In 1893 Albert Loechner left his young family in Colac and set out for Western Australia. Accompanied by his brother-in-law Peter Hardy, he aimed to secure his family’s future on the newly opened goldfields.
Albert was born in South Australia to German parents who had arrived in the colony twelve years earlier. Little is known of his childhood or why he came to Colac. By 1887, he was living in the district and performed, with others, at a Bible Christian Church concert in Pirron Yallock.
Joy, heartbreak and hardship
The following year, Albert married Minnie Julia Hardy, whose family had settled in Colac about a decade before. Together with local man Arthur James, he opened a tailoring business, Loechner and James, in Murray Street, Colac. The firm supported local charities and aimed to serve the community. Court cases over unpaid accounts, however, hinted at financial difficulties.
Albert and Minnie’s first child, a daughter, was born soon after their marriage but died as an infant. Minnie was pregnant again, and in June she gave birth to a son who lived for just one day. Both babies were laid to rest in the Colac Cemetery. Their short lives are remembered today through the Almost Forgotten project.
Two more children followed — Ada in 1891 and Charles in 1893. Later that year, the Colac Herald carried an advertisement for the auction of the family’s Queen Street home. The notice was stark: “No reserve. Terms Cash.”
After five difficult years — marked by heartbreak and hardship — Albert left Minnie and their children to seek a fortune for his family on the goldfields.
“The latest news from Colacians at Coolgardie”
Albert and Peter arrived at the diggings on September 26 and wrote home describing harsh conditions. Their letter, published in the Colac Herald on 17 October 1893, painted a bleak picture. They reported that their horses were “knocked up” and they “had to shoot one on the way that got flyblown”.
Conditions were Bleak
“There were about 2000 men on the field, but the prospects are not nearly so encouraging as they might be… water was a shilling a gallon… the process of dry blowing is such a tedious game that no man could make a living unless he struck a patch“
“Most men, they said, were already giving up and returning home.”
Source: Battye Library. Dryblowing with dishes.
A tragic end in the desert
In January 1895, sixteen months after Albert’s arrival, newspapers reported the apparent suicide of a prospector. Three days later came a new headline — “Murder or Suicide?”
A letter published from one of Albert’s mates to his brother-in-law, Peter, explained how Albert had died. The rumor of murder had been introduced by those anxious to spare his family.
Albert was believed to be dying of thirst when he took his own life, though later it was revealed that he was within two and a half miles of a chain of waterholes. The location was recorded as between ‘Chain of Waterholes’ and Waiti Kauri, about 30 miles North East of Leonora.
Albert Lockner (sic) was buried at Bummer’s Creek, in Leonora Shire a lonely resting place in the red dust of the goldfields. The grave was marked by a gold panning dish with inscription, by punching holes in the metal, “died in the bush 14 Jan 1895”.
Bummers Creek was never actually gazetted as a cemetery. The two burials there are classed as Lonely graves.
This is a photograph of the plaque for John Ryan who died in the same area in 1898, aged 28. It is the same landscape as the area where Albert was buried.
There are no photographs of Albert’s grave.
Information from Moya Sharp
https://www.outbackgraves.org/
Life After Loss
Minnie stayed in Colac, most likely supported by her parents and siblings. Nearly ten years passed before she remarried to James Robert Dew. The couple settled in Geelong and welcomed a daughter, Erma Dew.
Albert’s fellow gold seeker, Minnie’s brother, Peter, returned to Colac but sadly died in 1913 aged just 42 years. He is buried with his parents in the Colac Cemetery.
Minnie died in 1937, aged 70. She rests in the Geelong Eastern Cemetery beside her second husband, James, who lived another eighteen years.
Research by Nicole Prince with assistance from Merrill O’Donnell
Information about Albert’s death and burial from Outback Family History
https://www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au/records/record.php?record_id=1041