Latitude 28° 40′ S Longitude 116° 19′ E
Gullewa Town Map
Gullewa is a town site in the Yalgoo goldfield, about 160 km east of Geraldton. Gold was discovered here in 1894 by an Irishman, Jim Byrne and his partner Gray. Within days they were followed by the Criddle Brother who staked a nearby claim.
The area was mined until the mines closed in 1937. In 1896, Gullewa was an important mining centre, and the Gullewa Progress Committee requested that the government declare a town site. The town site was gazetted in 1898, but like many goldfields towns, it is now abandoned. It derives its name from nearby from Gullewa Spring, first recorded by John Forrest in 1873. The name is Aboriginal, of unknown meaning, but Sister Albertus Bain, in her book ‘Ancient Landmarks’, says a suggested translation is ‘Where the wattle grows plentiful”.
G.P. Ross pumping out water in King Solomon’s Mine, Gullewa, G.P. Ross, 1930
In mid 1896 a thriving settlement grew rapidly and unlike most other mining towns, the housing and business sections were situated away from the mining area. A Progress committee and a Board of Health were established and a pan system was instigated from the start by a sanitary inspector, making the town clean and free from Typhoid. When the Government surveyor, George Weeks, arrived in 1897 to survey the town there were 171 housing blocks which sold for £20 each with a corner block selling for £30. Some larger area were set aside for government use. The towns seventeen streets were named after the original lease holders. A discrepancy was made with Burns Street which should have been Byrnes Street.
A police camp was established in 1896, and the first officer in charge was PC L Simpson who stated the town had a population of 120 people. There was a store run by Schuman and Kruger which had a gallon licence, a butcher by the name of Morrisey and P Schuman the baker. There was also a wayside inn called the Gullewa Hotel run by Thomas Jones. This was soon followed by a second hotel run by Richard Webb, which was called The Monarch. It was constructed of corrugated iron walls and roof, lined with match board and hessian ceilings. It was claimed to have a large bar and a good size billiard room. In 1897 a Post and Telegraph office was opened with W F White as the postmaster. The same year a school was also opened by John Brown, with 20 children on the original roll. The school was held in the public hall until a school building was erected later in the year.
Gullewa Cemetery Entrance
The first reserve to be gazetted was that of the cemetery, reserve 3911, about 1 kilometer from the mines. Only a few months later Thomas Jones of the Gullewa Hotel died and was buried there. He left his wife Mary Anne as Licensee of the Hotel. He was not the first internee but the third. In Oct 1896, Francis Coveny of the Lady Francis GM died of natural causes and was buried on the Gullewa-Yalgoo Road, this then became the cemetery ground.
Geraldton Advertiser 8 December 1897, page 3
There are eight burials in the cemetery in total. Only two have headstones, so can be exactly located. The most northerly grave is that of
John Duthie MORTON, eldest son of James and Elizabeth Morton, Killed on the Gullewa GM. 20 Aug 1904 aged 23yrs. www.wavmm.com
Gullewa MORTON Kalgoorlie Western Argus 18 October 1904, page 16
WHITE Alexander R ‘Nevill’, 29 Oct 1919 aged 35yrs.
Alex R ‘Nevill’ WHITE – Gullewa Cemetery
GRIFFITHS William , 2 Nov 1896, age 38, Miner, found dead from natural causes.
COVENY Francis 24 Oct 1896, aged 55yrs, found deed in his bed, Coroners verdict was natural causes.
SUERDIECK Hedwig Maria Dorothea, died at the Gullewa Hotel,4 Dec 1897, aged 62yrs, Born: Breman Germany.
GULLEWA Suerdieck W.A. Record 11 September 1897, page 11
Billy an aboriginal police assistant, 18 Sep 1896
Charles F BOCK, 1 April 1906, age 23yrs, Boundary Rider, cause of death unknown. From South Australia
Moya Sharp
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DEAR MOYA, very intersting concerning the history of the Goldfields, read all the interesting topics that you publish, Bob Kramer, Murrayville , Victoria 3512
This is very informative. Thomas Jones of the Gullewa Hotel is my great great grandfather so all that but was super interesting. Thanks