A Wandering Pommy: the story of Dr Dale OBE “Search Parties Unsuccessful” The mysterious disappearance of Dr. Dale, who has been missing from Kookynie since Saturday last, has caused his friends in Kookynie great uneasiness. It appears that the doctor, who has been practicing at Mr. M. Schneider’s pharmacy during the past five months, went […]
The people of the Goldfields
The Goldfields of Western Australia was and still is made up of many people, from poets to politicians, from saints and sinners and everything in between. I hope to tell you the stories of some of these people either famous or infamous or just the ordinary folks. Sometime the most ordinary people do the most extraordinry things
He Nearly ‘Did a Perish’ –
Daily News 27 October 1934, page 16 Jim Keen arrived in Kalgoorlie from out East this week with his three camels. He has prospected in several other countries besides Australia and has had some narrow shaves in the last 40 years. But he reckons the narrowest he has had was just recently when he nearly […]
“Burly” McLean Drops in by John Gary
from Allen Gledhill. John Gary’s great-nephew Claimed To Be Strongest Digger On three Fields “BURLY” McLEAN DROPS IN by John Gary They’re among the men who tell you that the gold rush days – the days of overnight fortunes, bare-knuckle fights, and chamois bags of gold are gone. Those days still live! They’re as rip-roaring […]
Red Flannel Joe –
Western Mail – Perth – 28 February 1935, page 9 He is known as ‘Red Flannel Joe‘ throughout the district. He is old and somewhat pompous and lives in a tin hut in what was once the main street of this little nor-west town of Peak Hill. It’s almost deserted now, and Joe’s structure is […]
Robbery Under Arms – by John Marshall
Robbery Under Arms on the Coolgardie Road In the early days of the Goldfields the gold escort used to leave Coolgardie every week with parcels of gold varying in value from £5000 to £50,000 in value. It was a common remark to hear passed by the diggers, who usually gathered to watch the gold being […]