Answers to quiz 1: cemeteries
1. There have been three cemeteries in Fremantle. Who was the last person to be interred in the second, Skinner Street Cemetery, in 1923, even tho the current cemetery opened in 1899?
Minnie Irvine (born Taylor, and later married as Shaw) was allowed to be buried in Skinner Street because her first husband John had a significant gravestone there, as he had been killed while working at the Rocky Bay quarry. Here is their page.
2. The first cemetery, on Alma Street, wasn't gazetted until 1837, tho people were buried there from about 1831. Where were the 19 or so people who died in 1829-1930 apparently interred?
I found about this early burial ground from [[../../fhs/fs/9/Errington.html|Steve Errington's 2017 paper in Fremantle Studies]]. It was on the west side of Market Street between Bannister and Nairn Streets. One of the buildings on that site happens to be that of the former funeral director, A.E. Davies.
3. Who is the only (dead) person to have his own personal entrance into Fremantle Cemetery?
Bon Scott's fans tended to leave a bit of a trail as they found their way from the main entrance to his memorial, so the Cemetery Board created a gate in the perimeter fence near it so that fans could go in and only have a few metres of pathway along which to leave debris.
4. The earliest gravestone in the current cemetery is thought also to be the first set up in Fremantle. Who is the person so fortunately remembered?
Mary Ann Morrell, who is also mentioned on my page for the Alma Street cemetery.
5. Margaret and Patrick Hagan's fine headstone is in the Fremantle Cemetery, but their remains are not underneath it. Where are they?
The headstone is on the 'Heritage Trail' (of which there are actually two - of different kinds - due to the incompetence of the administration). Patrick Hagan was buried in the Skinner Street cemetery and his remains are still there. Along with something like a hundred others, his memorial stone was removed to the current (Carrington Street) cemetery and placed along a path in the middle of the oldest part of the cemetery. But his remains are still under the playing grounds of the John Curtin school.
6. Whose headstone from the Alma Street cemetery was found being used as a hearthstone in a house in East Fremantle? It is now on an (empty) grave in the Fremantle Cemetery.
That of Jane Frances Scott, daughter of first harbour master Daniel Scott. David Hutchison wrote this article about it.
7. Who died on board a ship and 'was put in a zinc case with rum, slung from the cabin roof and so brought to harbour'?
Amelia Pringle, wife of Captain Pringle of the Sea Ripple, died as a result of confinement (that is, childbirth) on board and 'was put in a zinc case with rum, slung from the cabin roof and so brought to harbour'. This is mentioned on the Alma Street Cemetery page.
8. When the Carrington Street cemetery (the current Fremantle Cemetery) opened in 1899, who had his grandfather, father and mother exhumed and reinterred in the Anglican section in the new graveyard?
Arthur E. Davies was a funeral director, so it was probably easier for him to carry this out than for other people. The exhumation order is reproduced in Liveris, Monuments and Masons: 16. The gravestone honours George Davies (died 1853), his son Alfred Alexander (died 1875), Alfred's wife Hannah (died 1896), and their daughter Elizabeth.
9. Where is the 'Eastern Gates Lookout' and what did the gates once admit entry into?
The Lookout, opened 2005, is near the corner of East Street and Vale Road and so at the top corner of the former Skinner Street cemetery. The gates were the entrance to 'St Patrick's Cemetery', the Roman Catholic section. There are photos on the Skinner Street cemetery page.
10. Buried in the Jewish Orthodox section of Fremantle Cemetery is the body of a man who was not born a Jew. Who was he and why is he there?
Many older Fremantle residents will remember Charles May, the jeweller. His second wife was Esther Masel, and he converted to Judaism - amid great controversy - to be able to marry her. His story in on his page. A photo of his grave is on the page for the Jewish section of the Fremantle Cemetery.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 17 July, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org (it was last updated on 27 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.