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Names

Ernest Maurice Collection

Maurice Collection

IDs

WAM 27

Offline Only

Descriptions

A small and very poignant collection of personal belongings of Ernest Maurice. Alone in Australia, they were his sole possessions wrapped up in a bundle for return to his sister in London following his death from typhoid fever in 1891.

A small and very poignant collection of personal belongings of a young labourer, Ernest Maurice. Alone in Australia, they were his sole possessions wrapped up in a bundle for return to his sister in London following his death from typhoid fever in 1891. This collection tells the less visible story of one of the many who came to Western Australia in search of a better life but never found the comfort and security they sought. Maurice migrated from London arriving in Albany in about 1890 and by mid-1891 had moved to Perth for work. He had found some success, saving enough money to send some home to his sister in London. His 1 July 1891 diary entry reports feeling unwell. On 26 July he died alone in the Colonial Hospital Perth of typhoid fever. He was aged just nineteen years. Maurice's wish that his belongings be returned to his sister were never carried out. His small bundle of possessions was discovered by historian Tom Stannage in 1976 in the Supreme Court whilst carrying out research.

Some material may be subject to copyright.

Subjects

Boarding House; Goldrush; Hospital; Labourer; Migrant; Migration; Typhoid

Diseases; Labourers; Personal effects

Ernest Maurice; Tom Stannage; Western Australian Museum

Gold rushes; Labourers; Migrants; Migration; Typhoid

Personal effects

Coverage Spatial

Albany; Brisbane Boarding House; Katanning; Colonial Hospital Perth; Perth

Coverage Temporal

1890

1891

Related Collections

Dates

2012-05-30 23:42

2011-03-25 16:40