian Virtual Miners Memorial’ will be dedicated to all people past and present who have lost their live to ‘Miners Lung’. They are to be ‘The Wounded Soldiers of Industry’. The book will be launched soon.
Fast forward to today and the WAVMM has been accepted Australia wide. The concept had been featured in magazines, newspaper and TV stories. It has appeared in mining magazines and has been fortunate to receive the ‘Australian Mining Prospect Award’ 2015 for ‘Contribution to Mining. We have been approached by two separate bodies that are interested in setting up virtual memorial in other states and it has been nominated for a heritage award for 2016. We hope that it will continue to grow and to include and many people as we are able to find. @ www.wavmm.com
Moya Sharp
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