Alf Hawker claimed he was born 10 September 1899 but curiously enough Edith's bible listed the date 9 September 1900 which can't have been right because his brother was born in December that year. He ran away from home at 13 and did various jobs before crewing on ships and settling in Australia either 1923 or 24. Photos show he was a handsome young man.
In a letter to his brother Charlie he said he lived at Boulia in Queensland. He said he had married a girl called Frances (but Charlie couldn't remember her maiden name) and they had at least one child, a daughter, but no further details are known.
He was last seen by his brothers or sisters in 1938 at the funeral of his mother Edith at Wanganui. In May 1972, he was located and visited by his nephew Ron (Carl Ronald) Hawker and Ron's wife Sue. He was living on the banks of the Ferguson River in Northern Territory, near Pine Creek, about 40km north of Katherine, in a small but sturdy humpy style lean-to without secure walls on a couple of sides.
He had few possessions but was extremely proud to be one of the few individuals (as opposed to companies) in Australia still licensed to prospect for gold. (In a rare letter to his sister Annie he said he had gathered together a biscuit tin full of opals).
He was stone deaf but spoke well, including the local aboriginal dialect fluently, and was overwhelmed to meet a relative. He was widely known throughout the region, not the least because every pension day he caught a bus or hitched into Katherine, got blotto with the natives, got locked up in 'protective custody' for the night, and was either put on the bus or delivered back to his camp with his groceries by the police the next morning.
He was reported missing following a flood a couple of days before Christmas 1972. Because of the belief commonly held in the district that he had stashed opals/gold somewhere near the river, the police took special interest in his disappearance.
In a letter to Ron on 7 June 1978, Sergeant W Wilson of Katherine Police formally advised that after extensive fruitless searches of the area with trackers, Alf was listed as a missing person, and was neverseen again.
Alf's closest friends at Katherine were Mary and Alex Leishman. Mary wrote that on hearing of Alf's disappearance, they went to his hut which was "all open, razor was on his bench, swag was open and his tucker box was not locked. I have come to the conclusion that ...he ...went down to the river for a swim but had a heart attack and fell in and drowned. There was a big deep hole near where he swam and he has told me he has seen a crocodile there. I have fished there and quite a few times lost hook line and sinker with a terrific bite. If this be the case his body could have been dragged there and the flood water would not wash it out.....It upsets me as he was so near to us and many things around the house remind me of him."
Ironically, although Ron had worked as a photo/journalist for years and had camera equipment with him when he called on Alf, he was accompanied by a professional photographer who took a series of photos. Unfortunately, the films were totally corrupted on the flight from Darwin to Sydney where they went to be developed because they were unsure of the capabilities of the Darwin lab! BACK