Lawlers – A Goldfields Town

Lawlers 1903

The West Australian East Murchison goldfields of the 1890s was a dry and inhospitable place. Far from any kind of civilization, unbelievably hot in the summer and dry as dust all year round. The trackless wilderness around what was to become Lawlers and Agnew first felt the tread of hob nailed boots in the year of 1892. Ned Heffernan, Julius Anderson and Charles Hall set off in an easterly direction from Cue in November 1892. With summer already making itself felt it must have been a trip of great danger and trial, yet these hardy independent souls traveled two hundred and forty miles each way on their exploratory trip through a hostile and unknown wilderness. It was only on their return leg that they found traces of gold in the area soon to be known as Lawlers. Charles Hall, one of the original Heffernan party, with William Rutter and others, also made a trip to the east of Cue. Rutter died on this trip and his grave is somewhere east of Cosmo Newbery. Finally, in 1894, Lawler got together another party of prospectors, Gibson, Moses, Nevin and Donnelly, all prospectors of note. Arriving at Lame Horse Creek they found a good deal of alluvial gold easily gathered. Cleaning up all the alluvial they then pegged the source and named it Donegal Reef. Gibson soon after pegged the Great Eastern a couple of miles to the north east of Donegal.

Lawlers Hospital

With a new field in new, unknown country a rush was soon under way, but it was no easy trip. It was over 300 kilometres from Cue to Lawlers through the driest of country. One waterless section was about one hundred kilometres long. It took fortitude and courage, not to mention the lure of great riches, to even contemplate a trip as hazardous as that three hundred kilometers out into the largely unknown East Murchison, and once there was little water, with the only supply nearly fifteen kilometers back along the track at Scotties Soak

There soon followed a great influx of prospectors and miners to the region which saw new finds such as the Darlot and many other smaller shows quickly found. It was on the 28th of June 1895 that the East Murchison Goldfield was declared and a Mining Warden appointed. Mr. A.C. Clifton was the first Warden on Lawlers arriving after an arduous journey by camel from Coolgardie. Water was so scarce on the track that the camels had to go three days without water.

Lawlers Roads Board Picnic

In the spring of 1895 Tom Cue, David Ogilvie, and J Hunter set out from Cue for Lawlers. By now the track had a number of wells, mostly about a days travel apart, and the track was well worn. Cue drove his trap loaded with supplies and tools while his partners rode. In contrast to conditions of only a year before it was an easy and relatively safe trip. By October that year Cue and his party had filed a claim about ten kilometers north of Lawlers which they called the Woronga, (ML58). The area quickly became known as Cue’s Patch and produced a good deal of alluvial gold.  Almost immediately others took up claims around Cue’s party. The combined area of reef mine claims became known as the Ogilvie Group.

With the in rush of miners Lawlers and Cue’s Patch soon had links with the outside world. A bicycle courier service between Coolgardie and Lawlers could cover well over a hundred kilometres a day following sand and ironstone covered tracks that wound through a wilderness where only the hardy survived. The tough as boot leather riders of their steel steeds were soon followed by a camel service from Cue, then a coach run from Mt. Magnet. In 1897 the telegraph brought the world to Lawlers.

Over the next few years Lawlers and Cues Patch went ahead in leaps and bounds. New mines opened up and some proved to be big producers but these mines were scattered over a wide area and each would have had to install their own stamp batteries had it not been for the ingenious tram line system.

The London and Western Australian Exploration Company became active in Lawlers in 1895 and bought up several of the better mines. Among them Lawlers Donegal, the True Blue and Gibson’s Great Eastern. They quickly amassed a total of 117 acres of very productive mining leases that became known collectively as the East Murchison United Limited (E.M.U.) under the management of London based Bewick Moreing and Co. In 1896 E.M.U. brought in the first crushing plant, a ten-head battery and winding gear installing it at the Great Easton. To feed the ten-head battery E.M.U. built the first section of tramway in 1901 to haul ore from their Donegal lease. The engine was only small, weighing in at around six tons and could haul several carriages at speeds up to ten miles an hour.

Family Home at Lawlers

The family depicted in the photograph on the left are the Great Grandparents of Glenda Slan, she kindly submitted the following information:-  The photograph is of my great grandfather Louis Fremery, my great grandmother Mary and the baby is my grandmother Annie Lawlers Fremery (she was the first white child born in Lawlers – hence her middle name).

The Lawlers townsite was obviously named after Patrick Lawler who found the first gold in the nearby Lame Horse Creek, but Agnew was another matter. Tom Cue, whom the town of Cue was named after could hardly have another town named after him despite the Woronga mine being locally known as Cue’s Patch for some years. It wasn’t until the postal department insisted on a name that the name Agnew was settled on. Mr. J.A. Agnew was an employee of Bewick Moreing, he had been born in New Zealand in 1874. In 1901 he was manager of Sons Of Gwalia at Leonora. Manager Golden Age, Wiluna 1904. W.A. Manager Bewick Moreing 1907-12; Vice President of the Chamber Of Mines Kalgoorlie

Today there is little evidence of the booming mining towns of yesteryear. Lawlers has only the old police station still standing. Agnew has a few houses and the Agnew Hotel but little else. It is hard to see where a once thriving town and all its occupants once lived and worked.

The Lawlers cemetery is a must for anyone interested in the history of the town and an excellent list of those interred, the reason for their death, and other details, stands just inside the gate. Each grave is numbered to make it easy to find each of those listed on the board. This makes fascinating reading and at least an hour can be spent on this, one of the loneliest of God’s Acres.

Lawlers and Agnew ghost towns are fascinating place to explore. You can trace the old tram lines across the country, visit the cemetery and the bottle dump, view the old stamp batteries and other artifacts across the road from the Agnew Hotel and drive to the top of Agnew Bluff just out of Agnew for a breathtaking view of this incredible country.

Information from:- Agnew by Alex Palmer:

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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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