A Lost Glitter – letters from the frontier

Lost glitter : letters between South Australia and the Western Australian goldfields, 1895-1897 –
edited by Michael R. Best.

A Lost Glitter by Michael R Best

A Lost Glitter is the most richly detailed first-hand account of goldfields’ life we have.

The letters of the Deland family between the Western Australian goldfields and Gawler South Australia, contrast the rumbustious, economically chancy, life of the gold seekers and their support industries with the settled middle class life of South Australia.  They tell us of the struggle to maintain the standards of civilisation among the exigencies of an insecure frontier existence.
The letters form, in effect, an explanatory novel.  Each of the correspondents is literate and emerges as a distinct character.  From the overall narrative of daily goldfields life, two discrete tales take shape; that of the early success and ultimate failure of Campbell Deland’s bakery and that of the courtship of Effie Wyllie by Charles Deland. Besides being an invaluable social document, A Lost Glitter is most entertaining read.

Kalgoorlie Western Argus 2 July 1896, page 6 – Deland’s Bakery

The letters are edited by Michael Best who is the grandson of Charles Deland and now teaches English at the University of Victoria, British Columbia.

Guests at the wedding of Charles Deland and Effie Wyllie, April 1901, photographed in the garden by the verandah of a private residence in Adelaide. Photo State Library of South Australia.

First Published in 1983 By Wakefield Press in SA – ISBN 0949 268 216
Now out of print, buy available through the WA Library.
Second hand copies can be purchased for between $15-$25.

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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