Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery memorial wall echoes the past

Hundreds gathered at Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery last Friday for the memorial wall’s official opening.

Mullewa locals were buried at the site from 1889 to 1987, with many put in unmarked graves. The City of Greater Geraldton’s heritage services team tracked down hundreds of names to be remembered forever on the monument.

Heritage services co-ordinator Trudi Cornish thanked DIAB Engineering, Bendigo Bank, The Mullewa Community Resource Centre and Regional Arts WA for their contribution to the wall, noting something special about its acoustics.

“When you speak, the wall actually echoes back as if it is the past reaching out across time,” she said.

Tarkyn Fulker, 11, Maggie Critch, 10, Aidan Weir, 10, and Lincoln Pitman, 11, answered the historical call, bringing the long-dead and their stories back to life for the large crowd.

Tarkyn Fulker

I am speaking about Iris McDermott who was a student at our school. Iris died suddenly at school one day in 1916 and no one knows the cause. On the day of Iris’ funeral, it was a touching sight to see six of her little school friends carry the coffin to the hearse.

Maggie Critch

P.J. Richmond came from Perth and was working on the road gang at Indarra Siding. He fell from the back of a moving truck and died from his injuries at Mullewa Hospital. Mr Richmond was a returned World War I soldier.

Aidan Weir

Frank Broderick of Tenindewa died in 1930. He lived on a farm next to the crossing of Greenough River at Yuna/Tenindewa Road. While the river was down, he found some of his sheep marooned on an island in the river. He tried to get them out and tragically drowned.

Lincoln Pitman

In 1927, William Bryan was the manager of a shearing team. He used to have a truck and a trailer to carry his team’s shearing equipment. On the road, between Pindar and Tallering Station, his hat blew off, and he jumped off to get it. He went under the wheels of the trailer and was killed.