These two photographs present a mystery which is unlikely to be resolved. Both are believe to be the same man at different points in his life, but confirmation of that is a tall order.
John and Bertha Finnerty???
John Michael Finnerty was born in Ireland and educated at Rugby school, his father was Major Finnerty, who saw service in the Crimean war. His mother was a nursing contemporary of the famous Florence Nightingale.
Arriving in WA with his parents in the 1860’s where Major Finnerty was Commandant of the Pensioner Guards (all veterans of the Crimean war), the young Finnerty spent time at Oakabella and Bowes properties near Northhampton. He skippered a pearling lugger, tried sheep farming in the Gasgoyne and managed the Glengarry Station for a period.
Joining the police force in 1886, he was sent to the Kimberley, and when the Kimberley gold rush began he was appointed as the Goldfields Warden, a position of great importance as it was his responsibility to mediate disputes over gold claims. Finnerty subsequently held the same position at Southern Cross, Coolgardie and the Kalgoorlie Goldfields. He won widespread respect among the miners and prospectors for the manner in which he discharged duties as warden.
He married Bertha Mary Oates, aged 19yrs, in Southern Cross in 1891. Bertha was the daughter of William Oates ‘Gentleman’ and Mary Trevilick. She was born in Cornwall England.
They had three children:-
Elizabeth born 1893 in Fremantle
John Westenra in 1895 in Coolgardie
Aileen Salome in 1903 in Kalgoorlie
John Michael Finnerty (Confirmed)
When Bertha, at the age of 39, died at Coolgardie in 1911 of pneumonia, Finnerty retired to Oakbella, where his sister was married to its owner, Lockyer Burgess. He was admitted to the Rosella Private Hospital in Geraldton, suffering from Carbuncles and died on 8 Dec 1913. An obituary was published in the Geraldton Guardian which advised that his funeral would not be of a military character. However, it did request that all members of H Company 88th Infantry and of the Geraldton Senior Cadets assemble in uniform.
A monument erected in the Geraldton Cemetery ‘by his Coolgardie friends’ still stand in what is now the Apex Memorial Park.
The original photo of man and wife is in the collection of the Geraldton Historical Society and has always been believed to be of Mr and Mrs Finnerty, but all attempts to verify that have been in vain. Researchers at the Battye Library have also been unable to confirm it, so this may have to remains riddle.
What do you think???
Ref:- The Geraldton Guardian
POST SCRIPT: Since posting this story I have been contacted by Graeme Sisson from the WA Police Historical Soc who tells me that the first photo is definitely not Warden Finnerty, but is in fact George Buck and his wife Catherine. I have also seen the following photo of Warden Finnerty and now I am not sure of the ‘confirmed’ photo as being him either. The nose is quite different.
Moya Sharp
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Dear Moya – I think it is the same person as he has the overhanging eyelids in each photo. It was also a trait in my mother-in-law’s family.
Your pages are always terrific Moya. The history of Coolgardie is a tremendous task for any budding historian and some years back there was a great man by the name of Jack Tree who lived in Warden Finnerty’s home and I’m sure he would have been a great asset to you in this search I doubt he’d still be with us as he was an older man when I knew of him through the mid 1970’s but contacting Brian Willoughby in Esperance may shed some light? Brian spent many years in Coolgardie and is a font of knowledge for this area. Keep up the good work.