6 Year old child buried on Wonnaminta Station

[aquatine]

As a fifteen year old I spent a year working on Wonnaminta Station in the mid sixties. The grave marked with quartz is, I believe, the daughter of the Kennedy family who left the station bankrupt in app.1898. This was explained to me by Mrs. Doris Chambers, daughter of Myrtle Rose White. Her husband, Jim Chambers owned the station from the early fifties to the late sixties. There is also a grave marked with a headstone and statue of a lamb(I think) closer to the homestead. This was an infant child, Robert Kennedy-Kotter, grandson of the Kennedys. A station hand is buried between the woolshed and the dump. He died from a horse fall around 1890. His name was McKenzie, and his family erected a headstone. Hope this is of some help.

[cando]

Link to the mention of a child buried on Wonnaminta Station
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139554007

Cheers
Cando

[Kaybron]

Thank you aquatine for this.  I really appreciate hearing from someone who has knowledge of the station.  In "Beyond the Western Rivers" by Myrtle Rose White she makes reference to one of the graves: 

"A mile or two down the creek there was a cairn of white quartz stones within a broken railing.  This was the grave of a little girl of six who fell from the travelling bullock-dray and broke her neck.  I never saw that cairn without a pang of pity for the parents of that little one.  What must they have felt as they pulled out with their team early one morning, leaving their treasure buried by the roadside, knowing they would never come that way again." 

We have not been to Wonnaminta Station so really do not know what graves are on the station.  A distant relative visited the station over 20 years ago and was led to believe that the picture of the grave in my first post was that of a Heuzenroeder child.   He spoke to the station owners at the time and they said that they were 95% sure that the grave was Annie's.  The newspaper article that Cando has provided a link to does mention that Selmar and his wife Emma returned to Adelaide with their only child, leaving an 18 month old child buried at Wonnaminta.  This is also mentioned in another newspaper "The Western Grazier" in an interview that Selmar did several years before his death in 1944.  The grave referred to by Mrytle White at Wonnaminta could very well be Annie's but a mistake made with the age of the child.

The one thing that puts some doubt on this is that the child's death certificate does not mention Wonnaminta, only Fort Ottaway and Nuntherungie Creek.

I have spent many hours trawling through Trove, hoping to find a mention of Annie's death in outback NSW papers and have also gone through Coroner's records for NSW hoping to find a mention of the death but have not had any success. 

Thank you cando and aquatine for your interest.

Regards Kaybron

[Neil Todd]

Well from Cando's post at least with the first hand knowledge of the father you can see that his 18mth old was buried at Wonnaminta.

As it turns out I went through Wilcannia only three weeks ago. We actually came across two other roadside graves, which if you didn't know what they were, could be easily dismissed as just a clump of rocks.

Can I put forward a possible explanation for the initial lie to authorities. I believe they did so just for expediency. An accidental death may have required an inquest, but a death from an only too common illness would not have.

40 hotels in Wilcannia.....none there now bar a fallen down wreck of a place, nothing open except a cafe serving Cappuccinos and latte's, which seemed incongruous to the rest of the boarded up town, along with the pretty green small park with grey nomad vans parked alongside. No water at all in the river but bores are supplying the meagre needs of the remaining townspeople. The always present few locals hanging around the corner and a freshly painted cooperative hall which was hosting some sort of evening event. I asked but was not greeted well at all and no answer was forthcoming. As we all sat together in the park the conversation of the group was about my miraculous escape in avoiding an Emu strike while overtaking another nomad 30klms east of the town.

Neil

[Kaybron]

Thank you Neil for your reply. 

Your possible explanation is something that has been mentioned before.  Selmar provided false information to the authorities so that there would not be an inquest. The cause of death, the place of death and burial were all not correctly reported when at Wilcannia.  Myrtle White wrote her book in 1955 so would have had some knowledge of the graves on the station, possibly through station records which she would have had access to, or have been told by previous owners/managers.  We have learnt that the station records were lost in a fire.

I did go back and read the relevant pages in Myrtle's book.  She does mention the grave near the homestead.  She writes "Lonely graves mark the trail of the pioneers in the outback"  She mentions a small grave marked with a marble cross about 100 yards from the homestead house.  This being the grave of the baby grandson of the pioneer pastoralist who founded Wonnaminta.  She then writes about the cairn of white quartz stones and the little girl who is buried there, possibly Annie's.  She then writes on the north-western side of the run, where a mail road unrolls its way up to Queensland and a stock-route winds its way down, there are four graves within a two mile radius.  Mrytle gives the names of several, a Jack Stocker who died in 1885, the second is of an Indigenous man who was shot by a woman, the third little is remembered and the fourth is of Timmy Wilks. 

