Category Archives: Activities

04Nov/22

Redcastle Cemetery Maintenance 2022

Graeme Mitchell reports:

The week before this trip, the numbers were low, but a last minute rush to help out was great. A good day was coming together. As always, the meeting place was Gaffney’s Bakery in Heathcote. The bakery has relocated into a new, larger building to cater for a growing trade. While this is good for the bakery, it has lost its old charm.

But not its wide selection of goodies!

We soon got down to business and tucked into our favourites while we had a good chat. The time to depart arrived, but we were one member short. A quick phone call and a few minutes later, we were all present. This highlighted why you should always register for trips – then you won’t get left behind.

Our first attempt to assemble the convoy had to be aborted – the proposed assembly site was closed due to a flooded road. A quick alternative was arranged and we were soon on our way to the Redcastle Cemetery site.

The trip was through the Dargile State Forest. A few years ago, this area was struggling, with the trees stressed from lack of water. Now the trees have lots of new growth and there are many young saplings around. A lot of the native plants have come to life, with the heath and wattle trees in bloom.

Guards at the gate

As we approached the cemetery, we noticed the paddocks, which were once barren, now have an abundance of young trees. So much so, you can only see a few metres into the paddocks. Finally, we arrived at the Redcastle Cemetery. The guardian angels, a pair of recycled garden gnomes, were still keeping watch at the gate.

After setup, we had a survey of the work which needed to be done. Ian had recently had some “internal adjustments” done and Anne had “secretaries’ knee”.
This meant they were on light duties, so were given the task of creating atmosphere”, i.e., a small fire. The weather was mild, but, for some reason, when you are in the bush, a fire is a must have.

Glenda took on the task of inspecting the perimeter fence for damage and the removal of any branches. Les went cactus hunting, while Gayle, Philip and John were on general clean and weed duties. Rick and I got to work with our whipper snippers.

Succulents in the grass

The area was in good condition, given that it was a year since our last clean-up. A few grave sites have fences around them, which makes it hard to clean them up properly. Later in the year, I will go up again and spray the weeds.

Les was doing well finding cactus hiding in the grass. He had removed about forty, when a few of us decided to give him a hand. We could not find any, but Les kept producing them. Now we know he is the expert. Time came for a rest and lunch.

Lunch was BYO and everyone had a chance to catch up and have a chin wag.
With lunch over, the clean-up resumed.

Glenda reported there were a few spots where the fence needed to be repaired. As much as possible I carried out these repairs.

The work was all done by around 2.30pm so we packed up and made our way back to Heathcote. From there, everyone went their own way,

Thanks to all who attended. The cemetery looks good and should be right for another year.

22Nov/20

Little Desert Trip – 2017

28th September to 1st October 2017

Ian Blainey reports:

Thursday 28th 2017

We arrived at Serviceton late Wednesday afternoon and set up camp. Thursday morning, we accompanied Alan on some pre-trip planning, which started with a coffee at a little bakery in Bordertown. From there, we headed out to the Olivalle Estate Olive Farm at Telopea Downs to make arrangements for a guided tour.
After lunch, we started to work our way towards the Rocky Lamattina & Sons carrot farm, again to arrange a tour time. Along the way, we checked out a couple of wildflower locations. Following a couple of weeks of rain, we found a good variety of native flowers, particularly native orchids.
These included Donkey, various Spider and a number of coloured Sun orchids.

Also we were lucky enough to see an
echidna at fairly close quarters.

Before returning to Serviceton, we called in to the Frances pub to ensure arrangements for Saturday afternoon were in place.
On arriving back at Serviceton, we found quite a few other people had arrived and set up. Later that evening, one of the other travellers produced a couple of radio controlled models. One was a truck prime mover and the other was a fully operational front end loader.


It was interesting to note that the loader was fully functional, including lights and hydraulics. A demonstration showed it could move earth.

Friday 29th 2017

On Friday morning, we initially headed into Bordertown for a caffeine and cake hit.
On leaving Bordertown, we headed east on the highway, then turned north on to the Serviceton – North Telopea Downs Road.


When we arrived at the Olivalle Estate Olive Farm, we were greeted by the Manager, who gave us an excellent guided tour of the orchards and their
processing plant.
This tour unfortunately dispelled any romantic notions I had of traditional olive farming methods.

The trees are planted in rows at precise distances apart. They are pruned to ensure automatic harvesting equipment can run up and down the rows to maximise the collection of olives.


This machinery is based on grape harvesting equipment and slightly modified by the Manager to suit the olive crop.
Our tour then took us to the mixing area where the underground water supply is treated to remove unwanted materials, especially salt. It is then enhanced with fertilisers and minerals.
Bulk chemicals are placed into mixing vats and then diluted to a usable concentration. It is then dosed into the water supply and fed to the trees as required. After washing, the olives are pressed in bright shiny stainless steel tanks and then filtered.
The extra virgin oil is then stored in 20,000 litre tanks. The bulk of the oil is then on sold to larger companies, such as Cobram Estates. They also bottle their oil for local sales outlets under the Olivalle Estate label.
After lunch on a hill overlooking the estate, we headed south towards Kaniva. We crossed the highway and drove down the Kaniva – Edenhope Road to the Lamattina carrot farm.
This is one of two, 6,000 hectare properties, which supply major supermarkets, such as Woolworths.
The carrot seeds are imported from France and sown at the rate of one million seeds per hectare.
Rows are prepared using GPS and laser equipment and, prior to planting the seeds, grasses are grown in adjacent rows to reduce erosion by wind and to protect the carrot tops as they develop.


The seeds are sown using specialised equipment at a defined distance apart.
Carrots are grown in one out of every three years. In the other years, crops are grown which can be ploughed back to replace nutrients and goodness to the soil.
One of the largest pest problems they encounter are feral deer.
Once the carrots are harvested, they are placed into trucks and transported to the company’s processing plant.
Here they are cleaned then spray chilled before being packed and forwarded to the supermarket distribution centres.
They aim to have the carrots in these distribution centres within twenty four hours of picking.

At completion of the tour, we returned to camp for Happy Hour

Saturday 30th 2017

On the previous days, we had established that, despite the recent cooler weather and rain, there had been enough sun to bring out a large variety of wildflowers and orchids.
In a number of places along some of the tracks, there were just carpets of colour. So today we were to check these out.
Some diehard football fans elected to stay at camp and head to the Frances Hotel later to watch the AFL Grand Final.
The remainder of the group headed to Kaniva for the usual morning dose of caffeine before heading into the Desert.
Suitably refreshed, we headed down Yanipy Road, into Three Chain Road and on to Miram South Road. Along the way, we stopped to look at and photograph wildflowers along the roadside.

During this drive, we also found a couple of little spots where we could have a bit of fun in four wheel drive.
After lunch, a few more footy fans left the convoy and headed off to the Frances Hotel. The rest of us headed down Edenhope Road and on to East West Track.
Here we split into two groups, as some of us wanted to tackle the Mt Moffat Track. The others followed Alan out of the desert on an “easy short cut”.
We knew this area would be a bit damp in places and were not disappointed.

A little damp shortcut

Several interesting bog holes were negotiated satisfactorily.
Greg found a very soft patch and needed to work a little harder to get back on to a sound surface.

A little further on, we appeared to run out of track, as it headed into the fringe of a swamp. Johan was kind enough to get out, take his shoes and socks off and walk the track so we could satisfy ourselves it was okay to negotiate.


Two alarmed ducks managed to startle Johan, who moved faster than the ducks as they took off.


