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 Dismal Traders:-

Undertakers, or funeral directors, have been on the Goldfields from the very first days. The occupation of making coffins was usually done by someone with a trade in carpentry and they usually produced other items such as furniture. Coach builders were also often the makers of coffins. Not all of the makers of ‘funeral furniture’ […]

Charles Cutbush – people profile

Mr Charles Augustus Cutbush was born in Sydney NSW onn the 2nd Jan 1865, the son of William Montague CUTBUSH, pastoralist of Pillacawarrena Station and was educated at the Grammar School in that city. As a youth he figured prominently at cycle meetings, and on several occasions showed his calibre by carrying off certain special […]

Picture Perfect – T F MacKay Studios

This is the first in a series of profiles on Goldfields Photographers. Some, like the T F MacKay Studios, ran a successful commercial ventures, mainly catering for portraiture photography. Others were travellers who went around to the outlying areas taking pictures of both people and places. In 1917, Joseph J Dwyer sold his studio to […]

The First Coolgardie Marriages

Many years ago I was fortunate to be given access to the first marriage records for Coolgardie from July 1894 to Aug 1898. These marriages are not only a record of two people joining in matrimony but it also show the broad number of the different nationalities and occupations of these first pioneers. I have […]

Kurrawang-Coolgardie United Football Club 1923

Kurrawang-Coolgardie United Football Club Season-1923 Back Row:- J Tovey, J Crudace, W Reid, J Moran, A Dunlop, G Rinaldi Third Row:- G Hilliert, J Clementson, D Maguire (Sec), E Cullen, M Maguire Second Row:-S Thompson, W Mulligan, J Rinaldi (President), D Brown (Capt), H Larcombe (Vice-Capt), E Scahill,  J Ryan. Front Row:- G Hoyer, T […]