Quency DilyanPrint Page

The granite headstone with metal plaque commemorates Quency Dilyan,  an Aboriginal man, who helped John Forrest and H.S. Ranford on their expeditions.  In 2003, the grave was restored by the Royal Western Australian Historical Society and was part of an Indigenous Culture Grant.  Although this is not the actual site where Dilyan was laid to rest, the general region is the whereabouts of his murder.

Dilyan an aboriginal, belonged to a tribe, which lived within the boundaries of Wandering and Williams. Dilyan travelled with explorer, Sir John Forrest and was so highly regarded that he presented him with a silver mounted and inscribed fowling piece (gun), as well as naming a spring at the Cambridge Gulf in the North-West of Western Australia after him. Dilyan, rendered sterling service on a survey expedition, led by Mr. R.S. Ranford, which visited Cambridge Gulf in the 1880`s and marked out the town of Wyndham, as well as effecting other important surveys.

B. S. Ranford and Jack Dowsett later employed Dilyan as a shepherd for his notable tracking skills. Charlie Farmer was later informed of his performance and likewise, employed him. Whilst working for Farmer, he was sent to town to obtain some goods. On return, he was stabbed to death by a member of a feuding tribe.

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