I was in correspondence with a lady way back in 1996 (yes, I do keep my research letters that far back😊). This was in the pre-Internet days when all research had to be done by letter (possibly strapped to the leg of a dinosaur). The lady’s name was Susan Salvair, and at the time she wrote, she was living in Stirling, WA. She was trying to find out some information about her Great Grandfather Alfred Chapple MCDONNELL and his mining pursuits in the WA Goldfields.
She sent me a copy of the following obituary for him, which she printed out from Microfilm at the Battye Library (now that really does take you back). It says as follows:
Kalgoorlie Miner 2 October 1931, page 5
DEATH OF Mr ALF McDONNELL
A Well-Known Prospector
Regret was expressed yesterday upon learning that Mr Alf McDONNELL, one of the best-known prospectors in Western Australia, had died in Perth on Wednesday. Mr McDONNELL probably found more shows than any other prospector, being responsible, with Mr Tom McCLAY, for the discovery of the Kalgurli G.M., while, with his party, he discovered Bardoc, the Hill End mine at Broad Arrow (afterwards sold for £25,000), the Sand Queeri and Gladsome mines at Comet Vale, and, with Mr Charles Burbridge, prospected the Great Victoria at Burbridge, near Marvel Loch.
Charles Burbridge, standing far right – Southern Cross Times 29 October 1932, page 5
Meeting with an accident at. Southern Cross some years ago, Mr McDONNELL suffered severe injury to his leg, which caused permanent lameness. While manager of the Twin Hill G.M., he contracted the illness that confined him to his bed for the past two years, and which eventually caused his demise on Wednesday. Mr McDONNELL leaves a widow and a grown-up family.
I am sure you will agree that his discoveries are of great note, especially regarding the Kalgurli GM, one of the largest mines in Kalgoorlie Boulder.
Wedding of Alfred Chpple McDonnell to Margaret Ethel O’Loughlin at Mt Barker, SA on 29 Oct 1895 – Image Susan Salvair
Alfred was born in 1865 and married Margaret Ethel O’Loughlin in Mt Barker, South Australia, on the 29th October 1895. Margaret was born in 1871 in Medows, South Australia and was the daughter of Patrick Edward O’Loughlin and Elizabeth Jane McQueen. The couple had five children as follows:
Alfred George was born in SA in 1896 and died in Bardoc, WA on 27 Nov 1899
Stanley Roy was born in 1899 in Bardoc, WA
Sylvia Elsie Doreen, born 1903 at Burtville, WA
Frederick Stuart was born in Claremont, Perth, WA, in 1905
Francis Livingstone, born 1909 at Bardoc, WA
Alfred Chpple McDonnell to Margaret Ethel O’Loughlin c 1896 – Image Susan Salvair
Grave of Alfred and Margaret McDonnell in Karakatta Cemetery – Image Find a Grave
Moya Sharp
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