Turrell and Kay Mining Contractors –

Between 1895 and 1901 the partnership of Turrell & Kay and Co was responsible for a great many mine buildings and plant construction all around the Goldfields. They employed up to 50 men at any time and the following images are just a few of their many projects.

Bank of England Mine, Bardoc – Turrell and Kay Contractors – Photo SLWA

William Wakeford TURRELL was born on the 2nd Jan 1873 in North Melbourne, Victoria to Alfred TURRELL and Sophia Estella WAKEFORD. He came to the Goldfields of WA in 1894. He married Rose BENNETTS in 1901 in Boulder WA and the couple had eleven children all born in and around Kalgoorlie Boulder between 1901 and 1923.

William and Rose are buried together in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery also with their oldest son, Herbyne Wakeford Turrell in the same grave in the Anglican Section. Also in the Kalgoorlie cemetery are some of their other children, Harold Frederick. Ivy, Maurice Gerald and Ralph Murray.

Thomas KAY was born on the 5 Jun 1863 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England. He came to South Australia with his parents as a small child. He was later to marry Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ LAWRIE in 1890 at Silverton, New South Wales. The couple had three children, none of whom were born in WA. Both Thomas and Bessie are buried in the Fremantle Cemetery, WA.

William and Thomas set up business in Kalgoorlie under the name of Turrell and Kay Mining Contractors. They had an office opposite the Post Office in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie (now the courthouse).

Kalgoorlie Miner 16 July 1900, page 3

Lake View and Junction GM, Kalgoorlie-Boulder – Turrell and Kay Contractors

Bank of England Mine, Bardoc – Turrell and Kay Contractors

Sadly this promising partnership was dissolved in 1901, possibly due to the death of Thomas’s wife Bessie that same year.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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