The Alluvialists – The Kalgoorlie Riot of 1898 Rod Moncrieff The fight of the alluvial prospectors and miners against the Forrest government’s mining laws. Laws against alluvial mining on reef and lode leases. ‘Ten Foot Ned’ Wittenoom and the government’s intransigence against the alluvialists created riots that led to the gaoling of prospectors. Their slogan […]
Books on the History of the Western Australian Goldfields
Hundreds of books have been written on the Western Australian Goldfields. From reference books to fiction and most of all the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the quest for gold and the search for adventure. There are also many biographies and history books some on the broader subject of the history of the region and others on a specific subject or town. Outback Family History would like to review some of these that you may not have heard of and to tell you where they can be purchased if you would like your own copy. We also have a monthly book giveaway!
John Minden Caulfeild – grave tales
On the evening of Monday 20th October 1896, three men of Kanowna, Open Call stockbroker Thomas Moore Fletcher, 22-year-old photographer John Minden Caulfeild, and Richard Baugh, cycled out to Lake Gwynn and set up a camp on the western shore of the lake about 5 miles from Kanowna. They had hired ‘The Gwynn’, a flat […]
Elphinstone Davenport Cleland – a mining man
Elphinstone Davenport Cleland, what a wonderful name, was born on the 5 Dec 1854 in Beaumont, Burnside City, South Australia to John Fullerton CLELAND and Elizabeth nee GLEN. On 16 Jan 1879, he married Susannah Blood DAVIS in Auburn South Australia. They were married at the home of the bride by the Rev W Davis, […]
The Death of Stephen Grace
Western Mail Perth -19 October 1907, page 16 AN EAST MURCHISON TRAGEDY THE DEATH OF STEPHEN GRACE – MURDERED BY NATIVES A telegram was received this afternoon from Constable Walker, who proceeded from Wiluna to bury the body of Stephen Grace, one of Kirkpatrick Bros party of prospectors who was speared through the chest by […]
Linden – ghost town
Linden the wounds of the golden game Linden is an abandoned townsite in the eastern goldfields, 75 km south of Laverton on the southern side of Lake Carey. Gold was discovered in this area in the mid-1890s, and in 1896 Warden Owen suggested a townsite be created. Owen used the name Griffithston for the place, […]