George Gellin
George Gellin
Drowned in the Leschenault Estuary; Body recovered and buried in Bunbury Cemetery
24 June 1941
George Gellin was buried in Bunbury
The deceased was known by a few different names, George Gellin, Geo Gellin, George Brown and Georgos Tow Anastasios, but was mostly referred to in newspaper articles of the day as George Gellin.
His headstone, which can be found on his grave in the Bunbury Cemetery, is inscribed with ‘Geo. Gellin’ and it states that George was born at Triantafillia, Florina in Greece and that he accidentally drowned on 26 June 1941, about 28 years of age. The date of death does vary, but 26 June was the day his body was found, but the accident and drowning occurred on the night of 24 June.
George Gellin and his mate, Evangelos Calenderis, left Bunbury on 24 June around 4pm to fish the Leschenault Estuary.
The boat was flat-bottomed and after fishing for some time, the water became too rough and they had to stop. A sudden heavy squall hit the boat and it turned over. They both scrambled onto the bottom of the upturned boat and Calenderis decided that he would go ashore to look for help, leaving George Brown (the name Calenderis knew George as) on the upturned boat. From his inquest statement, Calenderis asked Brown to come with him but he had refused, remaining with the upturned boat. The water was shallow, although the boat was some distance from the shore.
Calenderis was not able to summon any help until daylight, and when he returned to the scene of the capsize, the boat was gone and there was no sign of Gellin. The boat had apparently drifted away. The police were notified and a search revealed the boat some distance further up the Estuary, with Gellin’s body beneath it entangled in the fishing net.
The body was recovered and taken to Bunbury for a post mortem examination. An inquest was held in the Bunbury Court House in July and from medical evidence given it was determined that the ‘body was in a healthy condition’ with only a small cut on the point of the chin. Death was due to drowning, a verdict of accidental drowning was returned by the Acting Coroner, Mr. C.H.G. Wood, JP.
Gellin was well known in Bunbury and Collie. It appears that he was involved in the owning, or running, of a fishmonger’s shop in Throssell Street, Collie and had been recently charged with having undersized fish on the premises. The charge was set to be heard in Collie in July as hearings were only conducted on a monthly basis.
The charge was struck out once news of his death was received. As previously mentioned, he was buried in the Bunbury Cemetery.