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

The Hill End Tragedy and the aftermath:

Kalgoorlie Western Argus, Tuesday 26 January 1904, page 13 Hill End Fire Tragedy. Inquest on the Victims Mr. A. J. Evans, acting coroner, and a jury consisting of Messrs F. Mitchell (chairman), J. Matthews and W. V. Lee, inquest held into the cause of the death of the three little boys Lee, who were burnt […]

The Railway Coffee Palace- Coolgardie

The above photograph is of Harrisons Guest House and Coffee Palace which was in the Railway Chambers and also contained the Westralia Dining Rooms. This building, built in 1897, was directly across from the Coolgardie Railway Station in Woodward Street, Coolgardie. It was also know as the Railway Coffee Palace. The man on the far […]

A Ghan who did a ‘woowing go :

The Sun, Kalgoorlie: 24 March 1907, page 9 MARRIAGE OF A RUE DE BROOKMAN RESIDENT. The foundations of goldfields society were shaken to their bedrock bottom on Wednesday morning, last, when the “Kalgoorlie Miner” issued with the announcement of the marriage of a well known Afghan, to a more notoriously known French woman, of the […]

The Hill Brothers in Coolgardie – grave tales

Daily News Perth – Friday 30 November 1894, page 2 Admissions to Coolgardie Hospital – Adolphus Hill, aged 23, a native of Kyneton, Victoria, had low fever and exhaustion, he was delirious when admitted, and everything possible was done for him, but he never rallied and quickly succumbed. Birth Registration in Victoria for Adolphus and […]

The Miners Friend – pioneer profile

Ludwig Hugo ‘Louis’ Beyers, is a name that is not immediately recognised in Western Australia but in NSW he is known as the unassuming partner of Bernard Otto Holtermann and together they were the major partners in the Star of Hope GM at Hill End in the Central Goldfields of NSW. This mine produced the […]