Charles Bernhardt Hahnel was born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany in 1866 to Parents Charles August Hahnel and Theresa Schmidt. Charles came to Australia in 1886, boarding the ship Salier in Antwerp, Belgium. Charles was 20 at this time.
On the sixth of December 1890, Charles married Hannah Gribble (born Maryborough 1871) in Timor Victoria. His occupation is listed as Miner. 1891 my great-grandmother, Lily May Hahnel, was born, in 1892, then Ernest Charles Hahnel, 1894 Emily Louisa (Mabel) Hahnel, and 1896 Augustus Bernhardt Hahnel.
Charles was then listed on the Outback Family History records:
Princess Margaret Gold Mine Bulong Kalgoorlie – 12 Jun 1897 to 3 Sep 1897
PAY SHEETS FROM 8th AUGUST 1896 to 14th MAY 1898 Miners were paid 13/4 (13 shillings & 4pence) per shift:- Pay Sheets
Theresa Augusta Hahnel was the first of the children to be born in Western Australia in 1902, East Coolgardie (Kalgoorlie). Working as a Gold Miner in Burbanks (near Coolgardie) Western Australia, Hahnel swore the Oath for his Aliens Memorial for Naturalisation before Justice William Lambton Owen, Resident Magistrate at Coolgardie, on the 18th May 1904. Charles Hahnel’s petition was attested to by Mr. Thomas Edward Kein, a then seemingly substantial authority as Postmaster of the town of Burbanks, Western Australia. 1904 also saw the birth of his son Albert Charles Hahnel.
Electoral rolls place Charles and Hannah at Balfour street Kalgoorlie in 1906, Charles was 40yrs. On the 12th Jan 1907 Irene Ethel Hahnel was born, 1908 Victor Hahnel (Victor served in World War 2). Now residing in Turner Street in 1912 a son, Charles Richard, was born (also served in World War 2).
In 1912 a newspaper article in trove lists Charles as having a small mining accident at the Mines Department Kalgoorlie. Wednesday the 28th May the newspaper article appeared in the Kalgoorlie Miner and states on the 15th of May 1912 when a stage pole broke, C. Hahnel, who was on the stage fell to the ground and sprained his arm.
Charles and Hannah resided at Turner street Kalgoorlie till 1926. Charles was 65yrs when his daughter Lily died in 1932. Charles died 26 Feb 1935 at the Government Hospital Kalgoorlie. Charles is buried in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. Hannah lived to be 94yrs, dying in 1965 in Perth.
There are plenty of newspaper articles in the Kalgoorlie Miner relating to the Hahnel’s. Including Charles and Hannah being fined for Augustus not attending school 8th April 1905, it went to the police court and fined 1s with 2s in costs.
In the West Australian, 7th February 1928 at Marvel Loch, a police report lists a search party was dispatched to find the wife of C B Hahnel, one of the miner settlers who started from their camp with his breakfast and midday meal to where he and a son were chopping wood. When a constable and tracker reached the camp they found Mrs. Hahnel lying there. After being “bushed” since early morning. She had strayed attempting to make a shortcut.
(Above) Charles Bernhardt Hahnel, Hannah Hahnel (nee Gribble) Lily May, and Ernest Charles Hahnel about 1895 Timor-Maryborough Victoria. Picture supplied by Ross Baldwin.
(Above) I am guessing the above picture is of Hannah, Lily May, Emily Louisa, Augustus Bernhardt, Theresa Augusta, and Albert Charles. Photo possibly dated 1906, Coolgardie. Photo supplied by Ross Baldwin.
Lily May, (My great-grandmother) went on to marry John William Dodds in Kalgoorlie in 1913 who came to Coolgardie, Western Australia from Adelaide with his mother Isabella Ann (nee Middleton), and brother Richard Middleton Dodds. ( I cannot find any records of Richard after 1914, no army records either. A story in 1909, Corner of Morgan and Renou streets Coolgardie a story in the Kalgoorlie Western Argus, 7th December 1909 a fire at Coolgardie about 9.40am broke out in a 5 roomed wood hessian and iron house, owned and occupied by Isabella Hodges.)
Just after 1894, she married John Boucher Hodges. Isabella remarried only 3 months after the death of her husband William Dodds and also had a baby 1 month after her marriage.
Lily and John William resided in Menzies and Comet Vale where my grandfather was born and almost died (a newspaper article has him almost drowning in a cyanide tank at age 2 at the Gladsome mine). The tank was 5 feet deep and full of a strong cyanide solution. First aid was immediately rendered by Mr. W Carswell and then he was taken to Kalgoorlie where he was under Dr. Walker’s care. Electoral roll places Lily and John Dodds in Nelson, Western Australia in 1931 at age 40 and then her death in 1932 at Warren Hospital Jardee.
(Above) Lily May, Mabel Emily, and Hannah Hahnel (Not sure which is which but will presume the dark-haired lady on the right is Mabel from other photos I have seen of her.) Photo supplied by Jan Gladwin, from the Gribble Line.
