Biography

The deceased was buried by Police Constable Alfred Thomson Hoy on the roadside near the town of Siberia. Witnesses at the burial were Frank Curtain and John Lawson. The informant of his death was Police Constable Alfred Thomson Hoy (Regimental No. 349), Menzies.

Byrne died at the alluvial workings where he had been working for two months with a mate, John Lawson. Byrne was married with a grown up family living in Surrey Hills, near Sydney. He was working in Perth as a cab driver until February 1898. He then moved to Kanowna for about two months before moving to Siberia, where he was engaged in dry blowing, with little success. At 3pm on 30th, Byrne sat down gently in the shallow hole in which he was working, rested his head on the bank and stretched himself out. Lawson spoke to him and received no answer.

Byrne had no property whatsoever. The townspeople provided a coffin and dug the grave, free of charge.