Red Flannel Joe –

Western Mail - Perth - 28 February 1935, page 9 He is known as 'Red Flannel Joe' throughout the district. He is old and somewhat pompous and lives in a tin hut in what was once the main street of this little nor-west town of Peak Hill. … [Continue reading]

Billy ‘Cyclone’ Aitken – a man of many parts

William 'Billy' Gaskell Aitken was Mayor of Coolgardie in 1906 and a councillor in the town prior to this. After his term of office, he was presented with an elaborate engraved and coloured citation to commemorate his service. It said:         … [Continue reading]

Mount Jackson Cemetery – grave tales

MOUNT JACKSON CEMETERY 1896-1914 = 9 burials Coordinates: -30.20141, 119.11102 110 km from Southern Cross Mount Jackson was named by the explorer Gregory in 1846. A settlement developed in the Mt Jackson area after gold was found there in 1894. … [Continue reading]

John Bedford – a fortune seeker

Some twenty-four years ago I was contacted by Edward Hellewell regarding his grandfather, John Edward Bedford who came to the WA Goldfield as a young man in 1895 to seek his fortune. His grandfather died some years before Edward was born so … [Continue reading]

Whispers of the Outback – a verse

Whispers of the Outback The red earth hums a song of old, A tale of heat, of sun, and gold. Where kangaroos in silence leap, And ancient secrets softly creep. The wind it carries, warm and dry, A whisper from the endless … [Continue reading]