DISCOVER GREENBUSHES
The Greenbushes area first came to prominence in 1888 when prospector David William Stinton was issued with the State's first mining lease on behalf of the Bunbury Mining Company. Two years earlier the Government Surveyor EA Hardman had noted the presence of tin in the area. The early pioneers who shaped the district were miners, farmers, timber workers and the owners of the many support businesses that sprang up to service these industries. At its peak in 1907 the town boasted a population of 3,000 people.
Greenbushes Cemetery
The current Greenbushes Cemetery was established in 1910. The current Greenbushes Cemetery had its first burial on 9 January 1910 and as with the Bridgetown Cemetery, there were separate sections catering for Anglican, Roman Catholic and Methodist religions. The Greenbushes Cemetery has had further development over the years and now has a General section and a Niche Wall. This Cemetery also is the final resting place for many of our pioneers with the most notable being David Stinton, who discovered tin at Greenbushes which eventually resulted in the construction of the mine at Greenbushes, which today is still one of the major employers in the Shire.
Pioneer Cemetery
The original Greenbushes Cemetery was located on the South Western Highway three kilometres north of Greenbushes. A memorial plaque on a rock marks the site of the original cemetery. There are 45 names on the plaque which is believed to commemorate only half of the total burials at the site.
Of the names, 41 are for infants ranging from stillborn to three years and almost half of the deaths occurred in 1907/08. It is thought the cause was an epidemic of Spanish Influenza. The date recorded for the first burial in the original cemetery is 1903.
The Founder of the Greenbushes Tinfield, prospector David William Stinton and his wife Fanny (nee Properjohn) are buried at the Greenbushes Cemetery. Their simple graves are located in the old Anglican section. Fanny Stinton died on 11 April 1922 at the age of 56. Eighteen days later on 29 April 1922 David Stinton died of pneumonia aged 63.
Their eldest daughter Alice Jane (known as Jane) Coleman died 17 December 1955 at the age of 93 and is also buried at the Greenbushes Cemetery.