At the outskirts of Toodyay lies the local cemetery and of course it isn't a real visit without spending some time strolling between the graves. The first impression we got is the unusually large number of children's tombs which generally of course could be explained by the early typhoid and polio epidemics. However reading the inscriptions and epitaphs on the headstones revealed a tragic phenomena. The early deaths of some of these poor young souls are particular to a few families and this tragedy seems to be repeating itself sometimes with a generation gap or straight down the family line since the 19th Century. Some of the causes were also accidental such us drowning. Between the tombs of children lay the many heartbroken parents who had to live to bury a child or in the case of some families several children and the same grim task passed down to the next generation. It is more intriguing that we found no real explanation from historical research or from the locals.
