Abbotts

Abbotts is a deserted town in Western Australia located in the Murchison Goldfields region, 31 km (19 mi) north-west of Meekatharra on the Meekatharra – Mount Clere Road. The location of the town is

• 802 km (498 mi) north east of Perth
• 31 km (19 mi) north west of Meekatharra
• 354 km (220 mi) south of Paraburdoo

The town was established in 1898 and officially recognized in 1900. It was named after Vincent Vranjican, an immigrant prospector from Croatia who changed his name to Vincent Abbott in 1893¹.

The Black Iguana was one of the earliest mines to open in Abbotts. In 1895, both the Black Iguana and Abbotts mines were operating stamp mills in the town for processing ore.

A report in The Argus on 17 Oct 1902 tells us:.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.
PERTH, Thursday.

A report from Abbott’s gold mines states that almost all the boarders at Abbott’s Hotel were poisoned by eating tinned beetroot. No medical man was available, but emetics were administered with much success. Although there were no fatalities a few persons are not out of danger. Many of those poisoned were found outside their camps in agony.

The townsite is one of several ghost towns in the area, including Peak Hill, Gabanintha, Horseshoe, and Garden Gully.²

The Abbotts town site is No.18 on the Shire of Meekatharra Heritage Listing. Their assessment is that the site of Abbotts Town represents the establishment of a town in close proximity to prosperous goldmines, in 1895, and is associated with the Abbotts Cemetery^{3 4}. The historical notes attached to the document give an outline of the town’s history.

Abbotts, north of Meekatharra, was named for prospector, Vincent Abbott, who in 1893 had changed his name from Vincent Vrauizan. The Black Iguana and Abbotts gold mines operated in the area and in 1896 were employing between 60 and 70 men. Mason brothers had opened a hotel at Abbotts a year earlier and in 1901, F. McGlead had purchased the place, which was advertised as the Victory Hotel. There was also at least one boarding house in the town. The mines at Abbotts are believed to have operated for about a decade.

Three kilometres northeast of the Abbotts town site is the cemetery (Reserve 6980), where 11 people are recorded buried in stone lined graves. Labourer Richard Bishop (1896) who had been working on the Government Well; blacksmith Henry Burgess (1896); Abdul Aziz (1900), a camel driver; teamster . Fraser (1900) who was kicked by a horse; miners, Henry Roberts (1901), Richard Cox and Henry Whittaker (1902); and four infants.

Shire of Meekatharra Heritage Assessment, 2012

Timeline

• 1895 – Black Iguana mine opens
• 1895 – Mason Bros open first hotel
• 1896 – first recorded burial in cemetery
• 1896 – ~65 men employed by mines
• 1900 – Townsite surveyed and gazetted
• 1901 – Victory Hotel purchased by McGlead
• 1905 – Approximate date of closure of the mines

Photos, Maps, etc

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Sources

1. Landgate, 2021. Town Names. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20220314101618/http://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/maps-and-imagery/wa-geographic-names/name-history/historical-town-names on 29 Dec 2023 ↩︎
2. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. (1902, October 17). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1957), p. 6. Retrieved December 28, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9058877 ↩︎
3. Shire of Meekatharra, 2012. Municiple Heritage List. Retrieved in PDF format from https://www.meekashire.wa.gov.au/documents/465/municipal-heritage-list on 29 Dec 2023. ↩︎
4. InHerit, 2017. Abbotts Town. Retrieved from ↩︎
5. Outback Family History. Abbotts Hotel. Retrieved from https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=855&town=Abbotts on 28 Dec 2023 ↩︎
6. Outback Family History. Abbotts Cemetery. Retrieved from https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=858&town=Abbotts on 28 Dec 2023 ↩︎
7. State Library of Western Australia, 1900. Retrieved from https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b1848953_1 on 28 Dec 2023  ↩︎
8. State Library of Western Australia, 1917. Retrieved from https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b1848960_1 on 28 Dec 2023 ↩︎