Arthur Ahern (1867 - 1899)

Born 21 Jan 1867 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Died 29 Jul 1899 at age 32 in Jarrahdale, Western Australia, Australia

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Biography

Arthur was born in 1867 in the Port of Fremantle, Western Australia, Australian Colonies. He was the son of Michael Ahern (a Soldier) and Mary Butler. He passes away in 1899 in the Town of Jarrahdale, in the Darling Range, located 45 km south-east of the City of Perth, Western Australia, Australian Colonies.

BIRTH

Date: 21 JAN 1867

Place: Port Town of Fremantle, City of Perth, Western Australia, Australian Colonies^[1].

BAPTISM

Date: 26 FEB 1867

Place: Port Town of Fremantle, Western Australia, Australian Colonies^[2].

MARRIAGE

Date: CA 1893

Spouse: Mary Jane LEADBETTER (b.1874 in Gingin, Western Australia---d.4 April 1898)

Child: Ada Louisa (29 May 1894)

Child: Edith Elizabeth (b.1897)

Place: Unknown

DEATH

Date: 29 JUL 1899

Cause: Crushed to Death by a Tree Falling on his Tent

Place: Town of Jarrahdale, in the Darling Range, located 45 km south-east of the City of Perth, Western Australia, Australian Colonies^[3].

DEATH NOTICE

Date: 4 AUG 1899

Source: 1899 'KILLED BY A TREE.', Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), 4 August, p. 44.

Item Details: KILLED BY A TREE. JARRARDALE, July 29. A fatal accident, by which three men were killed, occurred here on Friday night. Whilst having tea in their tent at the No. 6 mill a tree, which had been loosened by the recent heavy rains, fell on top of them.

No notice was taken by the other men about of the tree falling at the time owing to falling trees being a common occurrence. The three men were, however, missed in the morning, when a search revealed the fact that a frightful accident had occurred, The names of the men who were killed are James Connaughton, Arthur Ahern, and Frederick Painter. Two are supposed to be married.

JARRAHDALE, July 31. The inquest on the bodies of the three men who were crushed to death on Friday last was opened on Sunday morning, and adjourned till Monday, August 7, after the jury had viewed the bodies. The tree which fell on the tent was, it appears, on the side of a jinker track, and had part, of its roots cut away, and being loosened by the rains, fell without giving any warning. Being, at their tea, and owing to the high wind and rain at the time, the unfortunate men could have heard no sound of the branches of the tree covering the camp.

An alarm clock flattened out pointed out the time of the accident as 7 o'clock, the discovery not being made till next morning (Saturday), and it was still later when the bodies were extricated from the timber and removed into Jarrahdale, where they were placed in the old stable which at present does duty as a mortuary at Jarrahdale, pending the coroner's inquest. It was at first thought that one of the men, Ahern, might have lingered in agony, but from the fact that he still held a fork in his hand, and the doctor's statement, death must have been instantaneous. About the other men there could be no doubt, it having taken six men to remove the timber off one body.

Connaughton leaves a wife and four children, Ahern leaves five children, who are now complete orphans, and Painter was single. A concert was to have been held on Saturday in aid of the shipwrecked sailors, but it was postponed, it being now intended to hold the same in aid of the widow and children of Connaughton and the children of Ahern^[4].

BURIAL

Date: AFT 30 JUL 1899

Place: Old Fremantle Cemetery (aka Skinner Street Cemetery), Skinner Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australian Colonies

Grave Location: Not Known (see below)^[5].

BURIAL NOTE

Skinner Street Cemetery was the main burial ground for Fremantle from 1852 to 1899. Although the cemetery formally opened in 1852, the first known burial was Alice Wray, the 15-year old daughter of Lt Wray, Royal Engineer, in 1851. The cemetery closed in November 1899 when it was replaced with the Carrington Street Cemetery. Burials of family members were permitted at Skinner Street in special circumstances, and the last burial was in 1917.

The cemetery fell into disrepair from around 1909 and, following public concern at its condition, some remains were exhumed in the 1930s. Approximately 200 headstones were relocated to Carrington Street Cemetery in 1935, leading to an estimate that remains of approximately 200 burials remain at the Skinner Street site.

The area was used as an anti-aircraft battery during World War Two, and from 1941 manual arts training associated with Fremantle Technical High School was relocated to the site. In an expansion of secondary education across the metropolitan area in the 1950s, John Curtin College of the Arts (then John Curtin Senior High School) opened at the place in 1956. The cemetery site was levelled for use as playing fields with the only visual remains being the limestone wall aligned with the Vale Street^[6].

The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians

AHERN. Michael (Cpl), arr. 31.12.1862 per York (with wife) as a Pensioner Guard, m. Mary BUTLER. Chd. ?Frances d. 1864, Mary Ann b. 1864, Arthur b.1867, still b. chd. b. 1870, Mary b. 1873 (All Frem RC). ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Source; Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981 (Ancestry.com Operations); Reference: (Baptism Year-1867); Registration Place: Fremantle; State: Western Australia; FHL Film Number: 1363695
2. ↑ Source; Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981 (Ancestry.com Operations); Reference: (Baptism Year-1867); Registration Place: Fremantle; State: Western Australia; FHL Film Number: 1363695
3. ↑ Source; Western Australian Pioneer Indexes: Deaths (WA Government; Births, Deaths and Marriages, Perth); Reference: (Death Year-1899); Registration District: Jarrahdale; Registration Details: 1195 / 1899
4. ↑ Source: TROVE Digitised Newspapers (National Library of Australia, Canberra); Reference: (http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33170164)
5. ↑ Source: Memorial Search (Find A Grave Database); Reference: (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/206983727/arthur-ahern)
6. ↑ Source: InHerit: Our Heritage Places (Heritage Council of Western Australia); Reference: (boundary.http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/c6fc7df9-142c-4a68-a1a2-877104bd18ce
7. ↑ The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre-1829-1888, Vol 1, A, pg 17. [compiled by Rica Erickson] https://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/bicentennial-dictionary