Fayer, Robert William
| Date of Birth | 1829-03 |
| Date of Death | 1854-07-15 |
| Age | 25 |
| Gender | Male |
| Birth Place | United Kingdom, Kendal, Westmorland |
| Died During Service | Yes |
| Cause of Death | Disease of the nervous system |
Service Details
| Service | RN - Royal Navy |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Discharged Date | 1854-07-15 |
| Discharge Type | DD - Discharged Dead |
| Discharge Notes | Discharged dead on board HMS Fantome in Hobsons Bay, Melbourne |
| Service Period | -1854 |
| Ship | Fantone, HMS |
Cemetery Details
| Cemetery Name | Port Gellibrand Cemetery (resumed) |
| Cemetery Address | VIC |
| Grave Type | Resumed |
Notes
Port Gellibrand Cemetery (often referred to as Gellibrand's Point Cemetery) was a 19th-century burial ground in Williamstown, Victoria, active from roughly 1842 to 1858. It served as a quarantine burial site for early immigrants, seafarers, and pioneers, with hundreds of remains eventually exhumed and reburied elsewhere as the town grew. In the 1890's approximately 800 remains were reinterred in new (current) Williamstown Cemetery. It is unknown whether Fayrer's remains were among them. He is memorialised on the headstone of his sister, Annie Shaw, in Melbourne General Cemetery (Anglican R 238). The headstone states that Fayrer was "killed in the Indian Mutiny". This is clearly not the case. As Annie died 23 years after her brother Robert, it would appear that a nephew or niece was repeating a family myth which accorded him something of a heroic status.
Sources
Letter to Admiralty dated 19 July 1854 regarding death: Source: mfm PRO 412-7269-Public Record Office, Admiralty records, 1673-1957 [microform]/Fonds. Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments/Series ADM 97/File 214. AJCP Reel No: 4613/Recorded letters/68-70