Elizabeth was born c1845 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, according to her death certificate, and died at the Cairns Hospital on the 20th February 1923.
Her parents are named on the certificate as Richard Marett and Elizabeth Arthur, but according to newspaper articles her maiden name was McCrudden. After a search and name variation a birth was found for Elizabeth McCradden, on the Victorian Births Deaths and Marriages site.
For many years after she married a Thomas Marett in 1863 her life was not an extremely happy one. Not only was he entertaining other ladies but was extremely violent to Elizabeth, with the marriage ending in divorce, for cruelty and adultery in 1886.
Elizabeth then made her way up to Cairns, Queensland and became the Lilybank ferry keeper and according to an article in a Cairns Historical Society bulletin “Mrs Marett could be amiable, and she could be an old tartar. If in a temper (and that was often) she could use more swear words to the minute than the best bullock driver of the day”. She was attributed to “destroying many a crocodile with her old muzzle loading shot gun”.
Elizabeth had no children of her own but had an adopted son, Cubert Marett who was killed in World War 1.
Her life as the ferry keeper was to take passengers across the Barron and on several occasions, articles could be found about her in the Cairns’ newspapers. One of her complaints was about not being able to charge for passengers swimming their horses across with them, so was authorised to charge 3 pence for swimming horses, 3 pence for passengers and 3 pence for bicycles carried over on the ferry.
Elizabeth also had a street named after her in Stratford, Marret Street and owned a piece of land at the time of her death, in the parish of Smithfield, which she left to her sister Fanny Pocknee, who lived in Victoria.
So now to – what happened to Elizabeth Marett? – According to her death certificate she is buried on private property in the parish of Smithfield.
There appears to be no record of her body being removed from this property to any cemetery in Cairns, as her burial is on private property so no Government body would know of it.
Burial register for all cemeteries on the Cairns Regional Council search site has no record of a burial for her.
Where is she? Do you know? Is there a plaque somewhere in that Parish to say where she is buried?
If so, could you please contact Dell president@cdfhs.org, as we are trying to write a story about her and would love to confirm her burial place.
