- Mary McMillan (1875-1961) & Alfred Fisher (1875-1937).

I had a lot of trouble tracking down Mary because she didn't appear in my initial Scottish searches. I had an inkling that she might exist when a Mary McMillan appeared as witnessing Thomas' marriage to Annie Maddron in 1890. Later an unexplained Mrs A. Fisher appeared in some of the obituaries, so I back-tracked and eventually found a marriage between a "Fisher" and "MacMillan" (sic).

Mary McMillan was born in Patna, Ayrshire, Scotland in about 1875. She emigrated to New South Wales with the family in about 1876. She was only 14 or so when Thomas and Annie were married in the "presence of Mary McMillan" at Glen Innes, NSW.

When aged 21, she married a miner, Alfred Thomas Fisher, on the 6th April 1896, in the house of her mother-in-law at Hillgrove, NSW. Alfred had been born in nearby Tenterfield. It seems that Mary may already have had a son, Reginald William (1893-1954; but that is based on the death index -I've been unable to locate a birth index).

Over the next four years, they had three children, all of whom died. Tragically her second, daughter Alice, died from a terrible accident:

The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 15 March 1898

A FATAL MISTAKE,

HILLGROVE, Monday.

A six-months child died yesterday after taking a dose of spirits of salts accidentally administered by its mother, Mary Fisher, who during the night gave deceased the dose from a bottle she supposed contained the child's medicine. The mistake was discovered immediately, but medical aid was not at hand, and it was attended by fatal consequences. At the inquest a verdict of accidental death was recorded.

***************

A six-months child died at Hillgrove after taking a dose of spirits of salts accidentally administered by its mother, Mary Fisher, who during the night gave deceased the dose from a bottle she supposed contained the child's medicine.

Around 1900 Mary and Alfred followed her sisters and younger brother to the Western Australian goldfields where, in 1901 at Southern Cross, another daughter was born and died. Alfred was working at Fraser's Mine, the most successful mine on the Yilgarn field.

Alfred Fisher, bottom left.

They had five more children:

• Alexander (1902-1964);

• Emma Agnes (1905-1976);

• Alfred Thomas Fisher (1907-1914);

• Alice (1909-1989);

• Ellen May (1910-2008); and

• Florence Amelia (1912-1981).

Mary and Alf with Reg and Alex.

The Fishers and Alcocks with Agnes McMillan (left?), Alf Fisher (l), Edward Alcock (r) and Reg (near the goat) in the WA goldfields.

Southern Cross, 1904. Frasers Mine in the background.

In 1913, there was some sort of bankruptcy action taken against Alf:

Kalgoorlie Miner, Tuesday 4 March 1913, page 4

Florence was born in Leederville, Perth, but the other children were born in the goldfields. Reginald, by then 23yo, was working at Westonia, a gold mine. Certainly, by 1925 the family was living near Fremantle and later they moved to Leederville (where my uncle remembers visting them as a boy). Alfred worked as a labourer.

Reg Fisher (r) and unknown.

Alfred died in Subiaco, Western Australia, on the 6th September 1937. Mary died on the 17th March 1961. They are buried together with their young son, Alfred, in Karrakatta Cemetery.

Photo: Michelle Palmer