Until I read Myrtle's book I had serious doubts about Annie being buried on Wonnaminta and was leaning towards a grave being on Fort Ottaway. This was despite Annie's father mentioning Wonnaminta.  My thoughts were that he mentioned Wonnaminta as people in 1940 would have known the station and where it was but Fort Ottaway very few knew of its existence and where it was situated, although it is in the vicinity of Wonnaminta.  I always believed that we had to go by what was on the death certificate but now am leaning towards this was falsely reported as you have stated to avoid an inquest and also for expediency.

We are planning to go through Wilcannia in the not too distant future.  We have been to Broken Hill and then on to Milparinka via the Silver City Highway. Milparinka was a thriving town in 1880 but now there are about 4 people living there and a hotel which I'm not sure if it is still open. It opens and closes on an irregular basis, depending on who the current owners are. Our intentions are to go to Wilcannia and then on to White Cliffs just to get a sense of what the country is like. Have been advised not to stay overnight at Wilcannia, just drive through the town or perhaps stop and get something to eat there.

Regards Kaybron





 

[Neil Todd]

Willcannia is well worth the stop if only for the Historical significance, dry as a chip at the moment and unless you have a van, there is no place to stop anyway. Dont know about meals, we didn't use the cafe as we had all on board, but one couple did and it took around half an hour for two coffee's

I think to satisfy yourself a trip to the Station is a must and from what you now know a better understanding of the gravesites can be gained.

Neil

[Kaybron]

Hi Neil,

We do plan to visit the Station.  A second cousin lives in Wentworth and he has recently gone to the station but as yet we have not.  Broken Hill is about a 4 hour drive from were we live so it is not too far to travel.  Our intentions, in collaboration with others, is to have a plaque put on the grave so this is why I have been trying to find out all I can.

One thing that I have not mentioned is that Selmar and Emma did go to Adelaide after their infant daughter's death. Annie died October 1, 1889.  Christmas day 1889 Emma and Selmar were in Birdwood (South Australia) having lunch with Selmar's parents. This is mentioned in a lengthy newspaper article where Selmar was interviewed about the time he spent in outback NSW.  Emma was also pregnant with her third child when they were travelling to Wilcannia and Annie died.  This child was born in March 1890 in Blumberg (Birdwood). 

Do you know what happened with an inquest?  Was this held shortly after the death or some months later?  With an accident does the coroner have to examine the body before it is buried and then later an inquest is held?  Reason for asking is that Emma and Selmar would not want to wait around for an inquest especially if Emma is pregnant and they were intending to travel to SA.  Weather wise it would have been starting to warm up so the sooner they made their trip back to SA the better.  They would have been very reluctant to wait around and this could explain whey they were not truthful with the death certificate.

Regards Kaybron

[aquatine]

Neil, I read with some concern your opinions of Wilcannia. Until quite recently I worked as a crisis support counsellor in that town. Like many small towns, there are problems with unemployment and discrimination, but this is outweighed by the sense of community present. While it appears that there is not a lot there, a little effort to talk with the locals is very rewarding. There is also two motels, one of which is of a high standard. There is also a Golf Club with an excellent Chinese restaurant. The town also has several sandstone buildings of note, courthouse, police station, post office and shire hall are some of these.On the negative side, fuel and groceries are very expensive and it is advisable to fuel up at Emdale or Broken Hill. With just a little effort a stop in Wilcannia can be a very pleasant experience. I encourage anyone going through the town to spend an hour or two getting to know it a little.

[Kaybron]

Hi aquatine,

We will certainly stop at Wilcannia. When travelling in the country we nearly always stop at towns along the way and get something to drink or eat. Wilcannia is a place that my husband's ancestors made regularly trips to so that they could purchase supplies for their Milparinka store and then make the journey back. Back in the paddle steamer days it was a major river port and as such would have a very interesting history. We will most probably spend a few hours in the town, looking and then make our way to White Cliffs and do the same. If we are able to talk to some of the locals about the town and its history well and good, but if not it is not an issue. 

Thank you once again aquatine for your information about the grave.  It is something that I can further investigate.  Do you know where births and deaths on Wonnaminta Station would have been reported for registration purposes?  Was it at Wilcannia or would it have been another outback NSW town?

Regards Kaybron