David Malcolm McMurtie

David Malcolm McMurtrie was born in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia on 26 August 1891. His parents were Thomas McMurtrie (1863-1930) and Martha McMurtrie (née Meikle) (1867-1941) who married in Redbank, Queensland, Australia, on 30 September 1885. He was one of nine children. David married Amy Maud Gwendoline Free (1894-1975) in Queensland, Australia, on 18 September 1913. Their son, Allan Osmond McMurtrie was born in Warwick, Queensland, Australia, on 16 September 1913. On 10 September 1914, David was employed on the sulphur mine on Te Puia o Whakaari [White Island] when the south-western crater rim collapsed, causing a lahar (volcanic mudflow) to rush through the crater floor, smashing the workers' huts, the manager's house and other mine buildings and shunting them into the sea. One of five camp cats, 'Peter the Great', was the only survivor. The bodies of the twelve men and other camp cats were never found. No memorial or compensation was provided for their grieving families and the men were never officially recorded as having died. Biography by Debbie McCauley (15 December 2019).