Cossack Cemetery 4
The sign at the cemetery entrance
I visited Cossack, Western Australia, recently and took the opportunity to photograph the graves in the cemetery there.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the Japanese section of the cemetery, so the photos are only of the European section. I did take at least one photo of every grave I could see.
I have larger versions of these photographs, some of them giving wider location context. If you would like a copy of one of these, please comment and let me know.
I took a lot of photos, so I’ll be posting them a few at a time as a series.
You can access other posts in this series from the ‘Cemeteries’ category link on the right.
Our Baby
Eric Steer Flinders
Who died 5th November 1897 Aged 4 months
God’s Will be Done
Eric Edwin Steer Flinders was born in Cossack (1897/3269WA). His parents were William Steer Flinders and Amelia/Amilia Blanche LUND, who were married in Busselton in 1896 (1896/955WA).
William Steer Flinders was not born in Western Australia. Amelia Blanche Lund was born in Busselton in 1870 (1870/12816WA), a daughter of George Lund and Mary Ann Pettit.
William and Amelia had at least one other child, Hazel Jean Mary Flinders, born in Roebourne in 1900 (1900/4649WA). Hazel married Darcy H Morrell in Roebourne in 1924 (1924/1WA) and died 9 August 1985 in Nedlands, aged 89 years. She was cremated at Karrakatta.
There are two other children listed without parents names on the BDM index, who were also born in Roebourne, who could be children of this couple:
Gertrude L Flinders born 1809 in Roebourne (1908/9WA) and Dora S B Flinders born in Roebourne in 1913 (1913/6WA).
William Steer Flinders died in Roebourne in 1920, aged 36 years (1920/2WA). Amelia Blanche Flinders died in Perth on 5 October 1960 aged 89 years (1960/2899WA) and was cremated at Karrakatta.
This is another child’s grave at Cossack Cemetery with tiny ceramic ornaments.
Michelle's Heritage 
re: Item for Eric Steer Flinders.
His father William Steer Flinders was born Dinan, Brittany, France, son of Edward Alfred Flinders and Sophia Jane Steer.
In the book “Cossack” Gold by W. Lambden Owen he describes his life in north west Australia and in the opening stages he writes:
“I embarked on the P & O Bengal in December l886 and landed at Albany (West Australia) in January (1887). I had chummed up with Charlie (Charles Edward 1865 – 1948) and Will (William Steer 1869 – 1920) Flinders, great-nephews of the pioneer navigator. He mentions them again, stating that after landing in Albany they waited for a connecting boat to Fremantle.”
Later research indicates that the Flinders brothers were related to the pioneer explorer Capt. Matthew Flinders, but were not his great nephews. Their younger brother John Franklin Flinders 1876 – 1937 emigrated to WA in 1896.
William and Amelia Flinders were indeed the parents of Gertrude Laura Flinders (born 1908, not 1809 as the item indicates, died 1997) who married Stanley Cox Raven in 1925, and Dora Sophia Beatrice Flinders 1913 – 1981 who married Samuel Miller Highley in London in 1947.
Wow! thank you for that information, Keith. The 1809 date of birth for Gertrude was the BDM registration – due to the remoteness of Cossack/Roebourne, it is likely that if the birth occurred late in 1808 it was not registered in Perth until early 1909. I’d be happy to send you other photos I took in Cossack that day, if you would like them. Thank you again for commenting! Michelle
Hi Michelle,
Gertrude’s birth year has a typo. 1809 for the registration year should read 1908 or 1909, otherwise she would have been a mere 122 years old when she married Stanley Cox Raven 17 July 1930 at Broomehill, W A. Please note that I have corrected my typo re the marriage date.
Any additional photos would be most welcome, thank you.
Keith
You’re absolutely right, Keith! She would have been lonely – Western Australia was founded as a British settlement in 1829 🙂 Her birth was registration was 1908/9. I’ll correct the post.
Michelle
Have located the death certificate for William Steer(e) Flinders thanks to Marilyn Dimond. William died at Roebourne 23 Jan 1920 and was buried Roebourne the next day. Seemingly there is no head stone, but do you know if there is a plan for the plots in this cemetery?
Regards
Keith
Hi Keith
I don’t know whether there is a plan of the plots in the cemetery. There is a sign commemorating a list of people whose gravestones have disappeared due to shifting sands/weather damage etc, but there are no Flinders on that list. Perhaps you could try contacting the Shire of Roebourne, which is located in Karratha – http://www.roebourne.wa.gov.au/ . If they aren’t able to help you they may be able to put you in contact with a local historical society or similar. I note they currently have a Cossack art competition in progress 🙂
Good luck, keep me posted on your progress!
Michelle
Hi Michelle
My name is Andrew Raven I am the Great Grandson of Amelia Blanche and William Steer Flinders. I was recently in Cossack and visited the cemetarybut was unaware that my relitives were buried there. If you have any further information in relation to their resting places my relitives in England are compiling a family tree and would greatly appreciate any details that you could provide.
Kind regards
Andrew Raven
Hi Andrew
Thanks for commenting. You should probably make contact with Keith Flinders who also commented on this post. Good luck!
Michelle
Michelle
Did you get a photo of the grave of Thomas Beilby Must who died in Roebourne on 8 July 1890 of typhoid? He was a great great uncle of mine.
In the 1970 s I visited both Samson and Cossack. Cemeteries while I was Uni Student working for Redimix in Dampier. I came across a grave which was very old of a boy child I think of Mathew Flinders, I came across the name of Mathew Flinders again while looking through the Georgetown musuem while visiting my son Dr Michael Thomson in Launceston. I took a coloured photo of the grave at the time, but have not found it since. Two things remain in my memory( which could easily be wrong now ) was the name Mathew Flinders, and that the child had passed away in the late 1700 s. I would love to get more information about this as I am now probably too old and too poor to make the pilgrimage to verify my recollections
David. It’s likely that you saw the grave of Eric Alfred Flinders at Cossack Brief history for him and his parents follows.
William Steer FLINDERS, b. 3 Jul 1869 in Dinan, Brittany, France (son of Edward Alfred FLINDERS and Sophia Jane STEER), d. 23 Jan 1920 in Roebourne, West Australia, buried 24 Jan 1920 in Roebourne, cemetery, West Australia.
He married Amelia Blanch LUND, 13 Jul 1896 in Busselton, West Australia, b. 1870 in Busselton, West Australia (daughter of George Westlake LUND and Mary Ann GREEN), d. 5 Oct 1960 in Perth, West Australia, cremated in Karrakatta Cemetery, West Australia.
Children:
i. Eric Edward Steer FLINDERS, b. 6 Aug 1897 in Roebourne, West Australia, d. Nov 1897 in Roebourne, West Australia, buried in Cossack Cemetery.
Keith
Thank you for the information. If I do find the photographs I will forward them. I am still very tempted to go back and have a look for myself. They relatively recent aerial photographs of the area indicate that it is much more densely populated than when I was last there. It would be very interesting to see what other development that has occurred in the nealy 50 years.
Cheers
] David Thomson
Ooops, sorry. I meant to write Eric Steer Flinders, not Eric Alfred. Eric Alfred Flinders 1903 – 1971 was my great uncle who was born Wellington, NZ and died Perth WA.