Pinjin is a small goldfield surrounding the present-day Pinjin pastoral station homestead. It is 166 kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie via Kurnalpi, or about 220 kilometres south-east of Menzies via Kookynie. Pinjin is named after a nearby waterhole. Gold was found here in 1897, however was quickly abandoned due to the remote location and lack of water. Prospectors returned in 1904, and a state battery was erected in 1905. A small town developed which reached its peak in 1906, then quickly fell, the last person leaving in 1918. The battery by this stage had long closed, along with most of the mines. The most substantial mine on the field was the Anglo-Saxon which ceased operating in 1915.
Latitude & Longitude: 30° 4′ 47” South , 122° 43′ 46” East
PINJIN CEMETERY
Reserve 10843 Edjudina Location
Grave at Pinjin Cemetery – Photo Find a Grave
Note: I have found just as many references to PINJIN as I have PINGIN. It seems that both were used at various times. For the sake of continuity, I have used the spelling PINJIN as this is how it is spelled in the WA Post Office Directories.
BOWMAN Otto James – died: 16 Jun 1909, at Pinjin, WA, age 10 1/2 mths, infant; Father: John Michael BOWMAN; Mother: Margaret Annie KOOPMANN; Born: Jul 1908, Boulder, WA; Buried at the Pinjin Reserve (Reg: 19/1909 North Coolgardie). Note: John and Margaret had three other children all born in Paddington WA, only one of these three survived childhood of their four children. Otto James was their last child.
Otto James Bowman
DONOVAN Denis – died: 14 Jan 1913, at the Unification Gold Mine, Pinjin, WA, age 52 yrs, Cause: Broken neck from fall; Occ: Miner; Father: Patrick Christopher DONOVAN (Musician); Mother: Mary Agnes EUSTACE; Born: 1861, Maryborough, VIC; In WA since 1897; RC; Buried at the Pinjin Reserve, Reg: 3/1913 North Coolgardie. Mine Death – www.wavmm.com
Evening Star 15 January 1913, page 1
ROPE BREAKS
PECULIAR FATAL ACCIDENT AT PINJIN
DEATH OF DENNIS DONOVAN.
Yesterday afternoon the Kalgoorlie police were notified of a fatal accident at Pinjin to a man named Dennis Donovan. Two men named Frank Jarvis and Donald McIntosh, were lowering Donovan into a shaft by means of a rope, for the purpose of removing one or two ladders at the bottom. After being lowered a few feet the rope snapped, and Donovan fell a distance of 70ft into the bottom of the shaft. Steps were at once taken to go to the unfortunate man’s aid, and when he was brought to the surface life was found to be extinct. His neck had been broken by the fall, and it is surmised death was instantaneous. It is believed the deceased has a brother named David Donovan, residing in Hare-street, Kalgoorlie.
Denis Donovan
Panel on the Eastern Goldfields Miners Memorial, Kalgoorlie – Photo M Sharp
GROVES Sydney – died: 24 Sep 1929, at Pinjin Station, Pinjin, WA, age 40 yrs, Cause: Suicide, gunshot, Occ: Miner and Prospector; Father: Matthias GROVES; Mother: Mary Ann JACKSON; Born: 1888, Lorne, Surf Coast Shire, VIC; Married to Elizabeth Ann BLACK nee OATES, 1929, Boulder, WA; In WA since 1911; Buried at the Pinjin Reserve (Reg: 6/1929 North Coolgardie).
Kalgoorlie Miner 28 September 1929, page 4
Pinjin Shooting Fatality.— Constable Read returned from Pinjin station on Wednesday night and reported concerning the death of Sydney Groves, who is alleged to have shot himself outside the men’s quarters on the station. On Tuesday night the deceased had been in indifferent health for some days and evidently committed suicide whilst temporarily insane. In view of the constable’s report, the Coroner has decided that an inquest is unnecessary, as there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the case.
Sydney Groves
O’BRIEN Christina Isabel- died: 10 Mar 1907, at the home of his brother Timothy and wife, Elle at the Champion Gold Mine, Pinjin, WA, age 10 wks, Infant; Father: Jeremiah Edward O’BRIEN; Mother: Isabel THOMSON (married Menzies WA in 1904), Born: 1906, Pinjin, WA; Buried at the Pinjin Reserve (Reg: 13/1907 North Coolgardie).
Main Shaft of the Anglo Saxon Mine, Pingin – Photo TROVE
The following is a snapshot of the WA Post Office Directory for 1910.
WA Post Office Directory – 1910
PINJIN – North East Coolgardie, 487 miles from Perth. Rail to Kanowna
thence 100 mile by coach. Shows 50 residents, no women.
They say that all you need for a town is a pub, a shop and a church. All Pinjin was missing was the church.
ARMOUR William – Miner
BARNICOTT Frank – Prospector
BEGG Henry – Miner
BOWMAN John – Prospector
BROWN Arthur – Battery manager
CLIFFORD Daniel – Store Keeper
COULSON George – Prospector
CRAIG Percy – Miner
CROWLEY Thomas – Butcher
DAVIS James – Miner
DERRICK H – Miner
DONOVAN Dennis – Miner
EVERS Frank – Leaseholder
GARDNER John – Leaseholder
GRANT Joshua – Hotel Keeper
GREED John – Miner
HAACK Fritz – Miner
HARRIS Samuel – Miner
HIGGINS Chris – Miner
JARVIS Ferdinand – Miner
JOHNSON Henry – Miner
KRUGER Edmund A – Leaseholder
LOCK George – Miner
McDONALD James – Battery Feeder
McGRATH Bernard – Miner
McINTOSH Donald – Miner
McINTYRE Archibald – Baker
McINTYRE Peter – Store Keeper
MacMILLAN Robert L -Miner
MATHESON Finlay – Miner
MENZ Gus – Leaseholder
MILLER Henry – Miner
MOLLARD Matthew – Engine Driver
MURPHY Herbert – Miner
O’BRIEN Jeremiah E – Miner
O’BRIEN Timothy – Miner
O’NEILL Charles – Miner
PATROMI Barney
POTTS Alexander – Prospector
REYNOLDS Eugene – Storeman
ROBERTS Herbert J – Miner
ROBERTS William J – Miner
ROWE Thomas W – Engine Driver
SILK J – Miner
SIMPSON William – Miner
SPRUNT John A – Prospector
STEIN – Miner
SWANSON – Miner
WALTER Thomas – Battery Feeder
YOUNG John H – Prospector
Map by Bonzel
Many thanks to David Senn for his help with this research.
Moya Sharp
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