We negotiated a stretch of water around eighty metres long and up to fifty centimetres deep.
From here it was an easy drive into Frances to watch the end of the footy, before sitting down to a nice dinner at the hotel.

Sunday 1st October 2017

Sunday morning we headed down Serviceton South Road and on to Mt Moffat Track looking at wildflowers. After a walk to Mt Moffat, we continued down Elliots Track and found more wildflowers.

looking at wildflowers


While we were here, we were lucky enough to have a pair of Red Tail Black
Cockatoos fly overhead.

While we were here, we were lucky enough to have a pair of Red Tail Black
Cockatoos fly overhead. A short stop at Moree Reserve on the Tallegeira Track followed, after which we drove back to camp.
Some had started to pack up and head home, while others were able to have a quiet afternoon before departure on Monday morning.
Many thanks to Alan for sharing his extensive knowledge of this area and
again making for a very enjoyable Little Desert long weekend.

01May/20

Redcastle Cemetery Records – Update – Feb 2020

Following additional information being received the listing was updated in Feb 2020. It is now being republished in an improved format.

This information has been extracted from the “Index to Bendigo Region Cemeteries – Series 1, Northern Districts“, as compiled by the Bendigo branch of the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies, and also from Redcastle Cemetery records held by the Heathcote Office of the City of Greater Bendigo.

Information extracted from the “Index” in May 2003 by Michael Martin, Jackaroo Club of Victoria, using a microfiche copy as held in the State Library of Victoria (Catalogue reference GMF 94 / Box 8). Parents’ names and other supplemental information kindly supplied by Lois Comeadow of Noble Park, extracted information cross-referenced to the Heathcote records in August 2003 and found to be correct.

This listing is not necessarily comprehensive, but should include most persons buried at Redcastle. The comments are mostly my own interpretation, and are not necessarily correct. Note re Parents: in many cases, one or both parents’ names are on the list and are probably also buried at Redcastle, but it is often difficult to establish direct relationships.

At the time, I painstakingly checked the cemetery records for the relevant time period, held in the State Library, and I also visited the City of Greater Bendigo’s office in Heathcote.  In that office they have records of who was buried at Redcastle, and I was allowed to peruse these.  (What they don’t have is a map of the graves.)

The records from Heathcote tallied almost exactly with what I had already obtained from the State Library, but in neither case did I find the names Schmidt or Willard, so some further evidence would be good.  If the death certificate states the place of burial then perhaps Anne Turner could either scan it or photograph it, and send it to us?  Then I would be happy to update the list. 