Ernest Charles, I currently do not have a spouse or children listed on ancestry. A Newspaper article ( unsure which and the date, around 1902/03) has a “Railway accident – Ernest Hahnel, a laborer 20 years of age endeavored to enter a railway carriage at Northam yesterday afternoon when the train was in motion. He slipped and fell, and the wheels passed over his left hand. He was brought to Perth and conveyed to the Perth Public Hospital. On examination by the Medical officer, it was found the hand was so badly crushed it required amputation and the operation will be performed this morning”. I have him in 1931 at age 39 on the electoral roll at Murchison Kalgoorlie, and his death in 1980 aged 88.
Emily Louisa (Mabel) Hahnel married John Francis Aber in 1919 Boulder Kalgoorlie, they had their daughter Jean Ellen Aber in 1920 and by 1924 they moved back to St Arnaud, Victoria. Emily had a few daughters; I have been in contact with Ross, a descendant of the Aber family who has helped with some photos. Mabel died on 10th July 1979 at St Arnaud aged 84.
Emily Louisa ( Mabel) Hahnel.
Augustus Bernhardt Hahnel in court
The outcome of the court case.
(Above) Charles seems to have had his hands full with his son Augustus Bernhardt. The newspaper article is from the Kalgoorlie Western Argus 13th March 1906. Hannah Hahnel also charged for not sending “Gus” to school.
Augustus joined the army at age of 18 in 1914 at Blackboy Hill 51st Battalion and was deployed to Tidworth, Longbridge Deverill, Egypt, and France. In 1922 Augustus married Gladys Maude in Kalgoorlie but was a short marriage as she died at her residence on Adelma Road Dalkeith on April 27, 1942. Augustus married again to Violet Salisbury Fourbas Jamieson in 1960 at age of 64. Augustus died 27th of October 1979 at age 83.
I do not have much information on Theresa Augusta Hahnel, just that she married Ernest Stiles in Boulder in 1921, a 1925 and 1928, electoral roll has her name as Deracier Augusta.
Albert Charles Hahnel was born in 1904, married at age 31 in 1935 in Kalgoorlie to Margaret Mary Henneberry. Albert had two sons, Jason and Albert Victor Hahnel. Little Albert (aged 5) was killed when thrown from the back of a ute near Higginsville. Newspaper article appeared in the Geraldton Guardian 17th Jan 1948, The Daily News Perth, and the Sunday Times 18th Jan 1948. Albert Charles was in the paper once before that again involving driving. Tuesday 11th April 1939, a cyclist was struck by a utility truck and was thrown heavily to the road, Daniel Donovan aged 50 died an hour and a half later at the Kalgoorlie District Hospital. Another clipping dated 27th April 1939 lays no blame in Alberts part. Electoral rolls place Albert in Kalgoorlie until at least 1972 with the next roll collected in 1980 he was living in Esperance. In 2003 Albert Charles had died in Esperance.
Fatal fall from Utility Cyclist Killed 10th April 1939 the West Australian
17th January 1948, Geraldton Guardian
Irene Ethel Hahnel was born in Kalgoorlie on the 12th January 1907, Married William George Asher in Boulder in 1925 at age of 18. Irene and William went on to have 7 children. The 1936 electoral roll places her in Kanowna, West Aust. Irene was 67 when her husband died, then a few short years later at age 71, she died in Coolgardie, buried in Kalgoorlie Cemetery.
Wedding of Irene Hahnel and William Asher:- Left to right. William Daniel Asher Georgina Cecilia Asher ( nee Whitsed) William George Asher Irene Ethel Asher ( Nee Hahnel) Charles Bernhardt Hahnel Annie Gribble (Sitting) Lorna Walker – Photo Jan Gladwin.
Victor Hahnel was born 1908 in Coolgardie but didn’t stay in the golden west for long, by 1931 Victor, aged 23, moved to Bendigo, Victoria. Victor married Ellen Marian Morlock, I am unsure if it was before or after going to Victoria. Victor was 60 years old at the time of his death in 1968.
Victor Hahnel Photo from Ross Baldwin
Charles Richard Hahnel.
The last child of Charles and Hannah Hahnel is Charles Richard. Born in Southern Cross Western Australia on 23rd February 1912, Charles was 25 when he married Lesley Alma Staker. 10 May 1943 Charles Richard enlisted in the Army in Kalgoorlie, rank, Craftsman, discharged 4 Feb 1946. I know of one child, Charles Stanley Hahnel. An article in the West Australian 1 November 1952 states Charles had an accident at age 40 and in a critical condition at Kalgoorlie District Hospital as a result of an accident on the South Kalgurli mine. While men were pulling ore from a bin, Mr Hahnel was caught between a skip and the shaft timber and received extensive head injuries. He was taken in a mines ambulance to hospital where he was operated on early this morning. Charles Richard was 75 when he died in 1987 at Kalgoorlie.
Written and researched by Davina Dodds, I am descended from Lily May Hahnel, She married John William Dodds, their child Charles Henry Dodds is my grandfather.
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- Elphinstone Davenport Cleland – a mining man - 27/04/2024
- The Ghost of Goya River - 27/04/2024
- Parker Range on the Yilgarn - 27/04/2024
Leave a Reply