A Faithful Wife, True and Kind !

I was recently sent this photograph of H Cramer and Co, Saddle, Collar and Harness Maker. I was asked to find out a bit more about the business.  I started to search and this sad tale unfolded.

H Cramer Saddle and Harness Maker, Bayley Street Coolgardie 1903

In Kalgoorlie in 1901, a young couple married, Margaret Theresa ANGUS and Henry Timothy CRAMER. They moved to Coolgardie where Henry was to set up a thriving business on Bayley Street, as seen in the above photograph.

In 1902 they were to welcome their first child, a boy called George Henry. All seemed well and the little family was soon to grow when Margaret was again expecting the birth of their second child which was due in Feb 1905.

Sadly on the 19th December, Margaret went into premature labour at 7 months and both she and the child she carried were to die. Margret’s cause of death was ‘Premature Birth at 7 months, Exhaustion’. She was only 29 yrs old and they had only been married for less than three years.

Margaret is buried in the Coolgardie Cemetery with no headstone but Henry was to place the following heartfelt verse in the newspaper-

Coolgardie Miner 16 December 1904, page 2

Margaret Theresa CRAMER Age 29 Daughter of Henry ANGUS  and Margaret nee Dean from Victoria. It’s not known what became of Henry Cramer and his young son but not long after the death of his beloved wife his business was declared bankrupt and everything was sold off.

Coolgardie Miner 14 Jan 1904

He seems to have gone downhill from this point and in 1907 the following article appeared in the Kalgoorlie Miner:-

A Peculiar Case. — Before Messrs. J. H. Cummins and R. G. Ardagh, JP’s. in the Kalgoorlie Police Court yesterday morning, Henry Timothy Cramer, a saddler, was charged with having been disorderly in Hannan street by making use of obscene language. The accused did not seem to realise his position, and when asked to plead did not make any reply, but after a lot of persuasions, said in a whisper that he was not guilty.
The evidence showed that late on Saturday night the accused was using bad language in a loud voice opposite the Commercial Bank and that when arrested he stopped to argue and explain why he had used the words. Corporal Edmondson said he did not know what to make of the accused, who seemed half demented. He was now working at the All Nations Hotel. Detective Sergeant Kavanagh said that he had known the accused at Coolgardie for 10 years. He had been a respectable man, he is acting, he is not in a fit condition to look after himself.  “Was he like this in Coolgardie, Sergeant?’ Detective Sergeant Kavanagh said ‘No, he was always right at Coolgardie.’ The bench decided to remand the. accused till today to permit enquiries in the meantime.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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