Michael Martin

Listing – Redcastle Cemetery Records

Name Date Buried Age Marked Grave? Parents’ names (if known) Comments
BABIDGE, Elizabeth Ellen27/08/18751 year 2 monthsWilliam Babidge & Martha Gray
BAKER, Julius27/02/189433Killed in mining accident
BARKER, Edward16/07/187670YesRichard Barker & Elizabeth Lesswall>New headstone, inscribed: “Bert,
BARKER, Eliza27/03/186757YesJames Lesswell(?) and ??>Fred & Jack Barker – February 2000″
BARKER, Frederica Rose Laura03/06/18761 year 11 days?? and Laura Barker
BARKER, Laura Eliza25/12/18735 monthsJames Barker & Amelia Windebank
BARNDEN, James10/10/186433James Barnden and ??
BENNY, Francis24/01/188668
BERTENSHAW, Hannah17/07/187232
BIANCHI, William07/10/18873 weeksAngelo Bianchi & Ellen HustonDate could be 1877
BISCHOFF, Elizabeth Ann26/08/187612 years 6 monthsWilliam Bischoff & Sarah Ann Gray>Probably
BISCHOFF, Regina26/10/18721 yearWilhelm Bischoff & Sarah Ann Gray>sisters
BURGESS, John01/05/18666 weeksJohn Burgess & Mary Doolan
CHAMBER, J or I06/07/194785
CHAMBERLAIN, Charles03/02/190786
CHAMBERLAIN, David17/09/18749 daysCharles Chamberlain & Catherine Carle
CHAMBERLAIN, David George26/07/194787Charles Chamberlain and Emily ??Most recent date
CHAPMAN, Louise Sarah13/01/18623 monthsJames Edward Chapman & Sarah Pert
CLARKE, David12/04/187316 monthsSon of John and ??(?)
CLARKE, Emily19/06/193584Yes“Beloved wife” of Frederick Clarke
CLARKE, Frederick02/04/191062YesJohn Clarke & Mary Ann HollingsworthSee Mary Ann Clarke
CLARKE, John07/11/188165John Clarke and Mary Ann SaltDiscovered first gold in area
CLARKE, Mary Ann24/07/186542YesJ Holingsworth and Ann ??Nee Hol(l)ingsworth
CLARKE, Walter07/06/18612 yearsJohn Clarke & Phoebe Louisa Morgan
COLLINS, Hannah14/01/186615 days?? and Hannah Collins>Hanna/Anna?
COLLINS, James26/06/186415 days?? and Anna Maria Collins>Could be same mother
COLLINS, John28/10/190075Peter Collins and ??
CREELY, Matthew28/11/189371Henry Creely & Mary Neal
DAVIES, Flora Theodore23/05/18688 monthsWilliam Davies and Margaret Grey
DRAPER, Catherine16/12/189517 monthsAlexander Draper and Louisa Gleeson
DUNCKLEY, Charles04/01/187968Surname could be DUNKLEY
ELLIS, Anne12/12/186124James Hennessey and Bridget ??
FOLVIG, Charles Olsen09/12/18827 monthsMagnus Folvig & Mary Jane Massey
FOLVIG, Emily Louisa02/10/18805 yearsMagnus Folvig & Mary Jane Massey
FOWLER, Eliza12/09/188138Martin Fowler and Abigail ??
FOY, James25/09/192793YesDavid Foy and Mary ??
GAFFNEY, Margaret19/10/18701 dayThomas Gaffney & Margaret Morgan
GERONOVITCH, Antonio16/05/188053Luke Geronevich & Maria Seegovitch
GERONOVITCH, Christina08/03/186510 weeksAntonio Gerovinitch(sic) & Mary Bottrill See Mary Geronovitch
GERONOVITCH, Mary17/03/191581?? Bottrill and ??(Note multiple spellings of Gero…)
GIBSON, Edward14/09/187038
GILL, Robert30/04/187551
GLEESON, Irene27/06/19068 monthsPatrick Gleeson and Emma Harris>These have to be
GLEESON, Mary Ann01/02/189632Patrick Gleeson and Mary Egan>different Patrick Gleesons.
GLEESON, Mary Ann19/02/189653O’hagan Francis Egan & Anne MurritaAka Mary Egan?
GLEESON, Patrick24/10/189164Daniel Gleeson and Cath O’Shea
GREEN, James23/06/187750
HAMILTON, Jane Manson26/01/18691 yearYesWalter Scott Hamilton & Mary Catherine Hickey>”Infant twin daughters”
HAMILTON, Mary Catherine26/01/18691 yearYesWalter Scott Hamilton & Mary Catherine Hickey>on headstone.
HAMILTON, Mary01/07/191173Yes?? Hickey and ??>>Parents of
HAMILTON, Walter Scott25/07/191781YesPeter Hamilton and Mary Ann Manson>>above twins.
HAWKING, William16/04/187457
HAWKING, William James16/03/18735 weeksEdward Hawking and Elizabeth Jones
HEATHER, Eda08/08/187515 daysCharles Frederick Heath & Kate StarSurname should be HEATH
HIRD, Annie04/10/191343YesWilliam Tice and Chris Crawford
HIRD, Edward12/04/189659Yes?? and Mary Barter
HIRD, Edward James13/07/192759Edward Hird and Mary Theresa Braters
HURST, Nicholas06/04/188057
KELLY, James25/08/18733 yearsJohn Kelly and Catherine Creely
KNIGHT, Phillip09/03/186944John Knight and Susan Wagland
LONSDALE, Eliza Margaret25/08/18706 daysCharles Lonsdale and Sarah Allen
LONSDALE, Emma Leah21/12/189737YesPhillip Knight and Ellen Pippin
LONSDALE, Hannah11/01/18777 monthsWilliam Joseph Lonsdale & Jessie Marie KnightSister to Leah Emma Knight
LONSDALE, Jessie Maria16/05/187624YesPhillip Knight and Ellen Pippin
LONSDALE, Leah Emma02/10/186716 daysWilliam Joseph Lonsdale & Jessie Maria KnightSister to Hannah Knight
LONSDALE, William J.?? 192886YesWilliam Joseph Lonsdale and Eliza Atkinson
LOWE, Elizabeth Ann25/05/186812 monthsWilliam Lowe amd Mary ??
MERRYFULL, James17/05/18801 yearWilliam Henry Merryfull and Eliza Robinson
MITCHELL, ????/??/1892infant
MITCHELL, Alice03/05/190543William Davey Mitchell & Sarah Arnold
MITCHELL, Bertha Veronica24/05/18918 monthsStephen Henry Mitchell and Mary HowardSee Mary Mitchell
MITCHELL, Ella Florence??/??/18841 month
MITCHELL, Frederick Henry28/01/18971 year 7 monthsFred Mitchell and Hart Thompson
MITCHELL, Mabel??/??/1890??Uncertain – probably buried at Redcastle
MITCHELL, Mary24/07/189242Ch Howard and Christina Graham
MITCHELL, Sarah Jane??/??/1880child
MITCHELL, Sarah Jane14/09/18732 years 6 monthsStephen Mitchell and Mary Ann HowardSee Mary Mitchell
MITCHELL, Stephen Henry06/09/190062Joseph Mitchell and Jane Gribble
MITCHELL, Stephen Henry30/01/190232Stephen Mitchell and Mary HowardSee Mary Mitchell
MITCHELL, William24/04/19059 daysWilliam Moses Mitchell and Alice DaveySee Alice Mitchell
MITCHELL, William Moses06/08/191565John Mitchell and ??
MORAN, Bertie01/10/187510 daysGeorge Moran and Isabella SutherlandSee Isabella Moran
MORAN, Bessie Rachel12/04/189724YesGeorge Moran and Isabella Sutherland
MORAN, Charles James03/06/189226YesGeorge Moran and Isabella Sutherland
MORAN, George21/04/191184Yes
MORAN, Isabella03/09/189565YesJames Sutherland and Helen Grieve
MORAN, William13/08/191152YesGeorge Moran and Isabella Sutherland
MORRIS, ??04/12/18806 hours?? and Sarah Morriss
MORRIS, Charlotte30/01/18631 yearHenry Morris and Selina Griffiths
MORRIS, Sarah18/12/188022William ?? and Ann ??
MUNSTER, Louis Daniel29/04/186138Paul Munster and Magna ??
McKEE, Eleanor07/02/189152YesJohn Bates and Eleanor ??>Headstone also includes Clara E.
McKEE, James17/08/190267YesJames McKee and Mary Orr>McKee, died 14/12/1894, aged 22.
McKEE, Clara E14/12/189422YesAndrew Pook and Elizabeth O’GradyDied following childbirth
McKEE, Eva Isabella??/??/18912 daysJames and Eleanor McKeeInterred with parents
NEAL, Ivy Eveline24/01/18986 weeksWilliam Neal and Sarah Neal
NEILSON, Alexander22/10/189357Daniel Neilson and Mary Alexander
NEILSON, Isabel Bessie23/06/189910 weeksWilliam Neilson and Susannah Cath Morgan
NEILSON, Marion Elizabeth04/01/191452Antonio Geronovich and Mary Bottrill
NEILSON, Mary28/12/186610 monthsAlexander Neilson and Elizabeth Graham
NEILSON, William Charles27/11/191323William Neilson and Susan Moran
O’TOOLE, James30/09/187750John O’Toole and Catherine O’BrienDied after falling down a mine shaft
PEARMAN, James10/04/186988James Pearman and Ann ??
POLKINGHORNE, William Northey 21/09/186818 monthsWilliam Henry Polkinghorne & Nancy Ann Allen
POOK, Andrew17/03/18761 year 13 daysAndrew Pook and Elizabeth O’GradySee Elizabeth Pook
POOK, Elizabeth Jane22/05/190253William O’Grady and Mary ??Andrew’s mother
PROCTOR, Charles27/05/190778Thomas Proctor and Mary ??
PUSTON, John11/04/187552C/be John Preston, parents unknown.
QUIRK, Andrew14/09/18987 weeksPatrick Quirk and Mary Jane Pook
RALPH, Harrison23/03/18612 yearsHarrison Ralph and Ann Cox
REED, Emily29/01/187211 monthsJohn Reed and Catherine Profser
REID, John Milne19/12/187544James Reid and Ann Walker
RICHARDSON, Sarah Frances31/07/18612 yrs I monthHenry Richardson and Jane ??
ROBERTS, John01/10/189167William Roberts and Ellen Griffiths
ROBERTSON, James Daniel06/09/186428James Robertson and Mary McDonaldCut own throat – suicide
ROFSER, William07/11/188657Morgan Rosser and Abigail TamplinSurname should be ROSSER
RUFSEL, Jane06/04/18638 monthsWilliam Russell and Bridget RogersSurname should be RUSSELL
SCHMIDT (WILLARD), Emma Clara10/07/187921William and Rosina WillardDied from Rheumatic Fever
SMITH, George16/09/186235Blown up in a mine explosion
SULLIVAN, Agnes01/01/186139James Ashcroft and Margaret ??Died of DTs. Oldest date
TAYLOR, Robert William18/09/188232Noah Taylor and Hannah Marten
THOMSON, Annie19/05/190136William Thomson and Elizabeth BarkerAnnie died of “severe dropsy”, and took her child with her.
THOMSON, ??19/05/1901Stillborn
THOMSON, David William18/03/18778 monthsWilliam Thomson and Elizabeth Barker
THOMSON, Eliza19/08/18632 monthsWilliam Thomson and Elizabeth Barker
THOMSON, Elizabeth04/07/187637Edward and Eliza Lesswall
THOMSON, Hugh30/08/18639 daysHugh Morton Thomson & Julia Payne Mann
THOMSON, Percy Mann15/10/18675 yearsHugh Morton Thomson & Julia Payne Mann
TICE, Alexander Crockett25/02/187013 monthsWilliam Tice and Christina Crockett
TICE, Christina06/11/189142Alexander Crockett and Annie Robb
TICE, William09/07/189550
TYLER, Ada Charlotte03/10/18736 monthsJohn Tyler and Frances Mills
WALSH, William30/08/187347Kenneth Walsh and Mary Cluney
WHITFIELD, Edna May15/03/19153 yearsCharles Whitfield and Martha Hart Kemp
WINTER, Alfred01/03/187323
YE GEEN, ??21/02/187949(From China)Killed when thrown from a cart
YOUNG, Margaret Ann24/03/18616 monthsRobert Young and Hannah Brough
18May/16
Redcastle State School Circa 1900

A little about Redcastle

The township of Red Castle was predominantly a gold rush town in the 1850’s, and many Croatians who resided in this town worked in mine claims, hotels, and shops. One particular gold discovery which was controversial, was discovered by Andrea Franatovich in1859. This particular gold discovery has subsequently been recorded as the first payable gold in the region. This discovery was made at the Balmoral diggings in Red Castle. However, Franatovich was not the only Croatian who had claims in Red Castle. Another Croatian Mate Lussich, had a mining company called Lussic and Co, which was listed on mining company register. He originally came from the island of Brac. Subsequently Lussich went on to name one of his claims as “New Dalmatian Reef Mine”. Another prominent resident of Red Castle formerly from Croatia, was Antonio Geronovich who owned a hotel called “All Nations Hotel”. He remained in Red Castle until his death, and was buried in the Redcastle cemetery, After his wife’s death she also was buried at the same cemetery. Geronovich’s children were all girls who were educated at the Redcastle primary school. One of his daughters married and continued to reside in Red Castle, and sent some of her children to the same primary school.

