Kunanalling and Beyond – book review

In 1895 gold was discovered in the area by prospectors and it was initially known as 25 mile which is its distance from Coolgardie. The goldfields warden recommended that a townsite be declared in the same area. The town was also called Connanalling but the spelling was changed by the Lands department when the town was gazetted in 1896. By early 1898 the town had a population of 360 people that later grew to approximately 800 people.

Kunanalling and Beyond by S R Bounsell

This excellent book is the second and updated edition. First published in 1988. I was fortunate to correspond with the author for many years S R Bounsell (Rob). For anyone interested in the early history of the Goldfields of Western Australia I can highly recommend this book. Nothing remains of the town today except the ruins of the Premier Hotel.

The Premier Hotel, Kunanalling

Oh! Who could paint a Goldfields and paint the picture right?
As old adventures saw it in early morning light.
The yellow mounds of mullock with spots of red and white
The scattered quartz that glistens like diamonds in the light.
Hear the fall of timber from distant flats and fells,
The pealing of the anvils as clear as little bells.
The rattle of the cradle, the clack of windlass poles,
The flutter of the crimson flags above the golden holes.
Ah! Then their hearts were bolder and if Dame Fortune frowned,
Their sway they’d lightly shoulder and tramp to other grounds
Oh! they were lion-hearted, who gave our country birth
Stout sons of stoutest fathers born from all the lands on earth.
These Golden Days have vanished, and altered is the scene,
The diggings are deserted now, the camping grounds are green.

                                                      By Henry Lawson

ISBN:- 0-947249-65-6

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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