The worst accident ever to happen on the Yalgoo Goldfields at Fields Find was on the 31st Aug 1899. On this date there were four men working in the No 1 shaft of the Fields Find GM. They were Daniel HOGAN (22), William PAYNE (38), Frederick Robert SMITH (27), and Edward Era KING (30).
The four men were working at the 60-meter level on the afternoon shift. Charges were set and lit and they retired 50 meters along the drive to a position considered safe. Those above ground heard the charges go off, followed shortly be an even louder and more severe blast. Though there was no direct evidence as to the actual cause of the explosion, it was shown at the following inquiry that dynamite used in the level was stared on the plat where the miners were accustomed to carrying naked lights and to smoke. It was also shown that it was not uncommon for detonators to be loose in the box containing the dynamite. On the morning of the accident, a 20-kilogram box of explosives plus a detonator was sent down below and stored in the usual place in contravention of the rules.
Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette 2 September 1899.
All four men were killed instantly! The remains of the men were gathered into two coffins and buried one and a half kilometers from the mine on the river flats. An area usually allotted for four graves was fenced off. A single marble headstone was obtained from Wilson and Grey of Perth. It’s not known if this was a community effort in respect of the four men or paid for by the company in a grandiose gesture to smooth over what may have been neglect. Whichever way it was an expensive grave for 1899.
The name of Fields Find was never recorded in the official files. The accident is on record as occurring at Pinyalling, the districts name at the time.
Fields Find Cemetery – Photo Find a Grave
From the Yalgoo Coroners book: Police Constable Meginess stated that at 8:45pm on the 31st August 1899 Alex Rowe reported to him that four men had been killed on the company mine. He did not know their names at this stage. He went to the mine and found that there had been an explosion of dynamite at the lower level and Daniel Hogan, William Payne Frederick Smith, and Edward King had been working at the lower level. At 9pm Mr. Martin came to the surface and asked for four single men to go down with him.
Patrick McLaughlin and Alex Rowe went down in the gig. At 3:30am the following morning they came to the surface with the body of a man who was identified by his two brothers as Daniel Hogan. Roberts and Lee brought up some more remains in small pieces which were entirely unrecognizable. These have all been interred, ‘By order of the Coroner’ P L GIBBONS, Jurors:- A B Gloster, foreman, W Hickox, and Arthur Patroni.
Employees of the Fields Find GM, 1906
Daniel Hogan was the son of Michael HOGAN and Ellen (nee McDermott), born Stansfield South Australia.
Frederick Robert SMITH was the son of George SMITH and Mary Victoria (nee Kelly), he was born at Greenough Western Australia
William PAYNE was the son of John PAYNE and Mary Downes, born Robetown, South Australia
Edward (Ned) Era KING was the son of Samuel and Ellen KING and was born Ballarat Victoria.
REF: Fields Gold A Story of the Yalgoo Goldfields by Alex Palmer.
Fields Find is located between Yalgoo and Paynes Find, approx 54km northwest from Paynes Find.
Moya Sharp
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