Wilson’s Patch – Bundarra
between Leonora and Leinster
Wilson’s Patch Town Sign – Photo SLWA
Since the construction of the new bitumen road from Leonora to Agnew/Leinster, the approach to Wilson’s Patch has changed. Sixty-four kilometres along this new road from Leonora is the Teutonic Bore mine turn-off, 6km further is a grave on the left-hand side between the road and the fence. The grave is surrounded by a low wooden structure and is hard to miss. This site marks the centre of Wilson’s Patch, with alluvial workings on both sides of the road. To enter the western side, drive back towards Leonora about 1km to a gate. Following the track inside the fence back to the grave, small dry blowing heaps are passed on the way – Mindat
Images of Wilson’s Patch
Outside the Great Western Hotel, Wilson’s Patch – Photo Studia Photos
Wilson’s Patch Gold Mine 1904 – Photo TROVE
Great Western GM Wilson Patch 1905 – Photo TROVE
Government Boring Party Wilson Patch 1904 – Photo TROVE
The Tutonic GM near Wilson’s Patch 1904 — Photo TROVE
There is no gazetted cemetery at Wilson’s Patch, but there are some lonely graves nearby:
ELLITSON/ELLISTON Robert David Leonard ‘Bob’ – d 1 Jan 1906, 34 years, Occ: Prospector, Cause: Committed suicide behind the Great Western Hotel by cutting his throat with a razor. He also gashed his left arm in several places, and he had been drinking. From Tasmania, married to Emily Nightingill in 1896 in Tasmania, 1 son, He is buried on the west side of the main Leonora-Leinster road, 8 km north of Tutonic Bore (name of a nearby windmill) in a place called Bannockburn. His old felt hat and a panning dish were left on the grave. Ref – Western Australian Lonely Graves by Yvonne and Kevin Coate.
Grave of Bob Ellitson – near Wilson Patch – Photo Find a Grave.
Kalgoorlie Miner 5 January 1906, page 5
CRAIG Robert John – d 21 May 1895, 25 years, Cause: Typhoid Fever, buried by his brother Frank CRAIG 200 meters west of the mill at Garden Well, Wilson’s Patch near Wilson’s Creek at Mt Clifford, Father: Edward CRAIG, Mother: Elizabeth SCOTT, Born: in 1870 at Maryborough, Victoria, Single, Reg 956/1895.
Craig was a member of the renowned Barlow Party of Prospectors, one of the most prominent groups since Coolgardie’s early days. Led by Ike Morris, nicknamed “Barlow,” the party included the three Morris brothers with Frank, and Robert Craig.
Robert CRAIG’s grave, Wilson’s Patch – Photo Find a Grave
ELLITSON/ELLISTON Robert David Leonard ‘Bob’ – d 1 Jan 1906, 34 years, Occ: Prospector, Cause: Committed suicide behind the Great Western Hotel by cutting his throat with a razor. He also gashed his left arm in several places, and he had been drinking. From Tasmania, married to Emily Nightingill in 1896 in Tasmania, 1 son. He is buried on the west side of the main Leonora-Leinster road, 8 km north of Tutonic Bore (name of a nearby windmill) in a place called Bannockburn. His old felt hat and a panning dish were left on the grave. Ref – Western Australian Lonely Graves by Yvonne and Kevin Coate.
Grave of Bob Ellitson – near Wilson Patch – Photo Find a Grave.
Kalgoorlie Miner 5 January 1906, page 5
HOWIE James – d 30 Apr 1909, 61 years, at Wilsons Patch, Cause: Accidentalloy drowned in a cage which was lowered into 90 feet of water in the Great Western Gold Mine because he gave the wrong signal to the engine driver above, Father: Hugh William HOWIE, Mother: Jean Muir SMITH, Married to Mary Jane GREENSLADE in 1877 at Penworhtam, South Australia, Child: Olive Mary born 1880, Born: Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, Reg 17/1909 Mt Margaret.
James HOWIE’s Grave, Wilsons Patch – Photo Find a Grave
NOTE: In recent years, James Howie’s grave was accidentally dug up and then refilled, but a handle from the coffin was left out. It has been placed on a white rock at the head of the grave.
Handle from the coffin of James Howie – Photo Find a Grave.
James Howie – Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette – 4 May 1909, page 2
In recent years, Howie’s grave was accidentally dug up and then refilled, but a handle from the coffin was left out. It has been placed on a white rock at the head of the grave.
Map of Graves at Wilson’s Patch
ISAACS Joan – d 13 Aug 1990, 62 years, buried at Wilsons Patch under a tree 70 km west of Leonora. He body was kept in the morgue at Perth while her husband fought to have permission to bury her in her chosen spot. Father: Michael GARLETT, Mother: Esther. She was the wife of Victor James ISAACS, who was born in Leonora after his mother was sent there as a domestic servant. He spent 11 years as a Bren Gun operator during the Korean War, and when he returned to Wilson’s Patch, he started the Wilja Hostel for Aboriginal people.
When Victor himself died in 2002, aged 67 years, his family appealed the decision of the Aboriginal Lands Trust, which denied him his wish to be buried alongside his wife. The reason was that he was not considered a traditional landowner by the local Koara people. They opposed the burial as the family did not have a traditional connection to the land. Mr Isaacs, an Aboriginal Elder, was eventually buried in the Leonora Cemetery.
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