Redcastle State School Circa 1900

1859. John Clarke, who owned a hotel at Seymour, appears to have been the first to prospect in the vicinity of Redcastle. He had been quartz mining at Compton’s Creek Station, between Redcastle and Seymour, in
1857 … [He was first seen] at Redcastle in about March 1859, with a Burdan crushing machine.
The Commission decided that John Clarke’s find at Redcastle did not constitute a payable goldfield, as it had been soon abandoned. Andrew Franktovich told the Commission that he had found the first payable gold at Redcastle and supported his claim by producing a letter signed by Mr R.H. Horne and dated 31 January
1860 which granted to him and his three mates an increased claim of 200 yards on Jones’ Reef. The Commission decided in his favour and gave him the reward.

May 1859. It seems … that John Clarke … did in fact find the first gold at Redcastle, at Staffordshire Flat, three miles east of the later town, early in 1859. Many others came, but the whole field was unpayable until [Andrea] Franktovich discovered the first rich gold [in December].

1859-1898. The reefs in this district were opened in the year 1859, and were in full work till 1864 when the majority were abandoned … As a rule when a fault or break was met with in the reefs it was abandoned, also when water was met with in the shafts, the only style of machinery in use being the ordinary windlass, which could not cope with it. Two batteries were erected, one of 8 heads, half-a-mile north of the township, at the Redcastle Creek by Mr Collins, in 1859.

c.1860. Lands Dept Map. Village of Redcastle, surveyed by P Chauncy: J. Clarkes steam crushing machine (Section X11)

c. 1860-1893. In the early days there were three crushing plants in Redcastle, namely Clarke’s, Collin’s, and Russell, Neilson and party’s, Harrisons and Co.’s being afterwards on the site of the plant of the last named. At Staffordshire Flat there was only one crushing plant, Mr S. H. Mitchell’s, which is still there (1893), and was recently rented by Bradley & Co., and where they crushed stone from the Why Not mine.

June 1867. Table of quartz crushed for the quarter includes: Clarke’s machine, Redcastle.

September 1893. A lease of tailings for crushing of the early days has been taken up by Messrs H. R. Palling and S. H. Mitchell on the site of Harrison’s and Co’s. old battery at Redcastle, where there are many thousands of tons of tailings, a quantity of which sent to Bendigo recently for treatment yielded over 1/2 an ounce to the ton.

March 1901. Redcastle Company. Erecting machinery for extraction of gold from tailings.

July 1901. Redcastle. Ore extraction works complete. These are erected on Clarke’s old battery.

April 1902. Cyanide works at Redcastle being erected by Mr G. Hyndman are rapidly approaching completion.

April 1902. What was formerly known as Redcastle Gold Recovery Co., which is entirely in the hands of Mr
Hyndman, has the erection of a windmill on the Niagara claim completed. Vats are being erected.

September 1902. Cyanide works at Redcastle now completed.

August 1903. Work resumed at Redcastle cyaniding works.

The Ghosts of Redcastle Cemetery

By Michael Martin

If you go on one of the Club working bees to Redcastle Cemetery, or even just visit the place in isolation, you can’t avoid the feeling that you are not alone. Redcastle is near Heathcote, and in the last half of the 19th century was, from all accounts, a rip-roaring gold mining town which once had 17,000 people – but the cemetery has just 12 graves with headstones or markers. Some of these are multiple graves, of course, but where are the rest?

Many were probably marked with wooden crosses or headboards, which have disappeared over time, and others had nothing at all. There are well over 200 people actually buried there – many of whom, it would seem, are still hanging around keeping an eye on things. The place is full of ghosts.

The main legacy nowadays is several patches of agave cactus, which someone once must have thought would look nice on a grave, but it has spread and we are trying to eradicate it. (Agave must be the most horrible, disgusting, awful plant in existence, and the prickles make you feel intolerably itchy.)

My interest in the cemetery started last Easter, when we were having “Fun in the Flinders”, thanks to the generous hospitality of the South Australian club. We were on the “Ghosts of the Flinders” trip, and were on our way to look at an old cemetery when Margaret Ritchie came on the radio to tell the group about how the Victorian club is maintaining this little cemetery, out in the bush at a place called Redcastle.

“But we don’t know much about it”, Margaret said. “We can pull the weeds out, but apart from a few headstones, we don’t know who is buried there. There don’t seem to be any records.” At that point I had not been to the cemetery, and could not visualise it, but I started to think that there must be records somewhere. So I decided to start digging around on the Internet once we were home.

After many false hits (apparently there is a Redcastle in Scotland) I did actually find a few useful sites, including one put up by the Croatian community in Victoria. (There were many Croatians at Redcastle in the early days. One of them, Andrea Franatovich, discovered the first payable gold in the area.) Another site, put up by the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies, mentioned something called the “Index to Bendigo Region Cemeteries”, produced in 1998 by their Bendigo branch, and said to contain entries for all rural cemeteries in the Bendigo area. It was divided into two documents, one for “Northern Districts” and one for “Southern Districts”, and there were entries for Redcastle in the Northern section. This seemed a bit strange, because if you look at a map, Redcastle is actually south of Bendigo, but in any case it looked promising. The next step was to track down a copy – preferably in or around Melbourne.

After yet more internet searching, I found they had a copy on microfiche in the State Library of Victoria – that’s the one with the big dome, in Swanston Street. As I had to go into town every Tuesday afternoon anyway, I decided to go in early, visit the library, and have a look.

A very helpful attendant in the genealogy section showed me where to find the microfiche and then how to operate a microfiche reader. I discovered that the Northern Section listing runs to three sheets of microfiche, and includes 36 cemeteries in the area, including places like Bridgewater, Dunolly, Graytown, Heathcote, Rochester, Wedderburn and Whroo. Many of these are quite large compared to Redcastle.

A preamble on the first sheet stated that the index contains something over 30,000 individual names, but much to my dismay, they were listed in alphabetical order of surname, with adjacent columns for date of burial, age, and name of cemetery where buried. This was understandable I suppose, as most researchers would be looking for a name rather than a cemetery, but how I wished I could enter a command to say “sort on name of cemetery”. Alas, not possible with microfiche, so I resigned myself to scanning down the “cemetery” column, looking for the magic word “Redcastle”. There weren’t many. Sometimes I would go for hundreds of entries without finding any, and then there might be multiple Redcastles on the same page, for example where there were several people with the same surname. But these would be mixed up with others of that surname who were buried in other places, so I had to be sure to scan the correct line. Talk about going cross-eyed, not to mention just plain cross. After four Tuesday afternoons, I had a list of about 140 names, which I typed up into an Excel spreadsheet.

