Biography

The deceased, in company with another miner, was working on a stage in a stope at the May Be Gold Mine, breaking ore, when the staging collapsed and sent him down a pass, along with the broken ore and timber, a distance of about 40 feet, where he became jambed against the sides by the debris. His mate was able to jump clear as he felt the staging collapse and shouted out for deceased to get clear, which he was unable to do. The work undertaken to extricate the deceased and free his body took hours of digging and at times, when three shots had to be fired to loosen the ore, was extremely dangerous for the rescuers. The deceased was a well-known and highly respected prospector of this and other districts, including Darlot, Lawlers and Wilson's Patch. He had only recently gone to work at the May Be Gold Mine. The deceased is buried in Plot 25 at Lawlers Cemetery.