James FORSYTHE
Late of ?
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # ????
Rank: Constable
Stations: ?, Newcastle, Cobar – Resigned
Service: From ? ? ? to ? ? ? = ? years Service
Awards: ?
Born: ? ? around 1891? in Scotland
Died on: Thursday 17 May 1917
Age: 26
Cause: Tuberculosis
Event location: Waterfall Sanatorium ( Garrawarra Hospital ), Old Illawarra Hwy, Waterfall
Event date: Thursday 17 May 1917
Funeral date: ? ? ?
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: Waterfall General ( Garrawarra TB Hospital ) Cemetery, Old Illawarra Hwy, Waterfall
about 1 km south of Garrawarra Hospital and on the Eastern side of the road – about 10 mts off the road.
This Cemetery is TOTALLY derelict.
Grave location: 34°10’29.05″S 150°58’17.97″E
Memorial located at: ?
[alert_yellow]JAMES is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal
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May they forever Rest In Peace
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Further information is required on this man, his working life and death.
Cal
19 May 2017
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Leader (Orange, NSW : 1912 – 1922), Wednesday 23 May 1917, page 1
Constable James Forsythe, for the last twelve months attached to the Cobar police station, died at the Waterfall sanitorium last week. The late Constable Forsythe took ill in January, and was for a time an in-mate of the district hospital suffering from lung trouble, but on the advice of Dr. Connolly he went to Waterfall for special treatment, dying there as stated. He had been in the N.S.W. police force for three years, and was 26 years of age. We understand he was a native of Harwich, Scotland, where his mother and relatives reside.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117826843
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Newcastle Morning Herald & Miner’s Advocate Monday 21 May 1917 p4
Word has been received in Newcastle to the death of ex-Constable James Forsyth, who for some months had been an inmate of the Waterfall Sanatorium for Consumptives. Mr. Forsyth, who was a native of Roseland, had been in the force about three years, and was for some time stationed in Newcastle, where he was held in much esteem by the officers and rank and file of the force. he contracted a chill, and consumption, developed, and about twelve months ago he was transferred to Cobar in the hope that the drier atmosphere would assist him. That was not the case, however, and he found it necessary to resign and enter the sanatorium where his death occurred on Thursday.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/134861131
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Western Age ( Dubbo ) Friday 18 May 1917 p2
Constable James FORSYTHE
Constable James Forsythe, for the last twelve months attached to the Cobar police station, died at the Waterfall sanatorium on the 9th inst.
The late Constable Forsythe took ill early in January and was for a time an inmate of the district hospital suffering with lung trouble, but on the advise of Dr. Connolly he went to Waterfall for special treatment, dying there as stated. He had been in the N.S.W. police force for three years, and was 26 years of age. We understand he was a native of Harwick, Scotland, where his mother and relatives reside.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/136908011
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There are 5 James Forsythe’s recorded on NSWBDM database has having been born between 1869 – 1898
There are NO James FORSYTHE recorded on NSWBDM database as having died in NSW in 1917.
There is a John H. Forsythe 12815/1919 ( from Paddington ) & John Forsythe 4357/1916 ( from Ulmarra ) but nothing for 1917.
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Forgotten graves of TB victims uncovered
THE 2000 tuberculosis victims buried in Waterfall Cemetery south of Sydney were ”forgotten in life and forgotten in death”, said Wollongong’s lord mayor, Gordon Bradbery.
In life, these consumptives were cared for in NSW’s only purpose-built facility for TB victims, the Garrawarra Hospital for Consumptives.
A beautiful building with open-air wards on wide verandahs looking out to sea, the hospital opened in 1909 when the bacterial disease was the leading killer of Australian women, and very near that for men.
When patients were in the active phase of TB, they were isolated in fibro chalets, about the size of a garden shed. They either recovered or ended up in the cemetery a bit less than a kilometre away.
Today the cemetery looks like it has endured the battle of the eucalypts. Dead branches and foliage downed by wind and fire hide dangerous holes caused by subsidence under graves.
The cemetery ”dropped off the radar” after the last TB victim was buried in 1949, said Councillor Bradbery. For more than 60 years, the cemetery was neglected and apart from one highly polished grave site tended by Veterans Affairs, most of the remaining wooden and stone headstones have disappeared into the bush.
The council is now developing a conservation management plan for the cemetery, which Cr Bradbery said ”highlights the medical history of the 20th century, especially from 1909 when tuberculosis was for many a fatal illness”.
Explaining its neglect, he said, ”We thought Garrawarra people [NSW Department of Health] were responsible. And vice versa. As a result it was forgotten,” he said.
A Health Department spokeswoman, Cath Whitehurst, confirmed the cemetery is still on health department land, but the trusteeship and management were transferred to Wollongong in 1967.
It’s unclear what will happen to it. To restore the graves to their former glory would be expensive. There’s also the issue of access. Getting into the site requires permission from the NSW Ministry of Health to enter the Garrawarra Centre for the Aged, where 120 patients with Alzheimer’s live.
After visiting the cemetery for the first time, the mayor, a former chaplain with the Uniting Church, was reflective. ”People might think it is a sad thing that it [the cemetery] has been forgotten. But at the same time there is something quite powerful about the march of time and how nature will claim back those areas that have been cleared by human beings.
”They talk about resting in peace. Well, I tell you what, from my perspective they certainly are. It’s very peaceful.”
Ms Whitehurst said the Garrawarra Hospital buildings were boarded up for safety reasons, and there were no plans to restore or demolish the buildings. Visitors are discouraged from the hospital and cemetery.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/forgotten-graves-of-tb-victims-uncovered-20121102-28phf.html
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#2
Reflex
Thanks Tim. I’ll have a wander around one day.
Samford Valley Qld.
#3
Devster
Very informative information Thanks Tim
#4
timrob
My wife Marg and I will be leading a BQ walk to “Dan” on May 10th, and will be delighted to meet you.
Tim
Quote from BQ website
” This will be the fist BQ visit to Dan Stiller Reserve for 2015. Meet at 7 am at the gate near the end of Axis Place (UBD 239, E6). This section of the reserve is relatively new and until recently had no good tracks. BCC has made a loop track that includes a section with close proximity to a lagoon on a minor tributary of Oxley Creek. It is also possible, time permitting, to see a large ex-sandmining lake that apparently will become part of an expanded reserve in the future. The track is well made and an easy walk. Boots are recommended for safe access to the edge of the lagoon. There are no toilet facilities in this reserve.
We will meet for morning tea at the park on Lincoln Green Drive (UBD 238, H16) where toilets are available.”
#5
Woko
Great to learn of the extension to the reserve, Tim.
#6
Reflex
Sounds good Tim.
Samford Valley Qld.
http://birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Dan-Stiller-Reserve-Parkinson-Qld
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