George Augustus Jessop was born on 2 April 1872 in Kilmore, Victoria. He was the son of George Jessop (1847-1898) and Mary nee Deane (1844-1876). he was the middle child of three born to the couple with an older brother Thomas James and a younger sister Ellen Agnes.
George Augustus Jessop c 1900 – Photo Ancestry.com
George’s mother died when he was four years old. His father was remarried to Rebecca Agnes Higgins in 1891, she was 23 years his junior, resulting in four step-brothers for George. They all stayed in Victoria. George at this time was 19 years old. By 1900 he was in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia where he met and married Margaret Ellen Steedman. George and Margaret had two children, both born in Bardoc WA, Adelaide Mary Jessop in 1901 and Thomas James Jessop born 1902.
Wedding of George Jessop to Margaret Steedman Kalgoorlie 1900 – Photo Ancestry.com
Sadly George was to lose his life in an accident at the Zoroastrian Gold Mine at Bardoc at the young age of 30yrs:
Zoroastrian GM Bardoc Western Argus 2 April 1901
He is remembered on the Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial at the WA Museum Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie.
Panel on the Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial – Photo M Sharp
Kalgoorlie Western Argus 12 May 1903, page 10
FATALITY AT BARDOC – The remains of the late Mr George Jessop, who lost his life at the Zoroastrian mine under circumstances of a peculiarly sad and distressing character, were recently interred at the Bardoc cemetery in the presence of a very large concourse of friends and acquaintances from the surrounding districts. The services at the grave were conducted by the Rev. Father Robinson, of Kalgoorlie, in an impressive manner. The pallbearers were Messrs. W. Stedman, W. Smith, P. J. Lanihan, S. Ryan, J. Daley, and E. McConnell. The deceased was one of the pioneers of the Bardoc district, where he had his share of the ups and downs of a gold-diggers career. He was greatly respected by a wide circle of the inhabitants, who express much sympathy with his relatives, many of whom reside at Numurkah, in Victoria. It will be remembered that he met with the fatal accident whilst speaking to a mate down the shaft. The engine driver, in answer to a signal, lowered the ballast cage, which struck the head of the deceased.
Grave of George Jessop in Bardoc cemetery before restoration in 2019 – Photo Danelle Warnock
Grave of George Jessop in Bardoc cemetery after restoration in 2019- Photo Danelle Warnock
Margaret never remarried and returned to Victoria with the two children. George’s son Thomas returned to WA and is shown in the Electoral rolls of 1940 as a prospector living in Bardoc, so gold mining may have been in the blood. Margaret’s sister Mary was also at Bardoc with her husband Lionel Dudley. This may be why Margaret and George came there as well. You can read her story here. Mary Dudley nee Steedman.
Moya Sharp
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