Frederick Stirk
Frederick Stirk
People Buried Here
Epitaph
Robert William Stirk, who lost his life, trying to save a friend.
Weep not dear parents, but be content, for I to you was only lent. In love we lived, in peace I died. You asked my life, but 'twas denied. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Frederick Stirk
Noble was he condemning all things mean, his truth unquestioned and his soul serene, shame knew him not, he dreaded no disgrace, truth, simple truth was written on his face.
Elizabeth Stirk
Two weary eyes are sleeping, two tired hands are still. The one who toiled so hard for us, is waiting just over the hill. Wife of Frederick.
Description
No official details of burial are listed in cemetery records.
The Stirk's are major pioneers of the district of Kalamunda.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/stirk-cottage-kalamunda-first-house/7814580
Frederick and Elizabeth Stirk
Were the first settlers within the actual townsite of Kalamunda. The Stirks’ arrived in Kalamunda (then known as the extensive area of Gooseberry Hill) in 1881 having purchased 10 acres around what is today Stirk Park. Still standing, the little white cottage with the iron roof located on Kalamunda Road adjacent to the Park was their home and the first dwelling erected in the townsite of Kalamunda. It was built mostly from materials found on the site.
Life was hard for Frederick and Elizabeth Stirk in the beginning. Frederick had to work at the historic old Belvoir Farm at Upper Swan to support his family and walked home every Saturday to clear the land until he was able to farm it full time. The pair had nine children, and Mrs Stirk used to ride a horse along a rough track to Guildford for supplies, taking whoever was the current baby with her. The children who were left at home were guarded by a kangaroo dog. In the early years the family kept goats to provide milk and wallabies, kangaroos, bandicoots and emus supplied them with fresh meat.
A barn on the property later became Kalamunda’s first shop. The property also served as a Dairy Block up until 1962 when the Shire Council purchased it.