ALEXANDRINA LIBRARY SERVICES
news
April 2009 by Dawn Juers
No 57
Goolwa and residents have been in the news of late – and not just the WATER – or lack of it!
Probably the most noteworthy is the news (The Advertiser April 4, 2009) that the bodies of 25 South Australians buried in a mass grave at Pleasant Wood in Fromelles France have been identified. It is believed that up to 400 Australian and British are buried there after the WW 1 Battle of Fromelles in July, 1916. Two of the South Australians are – Pte William BARBER and Pte Andrew Murray PERRY both of Goolwa.
Private Wm Barber (47) was the son of well known river captain Wm Barber and his wife Elizabeth. More information on William can be found in History Room News No 49.
Pte Andrew Murray Perry (45) the son of James Douglas and Susan Perry nee Wauhop
Born on Hindmarsh Island 30th June 1870, the second youngest of nine children. His parents appear to have moved to Stewart Range SE where his father died 2 Oct 1904 (98) and his mother 17 Sep 1910 (79). We had nothing on Pte Andrew Murray or his family in our History Room Files, but with the help of SA Births, Deaths & Marriage Records and the Australian War Memorial website http://www.awm.gov.au I was able to piece together some of his family history. Pte Andrew Perry, Service No 2095, 32nd Battalion was killed in action on 20th July 1916. His name is mentioned on panel 121 on the memorial VC corner, Australian Cemetery Memorial Fromelles, France. Andrew was a carpenter before enlisting 29th September 1915 at Naracoorte. His next of kin was his sister, Mrs Rebecca Lobban, Naracoorte. He embarked on the ship ‘Miltiades’ on 7th Feb 1916 from Adelaide and was killed in action in five months.
(Some information came from –Australian Red Cross Wounded & Missing Enquiry File No 2140107.)
I feel that we have in some small way honoured Pte Wm Barber and Pte Andrew Murray Perry by researching their life and war service for our files in the Goolwa History Room. If anyone can provide further information we would be grateful.
**
Another heartwarming story appeared (Sunday Mail 5th April 2009) on local resident Raymond Whitley who collected donations and drove 800kms to Whittlesea, one of the towns affected by the Victorian Bushfires.
Another story (Advertiser 4th April 2009), was on the lack of size of our famous Goolwa cockles. Darren Hoad, fisherman, of Hindmarsh Island, said in 30 years he had never seen so many baby cockles.
THE GOOLWA WHARF FLAGSTAFF.
The Goolwa Wharf Flagstaff was erected in 1879 on the high ground of the Government Reserve adjacent to the Railway Superintendent’s House and the Railway Stables now the Goolwa RSL.
The purpose of the flagstaff was to repeat the signals from the signal station at the mouth of the River. These signals gave information regarding the tides and sea conditions at the mouth to the masters of vessels. It also enabled the residents to know when a vessel from Port Adelaide was due to arrive.
The flagstaff was only in use for a few years, but remained on the site until the late 1920s when it was removed. Most of the mast was cut up, but the section where the flag platform was fixed was salvaged and used as the centre pole for a shelter on Neighbour Reserve until about 1988 when it was removed and placed at Signal Point with the intention of displaying it in the Centre.
It remained outside Signal Point until 1995 when it was vandalized with an axe. After this it underwent a conservation process and was placed on display as it should have been eight years earlier
The flagstaff was 75 feet (23m) high with a flag platform 40 feet (13m) from the base. The flag platform was reached by a single stage ladder 55 feet long on the northern side of the mast. The flag pole was 35 feet high from the flag platform.
The last relic of the flagstaff now has an uncertain future again with the redevelopment of Signal Point taking place.
A scale model of the flagstaff is kept at the National Trust History Centre.
Wharf Flagstaff c1910 (Goolwa National Trust Collection)
With thanks to Anthony Presgrave for the above information.
Happy Researching
Dawn
Genealogy help is available by appointment on Thursdays, to guide you through your research. Please phone the Library on 8555-7000 to make an appointment. For comments, suggestions or to receive this newsletter – email
historyroom2004@yahoo.com.au or phone the Library on 8555-7000.
Back copies of this newsletter can be sourced on the Alexandrina Council website –
http://www.alexandrina.sa.gov.au/site/page/cfm
Back to History Room Newsletters
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.