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Winnecke Goldfields Cemetery
Hart
General
Significance
Description
History
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Status
Permanent Declaration
Type
Place
Nominated
11/NOV/94
Nomination Accepted
07/DEC/94
Assessment Report Considered
01/MAR/95
Signed By Minister
10/APR/01
Gazetted
19/APR/01
Publish Notice Of Declaration
19/MAY/01
Statement Of Heritage Value
The graves at Winnecke Goldfields are significant to the heritage of the Territory by virtue of their association with the typhoid outbreak of 1903 that not only heralded the need for a healthy living environment but also highlighted the necessity for medical services in developing communities.
The lure of gold has determined much of Australia's history and for some who ventured into the Winnecke Goldfields, named after surveyor Charles Winnecke who established a depot in the locality whilst first mapping the area in 1878, their place in history is not recorded in what they achieved but how they died.
Crowded insanity conditions and other factors resulted in a rare outbreak of typhoid fever that claimed three lives and possibly six, for three of them remain unknown.
Medical attention that is now taken for granted, was not available in such a remote isolated area, and although enlisted urgently to successfully quell the outbreak, it was still many years before the gravity of such a situation was eventually remedied. However an immediate result was the improved cleaner, healthier standard of living conditions not only at Winnecke but also in other communities in the Centre.
Value
Historic
Description
The site consists of 7 graves near the foot of a low hill. Most of these graves are unmarked and lie side by side over a distance of about 19m. They appear as low mounds of gravel and areas of subsidence. One grave is marked by a headstone and a bush timber post and rail fence.
The 'cemetery' was never officially declared as such, rather it was primarily used to bury victims of a typhoid outbreak on the Goldfields in 1903. The earliest, and now only identifiable grave is that of Drew Williams (prospector) who died on 31 May 1903.
Other individuals who may have been buried at the site are Stephen Abraham (miner), Charles Kemp (prospector), Charles Tyrrell (prospector) and Jane Donnellan (child).
Instrument