For a family tree of John Joseph Currie and Margaret Ann McKnight see this index.

Margaret Ann (Annie) McKnight was one of the nine or so children born to her parents, Edward and Catherine. She was born in 1886 and the birth was registered in Blackwood South Australia. Blackwood is now a suburb of Adelaide.

By 1910 some of the McKnight family were living in Kalgoorlie.

In the meantime Margaret calling herself 'Margarette' married John Joseph Currie at Mt Sir Samuel in 1908. John Joseph Currie was often referred to as JJ Currie.

When the Mt Sir Samuel community was officially recognised as a town, the name was shortened to Sir Samuel. Sir Samuel was Sir Samuel Way who was the Chief Justice of South Australia from 1876 to 1915. It is said that none of Sir Samuel’s judgements were overturned on appeal to a higher court. The geographcal feature, Mt Sir Samuel was named by the zealous South Australian explorer / surveyor Lawrence Wells in 1892. Margarette may have been born in Blackwood SA, but Lawrence Wells met a premature death after he was struck by a railcar in Blackwood.

Western Argus of Tuesday 5 December 1922 (from Trove article):

The Yellow Aster mine, Kathleen Valley, is looking extremely well at present, and the crushings are regular and payable. This property is owned by Mr. J. J. Currie, and is equipped with a ten head mill. There are a few prospectors around this centre.

Kalgoorlie Miner 12 February 1924 Page 4 (from Trove article):

Cyclone at Kathleen Valley— A telegram received yesterday afternoon at the office of this paper from Mr. Currie of Kathleen Valley announced that the place was visited the previous night by a cyclone. Much damage was done, One hundred and thirty-five points of rain fell in half an hour.

Western Argus 21 October 1924 (from Trove article):

At Kathleen Valley Mr. Currie, the owner of the Astor, was cyaniding the sands. A test crushing of stone had been taken out above the No. 6 level, below which the workings were under water. It came from a body of stone 8 ft. in width and yielded 10 dwt [pennyweight] per ton by amalgamation, with 5 dwt in the sands.

A pennyweight is about 1.55 grams.

Western Mail Thursday 29 August 1929 p48 (from Trove article):

Travelling through Yakabinda one passes Mount Sir Samuel, the old mining camp, and shortly afterwards Kathleen Valley is reached. Here Mr. J. J. Currie controls a big belt of leasehold country, which up to the present has been devoted to cattle grazing. A good deal of improvement work has been done, however, preparatory to stocking up with sheep. It was at Kathleen Valley that the famous Yellow Astre [sic] gold mine was discovered to be developed 25 years ago into one of the richest finds in the 'fields.

Perth used to have a newspaper known as The Mirror, which was a bit of a scandal sheet. On April Fool’s Day in 1944 it ran the headline Rolled Out the Barrels – And His Wife Left on the Brewery Truck. This story related to 1930 when Mrs Currie and three kiddies escaped on the truck, leaving at 5am one morning. So thirteen or fourteen years later he is divorcing Margarette on the grounds of desertion and adultery with Henry Merrell. The Daily News reported on 21 December 1943 page 5 (from Trove article):

In 1928, Currie said, he became suspicious of station knock-about Henry Merrell, who frequently visited the Kathleen Valley Inn. In 1929 he ordered Merrell out, after which Mrs Currie took to visiting Wiluna every three weeks, ostensibly to see the doctor.

According to The Mirror one of the daughters said:

Mum had told us she was going to clear out at the first opportunity and we were told to have our clothes ready. One morning, while Dad was out attending to some stock on the station, the brewery truck called, and we all went on it to Kalgoorlie. Mum left a note saying that she definitely wasn't going to return to dad. Then we came to live in Perth.

At Carlisle. Merrell came to live with us. For a while he ran a poultry farm several miles out of town, and then he went on sustenance work. I met dad several times after that in Perth, and he told me that he'd been out to see mother, but wasn't welcome there!

Harry Merrill and Maragret married in 1945. She gave up 'Margarette' and returned to plain Margaret. However Harry and Margaret’s ashes are at separate locations at Karrakatta Cemetery. J.J. Currie is buried at Busselton.

The tombstone of one of his daughter’s reads “Jessie Florence Taylor. 23 Apr 1997. Daughter of John Joseph Currie. Mother to Raymond, mother in law of Jean, nanna to Michael, Tracy, Leanne, great grandmother of Ryan, Mitchell and Samantha”.

Harry Merrill was born in England in 1905 and served in the RAAF during WW2. He was sometime referred to as an airman but he was probably not a pilot as he appears to have been a corporal in the RAAF.

There is very little information easily accessible information available on the towns of Kathleen or Sir Samuel. There were at least two hotels at Kathleen. JJ Currie was listed on the electoral roll as a baker. Both communities were considered large enough to be gazetted as towns.