Numeralla Cemetery
Early Squatters were recorded in Numeralla in the 1830s. The village at the junction of the Numeralla and Big Badja Rivers. From the 1850s to the 1890s gold was mined along the rivers with varying degrees of success. Diggings are still evident nearby to the village. A plaque in the cemetery has been dedicated to “Charlie the Chinaman” and other Chinese gold miners who died in the area whilst working the diggings in the 1870s. Another plaque has been erected in the cemetery to acknowledge a number of unmarked graves at the site.
The Numeralla Cemetery was dedicated in 1866 and the first burial is recorded in 1891, Mr Lewis Green. The cemetery provides a historical snapshot of living in a remote rural community in the 19th and early 20th centuries with limited access to emergency health care and transport.
• 1917 - James Freebody, accidently killed by falling from a cart pulled by a bolting horse, aged 68.
• 1921 - Edward Patrick Agnew, thrown from his horse and killed, aged 16.
• 1927 - Mrs Elizabeth Ann Ward (nee Koppman) died of Scarlet Fever, aged 23.
• 1928 - Terence Patrick Thomas of Big Badja, died of Diabetes, aged 7.
• 1931 - Andrew Ward, died of Pneumonia, aged 1 month
• 1933 - Daniel Ward of Numeralla, killed in a car accident, aged 45.
Residents of the area relied on volunteer district nurses. Buried in the cemetery are local women. Mrs Maria Ward (Nee Harvey) who died in 1939 and Mrs Caroline Elizabeth Ross (nee Thomas) who died in 1947. The women's skills in nursing and midwifery were invaluable and saved many lives.