Norman Dodd – Death by Despair

The following story was supplied by Gail and Keith Dodd and is produced here with their kind permission. The subject of the story is Norman W G Dodd who is Keith’s Great Uncle. It shows that it is possible to have the unrecognised grave of a victim of war finally honoured. Many more soldiers died […]

The Box Soak Creek Rush

Where is Box Creek you may ask? As I did myself back in 2000, (I can’t believe it was so long ago), when I received a letter from a lady in Queensland about a distant relative of hers called Ronald Donald McMillen who was supposed to be buried in the Box Soak Cemetery. I had […]

Joseph Kearney – pioneer profile

Southern Cross Times 26 September 1914, page 2 Sudden Death of Mr Joseph Vincent Kearney. Southern Cross was thrown into a state of gloom when it became known that Mr J. V. Kearney had died suddenly at midnight on Monday night. The deceased was one of the best-known men in Western Australian mining circles. He […]

The Beaton’s of Cogla Downs Station

Earlier this year I was in correspondence with Mal Beaton regarding the fascinating history of the Beaton family of Cogla Downs Station in the mid-west Sandstone area of Western Australia. He very kindly granted me access to the family Facebook group and he and his extended family have given me permission to share some of […]

Thomas Joseph Tobin – pioneer profile

I was recently sent the following story by Mary Mayenfisch about her Grandfather, Thomas J TOBIN, in her words of “the whole story reads like a film! “Outlander” in Australia…. “ On Easter Sunday in the time of Covid 19 – when in the throes of James Joyce “Ulysses” the Jesuit schools in Ireland came […]