William Farley – Photo by Joan Peters – east 122.28313 – south – 28.72432
I was recently sent these wonderful photos of another lonely grave by Joan Peters. She came across them in her travels. Although I did have the details of this grave I have never seen a photo. She has even included the GPS coordinates should anyone be up that way.
FARLEY William, d 5 Dec 1894 aged 26yrs – buried about one mile west of Red Flag and about one mile off from where he died in Slug Gully and 28yrs south of the road which leads from Hawks Nest to the brook. Slug Gully is 4 miles over the Hawks Nest Hills in the Laverton District.
A prospector who died of fever after 3 weeks illness, in his bough shed about half of a mile west of the Red Flag, about 300yrd below the Red Flag Blow and about 100yrds from the centre of Slug Gully. Born c1868 – he came from Halcombe, New Zealand.
William Farleys Grave – Photo Joan Peters
Some further details sent by David Senn – William Fairly was born on 16 March 1868 in Shoreditch, Hackney, London, England to parents John William Farley and Betsey nee Ashdown. John and Betsey and their children immigrated to Halcomb, New Zealand in late 1870s. Betsey died in 1888 and William’s death is recorded on her headstone. His father John moved to Queensland to be near family and died in 1909.
The Laverton Mercury – on the 16th anniversary of his death:- ‘In the loneliness of the West Australia bush – at a spot half a mile south of the Hawks Nest railway siding there stands a pathetic reminder of the pioneer days of this field. It is a grave in the solitude of the mulga, bearing an inscription scratched on an improvised tombstone, in form a portion of a meat case – enclosed by rough log railings, evidently the work of sympathetic prospectors, as a tribute to the memory of a dead comrade. Even though a long lapse of time has occurred it is remarkably preserved, held sacred and unmolested by hundreds of fellow prospectors who have since turned over innumerable acres of ground in the vicinity.
Note:- Harvey & Wayne Sunter-Smith found and identified Farleys Grave in 1990. It was located by following James Balzano’s direction. A replica of the original fence was placed around it and the big block of white quartz as described in Balzano’s diary is on the grave.
Ref: Lonely Graves by Yvonne and Kevin Coate
William Farley – photo Joan Peters
Moya Sharp
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