Edjudina Western Australia
AKA Peake’s Find

29° 46′ 58” South , 122° 29′ 32” East

Map by Bonzel

Edjudina Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in Western Australia. The station is approximately 130 kilometres to the south of Laverton and 240 kilometres north east of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields-Esperance region.

The Edjudina Goldfield is 120 kilometres south-east of Kookynie, and 18 kilometres east of the nearest other goldfield being Yarri. Several private batteries have been erected on the goldfield from the 1890’s to the 1930’s.

One source states the name is a corruption of ‘Hedge a Deiner’ a slang term used in Two-Up, an Australian developed gambling game popular on the goldfields.

Gold was discovered at Edjudina in 1893 by Dick Peake and Bill Vickers. During its very early years the locality was known as Peake’s Find. Soon after the initial discovery, T.H. Elliott pegged 11 x 24 acres, who he sold to R. Gibson acting for W.R. Wilson for £1000 per lease. From 1895, several large companies were floated in England to acquire the leases. Large-scale development took place, many men employed and shareholder cash splashed around erecting plants before development work had confirmed the amount of gold. Within two years, all but one had collapsed, the remaining company exiting in 1900. While rich surface gold was found, the values at depth were poor. The water level reaching to 100 feet of the surface also limited development to the upper levels.

A small town developed but was little more than a couple of stores and pubs. Cable, Gardener and Jones were early store-keepers. They also built at their own cost, a 100 gallon tank for a condenser between Kurnalpi and Edjudina, and it was only through this that prospectors were able to reach the field through the waterless desert. The Clifford brothers were also pioneer storekeepers, while E.J. Monaghan built and ran the pub.

The Neta GM, Edjudina 1913 – Photo SLWA

Edjudina Cemetery -Western Australia
Reserve 2869

GPS Latitude & Longitude 290°47’.31 – 122° 29’.38
8 Known Burials – all male, 1 child – 1 suicide – 4 mining deaths.

Carry me back to the bush when I die.
Its there that I always could rest.
Bury me deep in the deserts red earth
On a dry river bank in the west.

FORT William Charles Keating – d 1 Jul 1913, at Edjudina Townsite, 2 months, Cause: Discharging postnatal growth, from birth, Father: William George FORT (Miner), Mother: Mary Cecilia HICKEY, Registered by J E Griffiths (Friend), Born: Perth WA, Reg North Coolgardie 12/1913, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery.

MONAGHAN James John – d 15 Nov 1905, 32yrs, at the Edjudina Hotel, Edjudina,  Occ: Hotel Keeper, Cause: Heart disease accelerated by use of alcohol, Verdict of the Coroner, Father: John Lawrence MONAGHAN (Dec), Mother: Harriet TONKIN, Born: Mannum, South Australia, In SA 22yrs, In WA 10yrs, Married to Letitia Jane WHITFIELD in Mannum SA at age 22yrs, Children: Clifton Francis 9yrs, Dorothy 6yrs, Registered by Francis Joseph MONAGHAN (Brother), Reg North Coolgardie 49/1905, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery.

Monaghan’s Edjudina Hotel – destroyed by fire in 1906 – Photo SLWA

RATHGEBER Charles – d 1 Oct 1908, at Edjudina, 40yrs, Occ: Woodcutter, Cause: Suicide, Bullet wound to head, self-inflicted, Verdict of the Coroner, Father: Anton ‘Anthony’ Friedrich RATHGEBER (Carpenter), Mother: Mary Ann RENNIE/ROONEY, Born: Bungaree, VIC, In VIC 24yrs, In WA 16yrs, Single, Registered by Frank RATHGEBER (Brother), Reg North Coolgardie 34/1908, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery.

RONZIO Giuseppe – d 17 Nov 1941, 34yrs, at Big Bell, Cause: Killed accidentally by an explosion in the Paget No. 1 GM, Edjudina, Father: Peter RONZIO, Mother: Maria, Reg 48/1941 Murchison, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery. Mine Death – www.wavmm.com

Kalgoorlie Miner, Wednesday 19 November 1941

THOMAS Anthony Plomer – d 5 Jul 1900, 29yrs, at Edjudina, Occ: Miner, Cause: Accidentally killed by a fall of earth at the Edjudina GM, Verdict of the Coroner, Father: Samuel Russell THOMAS, Mother: Honoria HOGAN, Born: Bungaree, Victoria, Australia, In WA about 2 ½ yrs, Child: Hart Ann Johnstone born 1894, Reg North Coolgardie 42/1900, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery.

Grave of Anthony Plomer THOMAS – Photo Andrea Lewis & Jill Heather

TREE William Edward Gardiner – d 18 Apr 1900, 29yrs, at the Neta Mine, Edjudina, Occ: Inspector of the Public Batteries, Cause: Fell 200ft down main shaft at the Great Fingall Mine, Syncope due to overexertion, Verdict of the Coroner, Father: Valentine TREE, Mother: Margaret GARDINER, Reg North Coolgardie 27/1900, Single, Born: Pootilla, Ballarat, Victoria, In WA about 7 years, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery. Mine Death – www.wavmm.com

Daily News, Thursday 19 April 1900

WAACK Auguste Carles – d 26 May 1929, at Edjudina, 71yrs, Occ: Prospector, Cause: Natural Causes, Buried order of the Coroner, Born: Germany, In WA 30yrsReg North Coolgardie 3/1929, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery.

The Senate GM, Edjudina – Photo TROVE

WALLACE Christopher – d 21 Jan 1903, 35yrs, at Edjudina, Occ: Miner, Cause: Shock and injury to heart and lungs from fall of earth mine accident at the Senate GM, Edjudina, Father: Peter WALLACE (Framer), Mother: Mary DONOGHUE, Single, Born: Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland on 1 July 1867, Reg North Coolgardie 8/1903, Buried at Edjudina Cemetery. Mine Death – www.wavmm.com

Mount Magnet Miner and Lennonville Leader, Saturday 24 January 1903