Published on Tuesday, 1 November 2022 at 2:41:17 PM
A Tragic Tale
Cemeteries hold our history and the stories of those past. The Mullewa Pioneer Cemetery is no exception. Recently, the tragic tale of Elsie May Spence (1907-1937) was bought to our attention. In April of 1937 a party of seven disembarked Mullewa by car and caravan towards Tallering Peek where they planned to embark on a day of climbing. After camping overnight, the party arrived at their destination and commenced their ascent. The two women and three children decided to rest approximately two-thirds of the way to the summit. The two gentleman persevered with the climb only to hear screams approximately 30 minutes later. Rushing back to their loved ones they found Mrs. Spence deceased and young Desmond suffering with head injuries. The party had been sitting beneath a 50ft high wall from which rocks had become dislodged. The tragedy was deemed an accident with Constable Fiebig reporting that it would have been impossible for anyone to scale the wall to that height and manually dislodge the rock.
Photo caption: Tallering Peak, 1958, courtesy of the Mullewa Agricultural Society.
Snapshots is an initiative of the Geraldton Regional Library. For more information, or to donate a historical photo or slide to the Library, contact Heritage Services at the Geraldton Regional Library on 9956 6659 or library@cgg.wa.gov.au
Image number: P 11670
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