In my forays around the Internet, I had also come across the name and contact details for a very helpful lady named Lois Comeadow. Lois, who lives in Noble Park, has a keen interest in all things genealogical, and has ready access to the indexes of births, deaths and marriages. I forwarded a copy of the spreadsheet to her, and she was good enough to send it back with all sorts of additional information – mainly in regard to parents and offspring of the people on the list. I was able to include much of this. Thanks again Lois, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind me saying that if anyone wants help with some genealogical research of their own, I can pass on her email address.

Now comes the bad part. (Bad for me, that is.) Lois had also given me contact details for Greg Speirs, who works in the Heathcote office of the City of Greater Bendigo. She suggested he might be able to help me with further information about the Redcastle cemetery. So I emailed him, and he replied saying: “Michael, a number of years ago a Mrs Cochrane completed a full list of the Redcastle Cemetery Burial Index giving all details relating to each burial. A copy of the Index is available at the Heathcote office for viewing.”

Ouch!! You could have knocked me down with a feather!! All those Tuesday afternoons going cross-eyed, and someone had done it already?? So I eventually went to Heathcote to view their list, and was gratified to find that it was almost identical to mine. They had nine extra names which were not on my list, but I could easily have missed nine names out of 30,000 while going cross-eyed in the library, so I just added them to my list.

But the really interesting part was that for every name on their list, there was a separate page of additional information, under the following headings:

Date of death; Surname and Christian names; Age at death; Occupation; Place of death; Usual residence; Cause of death; Duration of last illness; Name of informant; Parents’ names; Occupation of father; Date of burial; Names of witnesses; Place of birth; Date of inquest (if any); Registration number; and Sundry information (a line or two saying something about the person, often with names of children, where married and to whom, etc.)

And, almost as an afterthought, the main list had this comment at the end: “Approximately 50 Chinese burials in unmarked graves, interred along fence near dirt road.”

The one thing they didn’t have (I asked) was a plan of the cemetery, showing who is buried where. Apparently one did exist, but it was lost with the transfer of records many years ago.

I also went out to the cemetery to have another look around and take a few photos. I took a wrong turn somewhere, and finished up in Costerfield on the Heathcote – Nagambie road. Never mind, because there was another sign pointing back to Redcastle, and the drive through the forest was enjoyable. It’s a box-ironbark forest, mysterious trees with gnarled and blackened trunks, and in August there was an understorey of small wattles and other plants just coming into flower. The roads through the forest are well formed dirt roads – you don’t need 4WD, but you do need to drive cautiously so as to avoid the odd pothole and the odd kangaroo.

Eventually you come to a “Redcastle” sign, and you try to work out where the pubs, shops, churches and other buildings had been. The place virtually ceased to exist when mining ended around 1910. Apart from a few farm houses, an occasional mullock heap, and sometimes a hint of what may have been a building site or a foundation, there’s not much. A little further on, and there’s a road signposted “Redcastle Cemetery Road”, and off that, down a short side track, is the cemetery itself.

It’s a forlorn sort of place. Despite the club’s efforts, the agave and other weeds are still much in evidence, and not helped by piles of dead agaves which have been pulled out and left to wither. Of the handful of graves, although some are in good condition, others are crumbling away, or with inscriptions which are now difficult or impossible to read. There are several large eucalypts scattered through the cemetery, and when the wind blows and the sun goes behind a cloud, it sounds mournful and feels very chilly. Once the agave problem is solved, I hope we can do a bit of landscaping, perhaps even plant a few wattles and grevilleas, and cheer the place up a bit.

One of the fascinating things to emerge from the research was family patterns and relationships, and events which must have occurred behind the scenes. Lois had suggested looking in the local press around relevant dates, searching for news items or obituaries, so a few more Tuesday afternoons were spent in the newspapers section of the State library, perusing microfilmed copies of the “McIvor Times” (the local Heathcote paper, still functioning) from the 1860s and 1870s. Here are just a few examples of things which emerged – I’m sure there would be more if you went looking:

One of the first things to catch my attention was an unnamed Thomson child who was stillborn on 19th May 1901, and an Annie Thomson, aged 36, who died on the same day. Annie’s father was William Thomson, so “Thomson” was evidently her maiden name. Was there a story here?

Sure enough, I found the following extract in the edition for May 23rd 1901 of the McIvor Times: “DEATH OF MISS THOMPSON – We are sorry to have to record the death, which occurred at her father’s residence, Toolleen, on Sunday last, of Miss Annie Thompson, eldest daughter of Mr. William Thompson, blacksmith. Miss Thompson, who was 36 years of age, had been ailing for about six months, suffering from a severe form of dropsy, for which she had been under treatment in Melbourne, and returned home recently. The funeral took place on Tuesday and was numerously attended, the remains being interred in the Redcastle Cemetery. Mr. Crowle was the undertaker.” They consistently spell the name with a P, but it has to be the same person. There’s no mention of a baby (shock, horror), but a stillborn baby with the same surname was buried on the same day, and the “fact sheet” for the infant, as held in the Heathcote office, just says under sundry info: “presumed interred with mother”. It seems that Annie had an incurable illness, was also unmarried and pregnant, and took the stillborn child out with her. The poor child was never named, and we don’t even know its gender.

I also noticed that there were two baby Hamilton girls who died on the same day and were of the same age. Twin sisters? This was confirmed by the quite imposing and well preserved family headstone, which includes the words “…also their infant twin daughters”. Infant mortality was rife in those days, of course, but for both to die on the same day suggested something unusual, perhaps an accident of some kind. So I went off to the McIvor Times around the date of burial, and found…. nothing at all. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t newsworthy, and there was no obituary. The records at Heathcote subsequently told me that the girls died of dysentery. It must have been really hard for the parents to see their girls die like that, both on the same day, and only one year old.

There is a headstone for some of the Lonsdales, which starts out saying: “In memory of our dear parents”, and then lists three names: William J. Lonsdale, Jessie M. Lonsdale, and Emma L. Lonsdale. Evidently placed by the children, but how could they have three parents? It seems to indicate a tragic family history. My list shows that William and Jessie had two daughters (Hannah and Leah Emma) who both died as infants, and Jessie herself died at the age of 24 – evidently at or soon after giving birth to Hannah, who in turn died a few months later. It seems that William J. then went on to marry Emma L., and they subsequently had more offspring. The surviving children who placed this stone had a common father and two different mothers.

A few of the people buried at Redcastle have names well-known in the history of retail stores in Australia – Moran, and Foy. During the last Redcastle working bee, we were approached by local residents Dawn and Paul Bruce. They told us they believed that the Morans and the Foys in the cemetery were actually related to the wealthy retailing families. It is possible they got their financial start in life with the gold they recovered from the Redcastle diggings – or maybe they started out as storekeepers to the miners?

Finally, I would like to pass on some words of wisdom as provided by James McKee, who took up residence in Redcastle cemetery on August 17th 1902. James was a local publican during the 1860s and 1870s, and while I was searching the McIvor Times of 1869 for any news of the Hamilton twins, I couldn’t help noticing the following advertisement, which appears regularly over several editions:

“ALBION HOTEL REDCASTLE – JAMES McKEE – Having purchased the premises lately known as Clarke’s Hotel, Redcastle, begs to inform his friends, and the Public, that he has opened the house as the Albion Hotel, where he will be always prepared to supply the best wines, spirits and malt liquors. Good accommodation for man and horse. Families accommodated with apartments. James McKee will also keep on hand a supply of General Merchandise and Colonial Produce.”

