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The headstone over the grave was erected in memory of Phillip Saunders; a mining prospector who discovered gold in the Kimberley District with Adam Johns in 1882.

PIONEER PROSPECTOR

THE LATE PHILLIP SAUNDERS

DEDICATION OF MEMORIAL
With dignified simplicity the memorial over the grave in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery of Phillip Saunders, who with John Adams discovered gold in the Kimberley’s, near Hall's Creek, in 1882, was dedicated yesterday by the Bishop of Kalgoorlie, Dr. E. Elsey, in the presence of a representative gathering of goldfields people. Addresses were delivered by the Mayor of Kalgoorlie, Mr. E. E. Brimage, and the Minister for Mines, Mr. S. W. Munsie, extolling the part played by Mr. Saunders in laying the foundations of the State's gold mining industry. Mr Munsie felt proud at having the opportunity of being associated with the dedication of the memorial to the late Phillip Saunders. 

Mr. Saunders died in 1931, at the age of 93 years, after a vigorous pioneering, life which was largely spent in a search for gold deposits. Among those who assembled at his graveside yesterday were three men, Messrs. J. Neilson, Allan Buchanan and H. Brain, who knew him intimately many years ago when, after his more adventurous exploits in the North-West, he was prospecting in the Mt Ida and Menzies districts. They described him as a retiring, kind-hearted gentleman, who shunned society, preferring the solitude of the open spaces with its opportunities for locating a payable reef. With public subscriptions the Historical Society has surrounded his last resting place with slabs of granite on which has been reared a stone bearing the following inscription,   “To the memory of Phillip Saunders, a pioneer prospector. Died 6th June 1931 Aged 93 years. Who, with John Adams, first discovered gold in the Kimberley District 1882. Erected by public subscription.” In the centre of the grave is a granite stone on which the following words have been inscribed, 'This stone was placed here by the Government of Western Australia in recognition of the services rendered by Phillip Saunders, a pioneer prospector S. W. Munsie, Minister for Mines, 9th March 1937."
Kalgoorlie Miner, Sat 10^th April 1937.

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