I was recently contacted by my friend and grave photographer extraordinaire, Danielle Warnock, about a query she had received from Duncan Fraser about the grave of Simon Rose Fraser, his great-uncle, buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. He asked if she could take some photos of the grave for him and his family.
Duncan said: My brother Peter, Simon, and I are great-nephews of Simon Rose, and we live in Victoria and NSW. We are planning a visit to Kalgoorlie later in May and hope to be able to restore the headstone and grave. I have contacted Kalgoorlie Monumental Works about this and am awaiting a reply. The following is an image of the original grave of Simon Rose Fraser held by the Fraser family:
Grave Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Simon Rose Fraser – Image Fraser Family
The grave is in the Anglican Section and is not far behind the cemetery office where most of the very early graves are located. This is what it looked like in 2017.
Simon Rose Fraser – Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Photo by Danelle Warnock in 2017
Grave after restoration in 2021 – Image: Danelle Warnock
After making inquiries, the Cemetery told me that this burial occurred before the Kalgoorlie Boulder Cemetery Board commenced in 1896. The details they have on him is that he was buried on the 15th of February 1895 and he was aged 25 years old and he died of Typhoid fever.
The family had until recently thought that Simon was buried in the Coolgardie Cemetery and then reinterred in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery at a later date. I could find no record at all of Simon being buried in Coolgardie, but then Duncan’s brother Peter uncovered some family history research papers that their late mother Helen undertook years ago.
The family papers are extensive, but key points are:
- Regarding the confusion about our belief that Simon Rose Fraser (SRF) was originally buried in Coolgardie Cemetery, it appears that it was his older brother Alexander who was buried in Coolgardie Cemetery on 12th Oct 1902. He was 35 years old (3 years older than SRF). His plot number is P46. By some accounts, he was the ‘black sheep’ of the family and possibly went over to the west with SRF. The family may have cut off all communications with him because, in the WA Register of Deaths, his parents were listed as “Not Known”. If his grave is still in existence, then we may look at renovating it also.
- In the list of original shareholders of the Great Boulder Perseverance Mining Company, SRF, amongst other family members, is listed. Our mother’s maiden name is McPhail, and she was a distant cousin to our father, Donald. McPhail’s are listed as shareholders also.
- There is a letter (or copy of ) between a “Paddy Hannan” and Uncle, written in 1894.
So this explains in more detail the connection between SRF and Great Boulder Mining (and why the name has passed down to us) and also that SRF wasn’t necessarily alone in the Eastern Goldfields when he died in 1895. This may be how there is a quite impressive memorial erected on his grave, undoubtedly made of wood. It must have disintegrated and been replaced with the stone and metal one that is there today.
The following verse was written about him by a relative:
To the Memory of Simon Fraser, who
Died in Western Australia, February, 1895.
Bacchus Marsh Express – Victoria – 23 March 1895
Can we believe no more thy face we’ll see,
O’er which was wont that winning smile to steal?
That thought alone seems still, alas! to me,
Far, far, too sad; almost a thing unreal.
A sadness starts that thou, so slim there—
With young life blessed, so full of promise too—
By sickness lain without a parent’s care,
And dying past without one kind adieu.
From boy to youth, and on to manhood staid,
I watched thee upward grow and knew no blame
Save high esteem and love, which to thy name is paid
In this thine old accustomed place.
The lathe is there where oft thy vigils kept
By candle’s fit and dimly burning light;
Thy brain toiling when others soundly slept;
Designing wondrous work to captivate the sight.
In patient toil I think I see thee now,
With file in hand on pinion or on chain.
The mind’s intent was writ upon thy brow,
An inventive gift impelled by ample brain.
Thy works are here undying in their fame.
Dear is thy memory through thy fertile brain.
Those deeds of toil recall to us thy name,
And patient soul in which God’s gifts did reign.
To leave us to die! But dying still not dead.
To memory steadfast thou art always nigh.
Do not well-won honours surround thy head,
Which with parents, friends, and comrades uphold thee high.
“Thy will be done,” was given us to pray
To Him on high who guides our weary way
On earth as in Heaven—where everlasting day
At the throne of God sheds its resplendent ray.
Good-bye, dear Simon, no more of worldly ills
Beset thy path or disappoint thy aims;
Life’s snares or joys are passed, thy Maker wills
To call thee to happier domains.
by W. H. C.
In the mid to late 1880s, Simon was apprenticed to his father, D.K. Fraser (our great-grandfather), who had a Blacksmith/Engineering shop in Ballan, Victoria. So when he was 16-17 years of age, in the evenings after work, he made these models by lamplight. The reaper binder reputedly worked, making small stooks of hay and pulled by a dog! Each chain link – made from horseshoe nails- took one evening to make. He even made the tools in the toolbox, about 1 cm long. The models are in the possession of his great-nephew Simon and still sit in the glass cabinet from when they were on display at the Victorian Museum many years ago.
