James “Carbine” Gullan – a Good Fellow all Round

While many of you have enjoyed several verses from the pen of John Terrell on the Outback Family History Blog, many of you will also be familiar with his books on the sporting history of the Goldfields. He recently sent me the following story which I’m sure you will find most interesting. You may think, […]

Walter Lindrum – the greatest cueman of all time

I was recently sent the following story by Andrew Ricketts about one of our more well-known members of the Goldfields Sporting Hall of Fame, Walter Lindrum, he was in fact one of the original inductees in 2005. About the author:– Andrew Ricketts, the author of the Walter Lindrum Billiards Phenomenon, the only biography on Walter […]

Billy Goat Racing – an excellent sport

I’m sure that we have all heard of the term ‘Billy Cart’ which refers to a small cart with no power or pedals which was usually constructed and ridden by children. However the term originally came from Billy Goat Carts which were small carts pulled by one or sometimes two goats hitched to a small […]

Playing Hookey !!! A very serious game.

‘Playing Hooky’, many of you, myself included, may think this means by definition:- To be absent from school with out permission or excuse. However if you were a drinker in the 1930’s in Kalgoorlie Boulder you probably would remember a quite different game. I first heard of this game when an ‘Outback Family History’ reader, […]

The Desert Warriors – 1973

The Desert Warriors, Mt Margaret, Laverton Western Australia 1973 Back Row: Leo THOMAS, Chris JOHNSTON, Kevin THOMAS, Eric THOMAS, Norman SIMPSON, Albert NUDDING, Gary ELDER, Barry THOMAS (Capt), Gary SULLIVAN, Fred McARTHUR, Gus MILLER Front Row: Laurie DEAR, Preston THOMAS, Andrew LAWSON, Brian McINTYRE, Ron SMITH, Timothy ROBINSON, Duncan BILSON