An unusual request for limestone blocks has recently been made by members of the Millicent-based South East Family History Group. Donations of the commonplace building material are needed to assist the group’s voluntary efforts to mark and restore long-neglected graves in the older portion of the Millicent Cemetery.
The history group has held working bees for several years at the historic cemetery on the front Sunday of each month. Among the tasks are to right tottering headstones and repair iron railings.
The stone blocks can be either full or half-sized. They can be used to delineate older graves which date back as far as the 1800s. Offers should be directed to SEFHG president Noel Boyle on either 8733 2320 or 0411 212 655.
He said one of the tombstones recently restored by the efforts of the history group and its volunteers belonged to Edward Wheeler, who died in 1894 at the age of 69. Mr Boyle said a heart ailment had caused his death and he was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
“He was the youngest son of the late William Wheeler, of Irvington Park, Herefordshire, England,” Mr Boyle said. “He arrived in South Australia in the ship ‘Duke of Brone’ in 1849 and for many years was engaged in farming pursuits on Hindmarsh Island.
“No cemetery records were kept by the Millicent District Council until later in 1894. “If there was no headstone his final resting place, like a number of early deaths in Millicent, would be unknown.”
