Davyhurst

Region: Goldfields-Esperance
LGA: Shire of Menzies
Industry: Gold Mining
Original Name: Mace’s Find
Traditional Name:
Alternate Name/s: Davyston
Open Street Map: 30° 3′ 0″ S, 120° 39′ 0″ E
What 3 Words: ///implies.springs.uniforms
Discovered: 1899
Gazetted: 1902
Abandoned: ~1920


In October 1899, a group of prospectors including Patrick Glenny, Charles Mace, his son Miller Mace, and Walter Davys1 discovered gold in Menzies, Australia. They initially found three gold reefs and quickly staked out the Waihi and adjoining Melrose mines. The Waihi mine was named after a New Zealand mine where Thomas Davys (also known as Walter or Watty Davys) had previously worked.

On November 18, 1899, Thomas Davy and Charles Mace officially applied for two mining leases for these sites. The area, known for its rich gold deposits, led to the rapid development of a township. Initially named Davyston, it was later renamed Davyhurst in 1901, after Thomas Davys. This was the name given to the town when it was gazetted in 1901. When it was proposed to declare a townsite there in 1900, the site was referred to as Davyston, better known as Mace’s Find2. Warden Owen of Menzies then advised the Department that the place was known as “Davyhurst”, the ‘hurst” coming from Hurstone farm where Davy lived before leaving England, and this was the name used when the townsite was gazetted in 19013 4. As the miners arrived, several buildings were hastily erected and three hotel licences were granted along with several businesses. 

Ernest Kurth’s General Store, Davyhurst5
Townsite of Davyhurst, 19026

By late 1900, the Waihi Gold Mines NL was established in Adelaide with a capital of £80,000. This was promoted by Herman Mandelstamm who had taken an option over the mine, and backed by Coolgardie draper Charlie McKay. John Lonsdale was appointed mine manager7, followed by W.H.(Billy) Collins, 1904 R.B. Lamb, 1905 Watt, 1906 Cleland and 1907 White8. Despite initial riches, the gold grades decreased over time. The company, believing the mine was exhausted by 1907, leased it to Warrigal and Clarke, who discovered new ore and profited significantly in a short period. However, the company eventually abandoned the mine in 1909, moving to the Northern Star mine near Norseman. By then, the mine had produced 26,192 tonnes of ore for 14,964 ounces of gold. By 1907 a writer noted that there was not one mine was active in the area.

Waihi Mine, Davyhurst9

Initially, the prospectors extracted 138 tonnes for 835 ounces of gold, but their properity was not to last. Glenny went abroad, spent big and returned to Davyhurst broke. Charles Mace died in 1924. Miller Mace was a teenager at the time of the discovery. After the mine was sold, he appears to have become a semi-professional gambler for a time with horse racing in Melbourne and Perth.

The main Cemetery at Davyhurst contains 45 known graves. The earliest burial was Rudolph Mulline aged 3 months who died from diarrhoea and marasmus (severe undernutrition10) on 20 May 1900, while the last burial was Joseph Dellar who died 3 hours after premature birth on 28 Feb 191811. Sixteen of the known burials at Davyhurst are children.

The grave of Ernest Kurth (d.1914) at Davyhurst12

Menzies, Sept. 713.
Further particulars are to hand concerning the shocking fate which befell to two children at Davyhurst a few days ago.
It appears that Harry and Robert Rowe, aged seven and five years respectively, were at play in the vicinity of a shallow shaft at the bottom of which there was a quantity of explosives, as the shaft had been converted into a magazine.
Subsequently the children descended the ladder to amuse themselves by playing at mining.
It is thought that one of the children, evidently not aware of the danger, struck a match and dropped it on a barrel of powder.
The boy Robert was killed instantly, whilst Harry sustained serious injuries, which terminated fatally in the course of three hours.
The magazine is situated a short distance away and in view of the house of the bereaved parents. The noise of the explosion attracted them to the scene of the accident, where they discovered that Robert had been killed instantly, whilst Harry, whose clothing was on fire, and who was suffering dreadfully from his injuries, was endeavouring to tear the, burning clothing from his body.
The heartrending scene has had a serious effect on the mother of the children, who is in a delicate state of health.
Great sympathy, is felt for the parents of the children, who have been residing in the district for a considerable time. Mrs. Rowe is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rowe, of the Railway Hotel, Menzies. The remains of the two unfortunate children were buried in the Davyhurst Cemetery on Sunday last.

