In 2008 I was contacted by Kirsti Hiekka Langbein who lives in Finland, and who was seeking information on her Grandfather who was a jeweller in early Kalgoorlie. We corresponded for some time and I was able to tell her that the clock in the Kalgoorlie town hall chambers was made by Lindell’s Jewellers, as was the clock on the Kalgoorlie railway station platform. This is what Kirsti told me:-
Berndt V Lindell (far right) and staff out side the shop 1898.
You mentioned that the location of the shop is where a sporting goods store now operates. Those pillars in my father’s photo are quite pretty with their Greek touch of ornamentation. You said that one is still standing.
He was one of the very first goldsmiths to set up shop in Kalgoorlie. This assumption is based on counting the entries in the directories from 1896 and on. B V Lindell came to Kalgoorlie in 1896 and arranged the lease of the property, then returned to Perth where he had his shop built, and then he transported it by rail to Coolgardie and the rest of the way on a cart pulled by oxen.
The striking width of Hannan Street is of course said to be so that the carriages pulled by oxen could turn there. Lindell opened his shop in Kalgoorlie on June 30, 1896. One of the reason’s for his move from Perth may have been the robbery on January 8, 1896 that took place in his shop on Hay Street in Perth. (The newspaper The West Australian has a vivid description of the robbery. Also, when the trial of the robbers took place on April 14, the West Australian had it reporters there and wrote a marvellous description of the trial.)
When he left Kalgoorlie in 1900, he went to the Paris World’s Fair, where he had agreed to meet his brother Kustaa Lindell, who had come from Finland, and then they sailed back to Finland together via England (Hull), where Lindell had left his baggage (he had quite a bit of gold with him). As a gift to his brother Lindell had brought a 1 kg piece of natural gold from Kalgoorlie. It is now housed in the collections of a museum in Finland that his brother founded. (Both brothers soon took back their original family name of Hiekka, so the museum is known as the Kustaa Hiekka Museum in Tampere, Finland).
The Lindell clock in the Kalgoorlie Town Hall chamber.
Kalgoorlie Town Hall
Australia shaped his life in many ways, after all, he spent 17 years of his youth there. He was a story of true globalisation – with his skills he went where he could maximise the results and by the age of 37 had accumulated enough wealth to move on, to become a landowner in his native country. Kalgoorlie offered these opportunities to many, and it must be kind of fun to hear of some who fulfilled the expectations they came with. He died in 1953 at the age of 90, and that is how I still remember him.
The Perth museum has two of Lindell’s gold pieces in its permanent collection. One is with a miner’s pick and shovel, the one in the other has a letter carried by a dove in the middle with a gold nugget. It was all made of local 18 carat gold.
Rare Australian Colonial Goldfields Miners Brooch by Berndt V. Lindell (born 1863 in Finland). He had a shop in Barrack Street and later Hay Street, Perth for four years from 1892 and transported the shop by rail to Coolgardie and then by wagon to Kalgoorlie where he opened in the heart of the goldrush in 1896. This rare brooch is approx 4cm wide, has crisp markings on the back, and features a goldfields nugget.
Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 – 1954), Saturday 18 March 1899, page 9
B V Lindell is not only a skilled and a clever artificer in gold ware, but he also enjoys holding a certificate of workmanship from the Government of Finland. Mr Lindell was of a roving disposition, and ambitious to become acquainted with the new world, and in 1885 he proceeded to Australia. He came first to Victoria. and being desirous of gaining local experience before starting business on his own, he took a billet at Maryborough where he remained for about nine months. He then returned to Melbourne, and for the ensuing four years remained in the state of Victoria, working with different jewellers and for the last two years was in business for himself. Lindell decided to go to Western Australia where arrived on 16th June, 1892. He first opened up for business in Hay Street Perth but was determined to try his luck in the goldfields. This was in March 1898, and Mr Lindell obtained a lease of a section of land in Hannan street, Kalgoorlie, in the centre of the town.
Interior of the Hannan Street Shop 1899
There were but few buildings there at that time, as there was no railway connection with Kalgoorlie. Mr Lindell had his building constructed in Perth, and transported with his stock in trade by rail to Coolgardie, and there had it carried to Kalgoorlie. The load altogether weighed nearly twenty tons, and it took nearly 48 hours to cover the 25 miles which separate the two gold-fields towns. At night Mr Lindell slept under his waggon, and having a stock of jewellery valued at over £1000, was put to some anxiety as to its safe keeping. Mr Lindell’s determination overcame all obstacles, and on the 30th June, 1896 he was able to open his business in Kalgoorlie. Being the only manufacturing jeweller on the fields, and a goldsmith of much taste, Mr Lindell speedily acquired a nourishing business.
He began by employing one assistant jeweller, and now he finds work for six, including a competent engraver, and their time is fully employed. He is a large importer of jewellery and precious stones from abroad, but does a great deal of business in the manufacture of jewellery from local gold. The designs are very graceful, the work being carried out with much taste. There is an abundance of jewellery especially suitable as pretty mementos of a mining district. These are all of Mr Lindell’s own designs, and consist of artistic representations of miners’ picks and shovels, their windlasses, and the poppet heads of the mines. They afford very appropriate gifts, and range from most moderate prices up to figures as large as the purchaser is disposed to give.
Workroom of the Hannan Street shop 1899
Mr Lindell is one of the most practical and best watchmakers in Australia, and his business in this line alone is a large one. Repairing and cleaning watches is a special branch with him. He is a large buyer of alluvial gold from all parts of the fields, and speaks highly of the precious metals won in Kalgoorlie and the surrounding districts. The success which has attended the business since the two years of its inception shows that Mr Lindell’s good qualities are being appreciated on the goldflelds. Personally, he is much esteemed both as a man of business and a citizen of the town, in the future and permanent prosperity of which he is a thorough believer.
Western Argus 10 Sep 1896
Moya Sharp
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Fascinating story, we owe so much to the pioneers of our country, no matter what their trade. Thanks, Moya.
You certainly have some great Historical stories and this ones a beauty. Do you have any History on a Barber that had a shop under the Mechanical Institute, in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie? His name was Bernie Gowdie, and he would have been there for several years. He had great sporting pictures on his walls, mostly Horse Racing. I had many a haircut there as a boy through the 1950’s. Keep up the great work.
Bernie Gowdie was my barber in the late 50s to early 60s. Do you remember the barber who followed him? Bob ?
Lovely story Moya.i can testify to the skills of Finnish goldsmiths, and I particularly like their glass-blown birds as well. Finnish design has a unique purity of line and form