This advertisement also provides an insight into John Clarke (another of our residents), who was also a publican, and evidently had this hotel before James McKee took it over. John originally had a pub at Seymour, and arrived at Redcastle in 1859. He is reputed to have made the first discovery of gold in the area, although this was disputed by one Andrea Franatovich – there is quite a diatribe about it on the Croatian web site.

It’s good to know that two of our residents, in turn, had one local pub, and there was at least one other: “Another prominent resident of Red Castle, formerly from Croatia, was Antonio Geronovich who owned a hotel called “All Nations Hotel”. He remained in Red Castle until his death, and was buried in the Redcastle cemetery. After his wife’s death she also was buried at the same cemetery. Geronovich’s children were all girls who were educated at the Redcastle primary school. One of his daughters married and continued to reside in Red Castle, and sent some of her children to the same primary school.” (From the Croatian web site.)

So next time you are at the cemetery, pulling out agave cactuses and feeling like a cold beer, just see if you can catch one of their ghosts passing by.

If you’ve read this far, you might be interested in my Excel spreadsheet of Redcastle burials. It runs to five pages, in landscape format, and is too big to include in the magazine. I can provide printed or email copies, or if you have web access, there is a link to it from the club’s web site.

Some interesting web sites:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hollow/6442/redcastle/
http://heritage.vic.gov.au/PDFS/HGMS/sites/north_west_victoria/HeathcoteRegion2.pdf
http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/VICHeathcote.shtml

18May/16
Redcastle Cemetery Cleanup

Annual Redcastle Cemetery Clean-up

As one of the Club’s community service activities we maintain the cemetery of the once thriving mining settlement of Redcastle in the Heathcote district.

Graeme Mitchell reports: The trip plan was to camp overnight at a camp ground near the cemetery and then meet up with the day trippers at the Heathcote Bakery on Sunday morning. But things don’t always go to plan!

My back was playing up, so we decided to only go up for the day on Sunday. I rang around all the members on the trip form and let them know of the change of plans. The Marr’s and Jenny and Cleve had already decided to travel up and spend a few days looking around the area. All was well. Saturday morning I received a call from Les Warburton. “Where the bloody hell are you?” he asked. Les had decided on Friday night to go up on the Saturday morning and was waiting at the bakery.

I explained what had happened and directed him to the camp ground where he met up with the other campers. Sunday morning dawned as a lovely spring day. Sun shining, no wind and not a cloud in the sky. Gayle and I set of from home hoping the weather would be the same at Heathcote. Everyone had beaten us to the bakery, so I was give n the honour of writing the trip report.

After a coffee and a chat, it was out to the cemetery. We had a quick look around and decided on the work to be done. This involved a bit of whipper snipping, weeding, pruning and cleaning up the fallen foliage.
A fire was lit to get rid of the debris, although we were very mindful of the dry conditions and the need to ensure before we left that the fire was totally extinguished. Only the weeds and small branches were burnt.

With the rest of the crew off to work, Greg, Cleve and I were left to practice our winching skills. Last year, a dead tree was cut down and it was time to remove the stump. Out with the recovery gear and hand winch and we were ready to go. The winch was attached to a nearby tree using a tree protector and a tow strap was used to connect the winch to the stump.

Greg volunteered to use his muscle on the hand winch and the stump was soon out and the hole filled in.

It was then time for me to prepare lunch. The BBQ fire was lit and the snags were soon sizzling away. By the time lunch was ready, the workers had most of the jobs finished, so we sat down and enjoyed a long, relaxing lunch.

Eventually, it was time to pack up, make sure the fire was safe and have a last look around to ensure all was well. We headed off back to town.
On the way, we stopped at the camp ground to show everyone the site and have a short toilet stop. Before long, we were all on our way home.

Well, almost.

Les decided to throw his swag out and stay another night.

Thanks to all who helped out. The area looks in good shape and will be easier to maintain in the future.

Whose buried at the Redcastle cemetery?

14Oct/14

Redcastle Cemetery – Annual Maintenance Saturday 6th September 2014

Linda McElhenny reports:
On a beautiful sunny, but cool, Saturday morning we all met at Gaffneys Bakery in Heathcote for coffee before setting off at 9.30am for the Redcastle Cemetery.
Although, some were torn between manual labour and the Heathcote Market, which looked to be of a considerable size, complete with local produce, craft items, etc.
The area had had a fair amount of recent rain and on a track not far from the cemetery gates, in true 4×4 fashion we had to traverse water. (Well, maybe a big long stretch of puddles). It was enough though, to put a nice grey slick on the 4by.
With great enthusiasm, we got out our various pieces of equipment – chain saws, whipper snippers, rakes, weed sprayers, etc. There were saplings to be cut down, weeds to be snipped from around
the graves, fallen trees to be cut up and lots of fetching and carry- ing of debris to either the fire, or the green waste pile.
Glenda’s sharp eye and spotted some small agave cactus, which would have filled a bucket. This find piqued interest in others who also found more cactus.
They were so small they were hard to spot. All our years of tending the cemetery have paid off with such a small regrowth of the agave. Graeme recalled in the early years, the cemetery was quite overrun with it.
With everyone working diligently, we had most of the work done before lunch. A great bonfire, lit to get rid of the dried wood, pro- vided us with some lovely coals for our sausage sizzle.
Graeme and Gayle prepared and cooked the sausages and supplied salad, cheese bread and rolls. A pumpkin and sultana cake and chocolate biscuits followed. Yummy!
After a final look around and a clean up of the last of the debris, it was time to head home. We left after a great day, tired but happy with what we had achieved.

01May/11

Listing of persons buried in Redcastle Cemetery – 2011

This Listing has been superceeded, please refer to latest published listing  


This information has been extracted from the “Index to Bendigo Region Cemeteries – Series 1, Northern Districts“, as compiled by the Bendigo branch of the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies, and also from Redcastle Cemetery records held by the Heathcote Office of the City of Greater Bendigo.

Information extracted from the “Index” in May 2003 by Michael Martin, Jackaroo Club of Victoria, using a microfiche copy as held in the State Library of Victoria (Catalogue reference GMF 94 / Box 8). Parents’ names and other supplemental information kindly supplied by Lois Comeadow of Noble Park, extracted information cross-referenced to the Heathcote records in August 2003 and found to be correct.

This listing is not necessarily comprehensive, but should include most persons buried at Redcastle. The comments are mostly my own interpretation, and are not necessarily correct. Note re Parents: in many cases, one or both parents’ names are on the list and are probably also buried at Redcastle, but it is often difficult to establish direct relationships.

Name
Date Buried
Age Marked

 

Grave?

