Episode: Destination WA – Our Golden Outback
Title: Old Coolgardie Cemetery with Victor Dale
Broadcast: 20th July 2018
Presenter: Chrissy Morrissy
With all the historical buildings and abandoned towns in the Goldfields its not suprising there are a few ghost stories floating around stories of ghosts
- This cemetery was opened in 1894.
- Vic Dale, Prospector and Poet, has been gathering the stories of his home town for years. He knows where the bodies are buried and how they got here.
- In its first 5 years more than 1100 people were buried here and at one stage they were having to dig around 7 graves a day.
- Not everyone here died of old age, the most common way was dirty water. If you didn’t boil it before, it was practically a death certificate.
- The first 100 people that were buried here, 37 of them that died they didn’t know their names, this is why they were buried with the little discs that you’ll see in the episode.
- The graves go from small, to large. With a grand headstone of the nephew to the Archbishop of Adelaide. The size of this tomb represented family and wealth.
- There was enough money during 1890’s to bring international bike riders to Coolgardie. During one of the races, 23-year-old Italian cyclist, Leo Beretta died from his front forks breaking, and he went head first into the dirt. He died in that accident.
- The story of May Wain is a notorious one. Her grave is here, but the real story is where she was murdered, 16km out of town.
Goldfields Tourism
http://www.goldfieldstourism.com.au
0408 511969
Drive Yourself Wild
https://drive-yourself-wild.business.site
0408 511 969
