Biography

Mr. Thomas Waters, proprietor of the Criterion Hotel at Norseman, received the sad intelligence of the sudden death of his brother, William, which took place at Sandstone.

The deceased was formerly a resident of Broken Hill and Terowie and was held in the highest esteem. He was a brother of Thomas and Arundel (Arnold) Waters. The three brothers were part of a family of eight: 4 boys and 4 girls born to an English couple who arrived in the South Australian colony in 1852 in the ship Shacnamaxan and married in 1854.

Mr Waters Senior began carting from Bimbowie Station to the Burra, wool carting from the north-east stations being the main work. Later, the two eldest brothers, Arundel and William Henry, began carting machinery and merchandise to The Barrier. Before long, the Waters Brothers went wool carting with horse teams from New South Wales to Broken Hill, from Cobham, Lake and Tabbaburra Stations. The gold boom in Western Australia called the brothers and in 1894 they shipped their horse teams to Geraldton and travelled to Mullewa where they put on their first loads to the Star of the East mine near Cue. The trip there and back took about six weeks. The fine draught horses for which the Waters Brothers were noted quickly attracted attention in WA and they received big offers to sell the teams. They returned to Warrnambool, Victoria, and obtained a shipment for the West where they were in great demand, realizing £70 and £80 per head. Eventually, the dry arid nature of bush tracks and high cost of horse feed caused the brothers to dispose of the horses and purchase donkeys as these hardy animals were able to thrive on their own pickings in the dry regions whilst carting general loads from Mt Magnet to Lawlers and Kathleen Valley and to Lake Darlot. When the railway line from Kalgoorlie reached Leonora, the teams carted out to Mt Sir Samuel. At that time, donkey teams realized £500.

Mr Arundel Waters then entered the hotel business and his younger brother, William Henry, moved to Sandstone to pursue his mining interests. Ironically, this well-known teamster, William Henry, dropped dead, falling off his horse from heart failure, after riding trial gallop on the local racecourse. He had been a resident of the Murchison fields for over 16 years and left a wife and family of five grownup children residing at Terowie, South Australia.

The deceased is buried in the Church of England portion of the cemetery, plot number 13. William Henry’s widow, Frances Harriet, died at Glenelg, South Australia, in 1934 at the age of 70 years.