The coincidence of the following two events was uncovered by Derek Prosser, an OFH reader and contributor. He noted that on the OFH website, I had James Heffernan buried in the Black Flag Cemetery (30 km north of Kalgoorlie). However, this seems to be incorrect from what is said in the newspaper reports of the […]
A Change of Name to Find a Family Saga –
02/12/2023 By 6 Comments
Following on from last week’s story about the Larkinvillians, I was contacted by Michael Loney. He has very kindly sent me some wonderful photos and stories to tell you about his family. He said ‘I saw your article about the First Larkinvillians. Very interesting! I would like to show you this photo of Mick Larkin […]
Darlot – the last 100 years
02/12/2023 By 2 Comments
Former residents of the abandoned townsite of Darlot, 130kms north of Leonora, returned to celebrate the towns centenary in December of 1994. Darlot gold mine manager, David Hatch, said that the earliest known Darlot Mining tenement was registered on December 3 1894. This is the date to mark the towns centenary. Plutonic Resources, which runs […]
Captain Kettle and the Toorak Hotel –
26/11/2023 By Leave a Comment
The Toorak Hotel, built in 1899. On June 25, 1903, a fire destroyed the whole of the front of the hotel. Situated on the 90 Mile Road, in the early days this was the road out of Coolgardie on the North side. The hotel closed sometime in 1910. Licensee’s Harold B McCormick – 1900 E […]
The Worlds Second Oldest Profession –
25/11/2023 By 3 Comments
Gold stealing was rife on the Kalgoorlie goldfields almost from the day the first prospector arrived. Gold miners would smuggle out what gold they could while working and the thieving was commonly regarded as a miner’s ‘privilege’. As long as men have sought this precious metal there has been gold stealing. In the early days […]