Parents’ names

 

(if known)

Comments  
     
BABIDGE, Elizabeth Ellen 27/08/1875 1 year 2 months   William Babidge & Martha Gray  
BAKER, Julius 27/02/1894 33     Killed in mining accident  
BARKER, Edward 16/07/1876 70 Yes Richard Barker & Elizabeth Lesswall >New headstone, inscribed: “Bert,  
BARKER, Eliza 27/03/1867 57 Yes James Lesswell(?) and ?? >Fred & Jack
Barker – February 2000″
BARKER, Frederica Rose Laura 03/06/1876 1 year 11 days   ?? and Laura Barker    
BARKER, Laura Eliza 25/12/1873 5 months   James Barker & Amelia Windebank    
BARNDEN, James 10/10/1864 33   James Barnden and ??  
BENNY, Francis 24/01/1886 68      
BERTENSHAW, Hannah 17/07/1872 32      
BIANCHI, William 07/10/1887 3 weeks   Angelo Bianchi & Ellen Huston Date could be 1877  
BISCHOFF, Elizabeth Ann 26/08/1876 12 years 6 months   William Bischoff & Sarah Ann Gray >Probably  
BISCHOFF, Regina 26/10/1872 1 year   Wilhelm Bischoff & Sarah Ann Gray >sisters  
BURGESS, John 01/05/1866 6 weeks   John Burgess & Mary Doolan  
CHAMBER, J or I 06/07/1947 85      
CHAMBERLAIN, Charles 03/02/1907 86      
CHAMBERLAIN, David 17/09/1874 9 days   Charles Chamberlain &
Catherine Carle
   
CHAMBERLAIN, David George 26/07/1947 87   Charles Chamberlain and Emily ?? Most recent date  
CHAPMAN, Louise Sarah 13/01/1862 3 months   James Edward Chapman & Sarah Pert  
CLARKE, David 12/04/1873 16 months     Son of John and ??(?)  
CLARKE, Emily 19/06/1935 84 Yes   “Beloved wife” of Frederick Clarke  
CLARKE, Frederick 02/04/1910 62 Yes John Clarke & Mary Ann Hollingsworth See Mary Ann Clarke  
CLARKE, John 07/11/1881 65   John Clarke and Mary Ann Salt Discovered first gold in area  
CLARKE, Mary Ann 24/07/1865 42 Yes J Holingsworth and Ann ?? Nee Hol(l)ingsworth  
CLARKE, Walter 07/06/1861 2 years   John Clarke & Phoebe Louisa Morgan    
  Marked  
Name Date Buried Age Grave? Parents’
names (if known)
Comments  
       
COLLINS, Hannah 14/01/1866 15 days   ?? and Hannah Collins >Hanna/Anna?  
COLLINS, James 26/06/1864 15 days   ?? and Anna Maria Collins >Could be same mother  
COLLINS, John 28/10/1900 75   Peter Collins and ??  
CREELY, Matthew 28/11/1893 71   Henry Creely & Mary Neal  
DAVIES, Flora Theodore 23/05/1868 8 months   William Davies and Margaret Grey  
DRAPER, Catherine 16/12/1895 17 months   Alexander Draper and Louisa Gleeson  
DUNCKLEY, Charles 04/01/1879 68     Surname could be DUNKLEY  
ELLIS, Anne 12/12/1861 24   James Hennessey and Bridget ??  
FOLVIG, Charles Olsen 09/12/1882 7 months   Magnus Folvig & Mary Jane Massey    
FOLVIG, Emily Louisa 02/10/1880 5 years   Magnus Folvig & Mary Jane Massey    
FOWLER, Eliza 12/09/1881 38   Martin Fowler and Abigail ??  
FOY, James 25/09/1927 93 Yes David Foy and Mary ??  
GAFFNEY, Margaret 19/10/1870 1 day   Thomas Gaffney & Margaret Morgan  
GERONOVITCH, Antonio 16/05/1880 53   Luke Geronevich & Maria Seegovitch    
GERONOVITCH, Christina 08/03/1865 10 weeks   Antonio
Gerovinitch(sic) & Mary Bottrill
See Mary Geronovitch  
GERONOVITCH, Mary 17/03/1915 81   ?? Bottrill and ?? (Note multiple spellings of Gero…)  
GIBSON, Edward 14/09/1870 38      
GILL, Robert 30/04/1875 51      
GLEESON, Irene 27/06/1906 8 months   Patrick Gleeson and Emma Harris >These have to be  
GLEESON, Mary Ann 01/02/1896 32   Patrick Gleeson and Mary Egan >different
Patrick Gleesons.
 
GLEESON, Mary Ann 19/02/1896 53   O’hagan Francis Egan & Anne Murrita Aka Mary Egan?  
GLEESON, Patrick 24/10/1891 64   Daniel Gleeson and Cath O’Shea  
GREEN, James 23/06/1877 50      
HAMILTON, Jane Manson 26/01/1869 1 year Yes Walter Scott Hamilton & Mary Catherine Hickey >”Infant twin daughters”  
HAMILTON, Mary Catherine 26/01/1869 1 year Yes Walter Scott Hamilton & Mary Catherine Hickey >on headstone.  
HAMILTON, Mary 01/07/1911 73 Yes ?? Hickey and ?? >>Parents of  
HAMILTON, Walter Scott 25/07/1917 81 Yes Peter Hamilton and Mary Ann Manson >>above twins.  
HAWKING, William 16/04/1874 57      
HAWKING, William James 16/03/1873 5 weeks   Edward Hawking and Elizabeth Jones  
HEATHER, Eda 08/08/1875 15 days   Charles Frederick Heath & Kate Star Surname should be HEATH  
HIRD, Annie 04/10/1913 43 Yes William Tice and Chris Crawford  
HIRD, Edward 12/04/1896 59 Yes ?? and Mary Barter  
HIRD, Edward James 13/07/1927 59   Edward Hird and Mary Theresa Braters  
HURST, Nicholas 06/04/1880 57      
KELLY, James 25/08/1873 3 years   John Kelly and Catherine Creely  
KNIGHT, Phillip 09/03/1869 44   John Knight and Susan Wagland  
  Marked  
Name Date Buried Age Grave? Parents’
names (if known)
Comments  
     
LONSDALE, Eliza Margaret 25/08/1870 6 days   Charles Lonsdale and Sarah Allen  
LONSDALE, Emma Leah 21/12/1897 37 Yes Phillip Knight and Ellen Pippin  
LONSDALE, Hannah 11/01/1877 7 months   William Joseph Lonsdale & Jessie Marie Knight Sister to Leah Emma Knight  
LONSDALE, Jessie Maria 16/05/1876 24 Yes Phillip Knight and Ellen Pippin  
LONSDALE, Leah Emma 02/10/1867 16 days   William Joseph Lonsdale & Jessie Maria Knight Sister to Hannah Knight  
LONSDALE, William J. ?? 1928 86 Yes William Joseph Lonsdale and Eliza Atkinson  
LOWE, Elizabeth Ann 25/05/1868 12 months   William Lowe amd Mary ??  
MERRYFULL, James 17/05/1880 1 year   William Henry Merryfull and Eliza Robinson  
MITCHELL, ?? ??/??/1892 infant      
MITCHELL, Alice 03/05/1905 43   William Davey Mitchell & Sarah Arnold  
MITCHELL, Bertha Veronica 24/05/1891 8 months   Stephen Henry Mitchell and Mary Howard See Mary Mitchell  
MITCHELL, Ella Florence ??/??/1884 1 month      
MITCHELL, Frederick Henry 28/01/1897 1 year 7 months   Fred Mitchell and Hart Thompson  
MITCHELL, Mabel ??/??/1890 ??     Uncertain – probably buried at Redcastle  
MITCHELL, Mary 24/07/1892 42   Ch Howard and Christina Graham  
MITCHELL, Sarah Jane ??/??/1880 child      
MITCHELL, Sarah Jane 14/09/1873 2 years 6 months   Stephen Mitchell and Mary Ann Howard See Mary Mitchell  
MITCHELL, Stephen Henry 06/09/1900 62   Joseph Mitchell and Jane Gribble  
MITCHELL, Stephen Henry 30/01/1902 32   Stephen Mitchell and Mary Howard See Mary Mitchell  
MITCHELL, William 24/04/1905 9 days   William Moses Mitchell and Alice Davey See Alice Mitchell  
MITCHELL, William Moses 06/08/1915 65   John Mitchell and ??  
MORAN, Bertie 01/10/1875 10 days   George Moran and Isabella Sutherland See Isabella Moran  
MORAN, Bessie Rachel 12/04/1897 24 Yes George Moran and Isabella Sutherland  
MORAN, Charles James 03/06/1892 26 Yes George Moran and Isabella Sutherland  
MORAN, George 21/04/1911 84 Yes    
MORAN, Isabella 03/09/1895 65 Yes James Sutherland and Helen Grieve  
MORAN, William 13/08/1911 52 Yes George Moran and Isabella Sutherland  
MORRIS, ?? 04/12/1880 6 hours   ?? and Sarah Morriss  
MORRIS, Charlotte 30/01/1863 1 year   Henry Morris and Selina Griffiths  
MORRIS, Sarah 18/12/1880 22   William ?? and Ann ??  
MUNSTER, Louis Daniel 29/04/1861 38   Paul Munster and Magna ??  
McKEE, Eleanor 07/02/1891 52 Yes John Bates and Eleanor ?? >Headstone also includes Clara E.  
McKEE, James 17/08/1902 67 Yes James McKee and Mary Orr >McKee, died 14/12/1894, aged 22.  
McKEE, Clara E 14/12/1894 22 Yes Andrew Pook and Elizabeth O’Grady Died following childbirth  
McKEE, Eva Isabella ??/??/1891 2 days   James and Eleanor McKee Interred with parents  
NEAL, Ivy Eveline 24/01/1898 6 weeks   William Neal and Sarah Neal  
  Marked  
Name Date Buried Age Grave? Parents’
names (if known)
Comments  
       