Timeline
  • 1899 – Waihi mine discovered
  • 1900 – Townsite surveyed
  • 1900 – First recorded burial
  • 1901 – Town gazetted
  • 1902 – Hotel was operating by early 1902
  • 1902 – Police station operating
  • 1902 – Frank C Alexander injured in explosion14
  • 1904 – Charles Howie died after being overcome with dynamite fumes underground. Three other miners affected survived.
  • 1905 – Sporting clubs – rifle, cricket, and boxing – as well as extension of existing hospital facilities and nursing staff15
  • 1906 – New Police station erected following complaints16
  • 1907 – No active pits in the area
  • 1908 – Murder of Emiglio Zumiate17
  • 1915 – Population reduced to 48. Police Station closed and Officer O’Flaherty transferred to Kookynie.
  • 1918 – Last recorded Burial
Photos, Maps, etc

If you would like to get an idea of how Davyhurst looks today, here are some YouTube videos that you can watch:

The original Davyhurst cemetery18
The Davyhurst Cemetery19
The “new” cemetery at Davyhurst20
Townsite plan of Davyhurst overlaid on aerial image of the landscape as it is today21
Townsite plan and location of the two Davyhurst cemeteries overlaid on aerial image22
Davyhurst, c1970s23
Sources
  1. Some sources, including a great great niece, record the name as Walter Davy. Others record it as Thomas Davy. Lacking absolute proof at this time, I have chosen to use the name as used by a living relative. ↩︎
  2. State Records Office, Warden North Coolgardie Survey of Business and Residence areas at (Mace’s Find) Davyhurst. Item 1900/3314 referenced on 29 Dec 2023 at https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au ↩︎
  3. Landgate, 2021. Town Names: Davyhurst. Retrieved from Web Archive on 31 Dec 2023. ↩︎
  4. Morawa District Historical Society, n.d. Ghost Towns of Western Australia. PDF Format retrieved from https://morawamuseum.org.au/ghosttowns/D.pdf on 29 Dec 2023. ↩︎
  5. Outback Family History, n.d. Photograph retrieved 29 Dec 2023 from https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=101 ↩︎
  6. State Library of Western Australia. Townsite of Davyhurst. Downloaded on 29 Dec 2023 from https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b1883814_1 ↩︎
  7. WESTRALIA WAIHI. (1901, November 26). Kalgoorlie Western Argus (WA : 1896 – 1916), p. 26. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32605655 ↩︎
  8. Mindat.org, 2023. Waihi gold Mine. Retrieved from https://zh.mindat.org/loc-270067.html 29 Dec 2023 ↩︎
  9. Outback Family History, n.d. Photograph retrieved 29 Dec 2023 from https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=101 ↩︎
  10. Cleveland Clinic, 2022. Marasmus. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2023 from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23296-marasmus ↩︎
  11. Outback Grave Markers, n.d. Davyhurst. Retrieved from https://www.outbackgraves.org/burial-records/location/54 on 29 Dec 1012 ↩︎
  12. Porebski, Alex, 2023. Photograph retrieved 30 Dec 2023 from Facebook ↩︎
  13. FEARFUL MAGAZINE EXPLOSION (1911, September 8). Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 – 1954), p. 4. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91320404 ↩︎
  14. COUNTRY. (1902, September 6). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24842885 ↩︎
  15. DAVYHURST DOINGS. (1905, March 26). The Sun (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1898 – 1929), p. 11. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211478819 ↩︎
  16. DAVYHURST DOINGS. (1905, April 16). The Sun (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1898 – 1929), p. 11. Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article211478980 ↩︎
  17. Murder at Davyhurst (1908, May 24). Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 – 1954), p. 5 (SECOND SECTION). Retrieved December 29, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57581211 ↩︎
  18. Holloway, Graeme, 2023. Photograph retrieved from Facebook 29 Dec 2023 ↩︎
  19. Outback Family History. Davyhurst Cemetery. Retrieved on 29 Dec 2023 from https://outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=102&town=Davyhurst ↩︎
  20. Porebski, Alex, 2023. Photograph retrieved 29 Dec 2023 from Facebook ↩︎
  21. Holloway, Graeme, 2023. Created image retrieved from Facebook 30 Dec 2023 ↩︎
  22. Holloway, Graeme, 2023. Created image retrieved from Facebook 31 Dec 2023 ↩︎
  23. State Library of Western Australia Archive, n.d. 148117PD: Davyhurst, Western Australia, ca. 1965-1984. Photograph retrieved 31 Dec 2023 from https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b4222240_1 ↩︎
Further Reading