Find Ancestors

From Geraldton on the NW Coast Hwy, on can travel 350km ENE to join the Great Northern Hwy at Mt Magnet. This is the last paved link road joining the 2 Hwys for 1000km (heading N). The next is just 285km from Pt Hedland, where the 2 main N bound Hwys out of Perth rejoin.

How wonderful for all concerned! Nice when people come back together, at least with computers distance is not the issue it once was.

Nice to see a happy ending and a beginning of renewed ties :.)

Merlin,

So Graham has all the things from Grandmas special box.!
Thanks for the pm

Oooh, isn't that just lovely Merlin. I hope that one day you have a wonderful family reunion. PH x

Its going to be great,have,nt seen Graham since he was in short trousers,Thanks everyone you,re so kind. Take care and best wishes to you all.xx.Merlin.

It's SO lovely to see a 'real family connection' found on here with SO much to share too!!

I hope it brings you all happiness.

Dea x

Thanks to Janey and Moonbi and in fact to everyone for their support.

I have edited my post as advised - thanks

I have PM Merlin and opened my tree to him and he will see photos of Hannnah, Henry and Harry on there. I also have all the info on the mine including photos.

Since the 1800s there have been loads of mining accidents with floodings and collapses and people trapped underground. However Harry survived all that to die of silicosis on 18 July 1955. In 2009 Ronnie Hamilton, a librarian at Mt Magnet did some personal enquiries with older Mt Magnet residents who remembered Harry, his marriage, his buiding a house etc. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Mt Magnet Cemetery.

When my father Arthur John Bennett (Harry's brother) died he left numerous photos of the family going back to the early 1900s. Likewise there were various certificates. I intend to let Merlin have scans of them all so he can get prints done.

I have been member of GR fo a few years and although I have managed to trace my wife's family back to the 1540s I have had difficulty in getting past the last generation of my own family.

Thanks to the good work put in by you all I am hopeful that between us Merlin and I can get the family back together again.

I have a lovely portrait of John taken in 1948 (it should put a smile on his face)

Best wishes and sincere thanks to all

Graham

Thanks everyone, Have heard from Grayham,He,s my Cousin,have,nt heard or seen him for at least 60 years.Once again,Thank you.xx.**Merlin**

Janey, wow, what a bonus, Merlin found his cousin!
Hope Graham sends him a PM, he will be over the moon, and dancing Im sure.

and all the bits tied in so well. Great news. Really hope the aging John is enjoying all this. And fancy he may even get to see a photo.

Moonbi

Well that's why the threads are here, Graham -- so somebody will see them -- someday. ;) And it worked! It's actually fairly rare for related people to drop by so it's always a treat to see when it happens.

Merlin is around the site a lot, but just in case he doesn't see your reply, you can click on his name and send him a private message and he'll be sure to see that as soon as he logs in.

The rules don't allow for posting email addresses (really because the site doesn't want people to be able to communicate w/o paying, but it's also not wise to post one's email address on the internet), so I'd edit your post to delete that -- you and Merlin can exchange addresses via the private message system.

I think Merlin, and especially John, will be thrilled to hear from you!

Dear All,

My name is Graham Bennett and I am the son of Arthur John Bennett, Grandson of Henry and Hannah and nephew of Harry. I have quite a few photos etc and have details of Harry at the gold mine - it was Mt Magnet. My information is that Harry died in July 1955 of cadiac failure due to prolonged silicosis.

My family tree is on GR and if anyone wants any photos or info please contact me

One question for Merlin - who were your parents (as we are obviously related).

Sorry to all for not getting in touch earlier but I have only just seen this thread.

Regards to all

Graham.

Gave the info to John, he thanks you all and will follow it up when he feels better, ( He,s rather Poorly at the moment. ) Happy Christmas to you all.Thanks again. Hal.aka Merlin.

Waiting for a reply from John,he,s eighty and a bit slow replying. Thaks everybody.**M**.Hal.

Hal,
thanks for your PM and reply on this thread post.
I really hope you can follow through on this information and put the facts in order.
You could be cutting yourself short if you assume its right without
getting the death cert.

what about either of the marriages in the Murchison district?

Annette

Ain't it amazing what the team here can do when it sets its collective mind to something? ;)

Hope it finds what your cousin was looking for.

Thanks all of you you,re so kind. John thinks its the one Who died in 1955. About the right age. will let you know what he does about it. once again,many many thanks.Hal;**M**.xx.

Fairthorn's passenger list and moonbi's death look interesting.


Cemetery Index Mount Magnet W.A. 1907-2000
Interred Harry Bennett
Date July 18th 1955
according to the WA BDM this Henry (Harry) was aged 56, father unknown, mother unknown.
Reg Dist of Murchison, Reg No 18, Reg Yr 1955

http://www.brandis.com.au/genealogy/gendata/mtmagnetatok.html

I wondered whether there seemed to be a number of people buried around the same date.

That page has these:
ENTERED, Interred nothing 1955
ENTERED, Interred nothing 1955
(as well as two the same for 1957 and one for 1965)
- I wondered whether these might be unidentified miners, but they could also have been stillborn babies or the like.

and the second half of the alphabet has
WESDALE, Theodore Stanley Interred Jul 18 1955
-- his name is different in the deaths index:
WEBSDALE THEODORE STANLEY Male 58 (parents) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN MURCHISON 24 1955
(he was born in WA in 1902)

It's not a huge cemetery, so while that's not a huge coincidence, it is some.

Someone at GR has Clifford Websdale born in 1910; his record in the WA births index, in district Beverley, doesn't show his parents' names, but it could be worth contacting that person to see whether they know anything about Theodore Websdale, i.e. how he died. Clifford and his siblings seem to be from a younger family than Theodore, but odds are they're closely related.


It should be possible to find out something about the history of deaths in the Mount Magnet mine, I'm just not finding anything myself at the moment.


I think if I were your cousin, Merlin, I'd order the death certificate moonbi suggested.

You have to go here:

http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx

and search for the death of Henry Bennet in 1955.

Then you click on "order", which takes you to the order form. You have to print it out, fill it in (with only the info from the search) and mail it, I guess.

Don't know if you may be able to find something on here? It is a link to 'Australian Newspapers'

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

Good luck.

Dea x

Janey, your,e a Sweetey.Thanks so much, And all of you, this is for my Cousin John ( He,s 80 ) and was adopted by my gran Hannah, and would love to know if possible what happened to him.She was to me a great lady ( She reared me as well) and she ended up with 10 children besides others she fostered etc. Take Care, Hal.ps. Have altered the heading as you said.x

Cant find any children of this marriage yet