NEILSON, Alexander 22/10/1893 57   Daniel Neilson and Mary Alexander  
NEILSON, Isabel Bessie 23/06/1899 10 weeks   William Neilson and Susannah Cath Morgan  
NEILSON, Marion Elizabeth 04/01/1914 52   Antonio Geronovich and Mary Bottrill    
NEILSON, Mary 28/12/1866 10 months   Alexander Neilson and Elizabeth Graham  
NEILSON, William Charles 27/11/1913 23   William Neilson and Susan Moran  
O’TOOLE, James 30/09/1877 50   John O’Toole and Catherine O’Brien Died after falling down a mine shaft  
PEARMAN, James 10/04/1869 88   James Pearman and Ann ??  
POLKINGHORNE, William Northey 21/09/1868 18 months   William Henry Polkinghorne & Nancy Ann Allen  
POOK, Andrew 17/03/1876 1 year 13 days   Andrew Pook and Elizabeth O’Grady See Elizabeth Pook  
POOK, Elizabeth Jane 22/05/1902 53   William O’Grady and Mary ?? Andrew’s mother  
PROCTOR, Charles 27/05/1907 78   Thomas Proctor and Mary ??  
PUSTON, John 11/04/1875 52     C/be John Preston,
parents unknown.
QUIRK, Andrew 14/09/1898 7 weeks   Patrick Quirk and Mary Jane Pook    
RALPH, Harrison 23/03/1861 2 years   Harrison Ralph and Ann Cox  
REED, Emily 29/01/1872 11 months   John Reed and Catherine Profser  
REID, John Milne 19/12/1875 44   James Reid and Ann Walker  
RICHARDSON, Sarah Frances 31/07/1861 2 yrs I month   Henry Richardson and Jane ??  
ROBERTS, John 01/10/1891 67   William Roberts and Ellen Griffiths  
ROBERTSON, James Daniel 06/09/1864 28   James Robertson and Mary McDonald Cut own throat – suicide  
ROFSER, William 07/11/1886 57   Morgan Rosser and Abigail Tamplin Surname should be ROSSER  
RUFSEL, Jane 06/04/1863 8 months   William Russell and Bridget Rogers Surname should be RUSSELL  
SMITH, George 16/09/1862 35     Blown up in a mine explosion  
SULLIVAN, Agnes 01/01/1861 39   James Ashcroft and Margaret ?? Died of DTs. Oldest
date
 
TAYLOR, Robert William 18/09/1882 32   Noah Taylor and Hannah Marten    
THOMSON, Annie 19/05/1901 36   William Thomson and Elizabeth Barker >Annie died of “severe dropsy”, and  
THOMSON, ?? 19/05/1901 Stillborn     >took her child with her.  
THOMSON, David William 18/03/1877 8 months   William Thomson and Elizabeth Barker  
THOMSON, Eliza 19/08/1863 2 months   William Thomson and Elizabeth Barker  
THOMSON, Elizabeth 04/07/1876 37   Edward and Eliza Lesswall  
THOMSON, Hugh 30/08/1863 9 days   Hugh Morton Thomson & Julia Payne Mann  
THOMSON, Percy Mann 15/10/1867 5 years   Hugh Morton Thomson & Julia Payne Mann  
TICE, Alexander Crockett 25/02/1870 13 months   William Tice and Christina Crockett  
TICE, Christina 06/11/1891 42   Alexander Crockett and Annie Robb  
TICE, William 09/07/1895 50      
TYLER, Ada Charlotte 03/10/1873 6 months   John Tyler and Frances Mills  
  Marked  
Name Date Buried Age Grave? Parents’
names (if known)
Comments  
       
WALSH, William 30/08/1873 47   Kenneth Walsh and Mary Cluney  
WHITFIELD, Edna May 15/03/1915 3 years   Charles Whitfield and Martha Hart Kemp  
WINTER, Alfred 01/03/1873 23      
YE GEEN, ?? 21/02/1879 49   (From China) Killed when thrown from a cart  
YOUNG, Margaret Ann 24/03/1861 6 months   Robert Young and Hannah Brough  
             

Additionally,
the Heathcote records comment that there were “approximately 50 Chinese burials in unmarked graves, interred along fence near dirt road”.

End of Listing

24Feb/11

Avoca Flood Aid

Participants:

Wayne – Prado

Christophe & family – Jackaroo

Rick & family – Pathfinder

 

Following a request from the Pyrenees Shire to Four Wheel Drive Victoria for assistance in clearing up properties after the floods in the Avoca area, three families from our Club answered the call.

The Shire arranged camping for us at the Moonambel Reserve, which is about 20 kms north west of Avoca.

A new multi-purpose hall/clubrooms had recently been built with clean toilets and the best shower facilities I have had in all my camping days. We shared the Reserve with a group from the Idlers 4WD Club.

Wayne, who had arrived mid Friday, contacted the Shire Works Coordinator and met with the farmer who lived at the small town of Natte Yallock, out oavoca3n the Avoca – Bealiba road.

Glenda, Luke and I arrived about 8.30pm on Friday and Christophe and family met us on Saturday morning at the farm. The owners of the property, Lee and Margaret, were staying in Maryborough until they could return to their house after it had been flooded out for the second time in three months.

In fact, they had just had the carpet re-laid from the first flood, from which they had to be winched to safety by helicopter. Lee indicated that the property had been owned by his family since 1928 and the two recent floods were the first they had experienced.wayne1

Our job was to remove all the debris, including large logs, from against the wire and star picket fences. The fences had been flattened by the debris which was up to 40cms thick in places.

We soon realised the use of a drag chain attached to a four wheel drive was the most efficient way to lift sections of a fence. The star pickets were then put back with on old 10lb hammer.

Each morning we set out at 8.00am. On Saturday we worked until about 3.00pm as it was very hot. Sunday was forecast to be 40°, so we decided to work in the morning onlywayne3.

After that, we showered, packed and returned home, exhausted but happy to have helped in a small way. Over the two days, we managed to repair many hundreds of metres of fencing and the owners were grateful for our efforts.

Rick