The Sons of Gwalia Sunbeam

The following article was written by Peter Ransom and first appeared in the February edition of the journal of the Vintage Car Club Of  Queensland. It is now reproduced with his kind permission. This is one for the car enthusiasts! Apologies in advance for anyone living in Leonora ie ‘The Middle of Nowhere’ (: THE SONS OF GWALIA SUNBEAM Research is mostly a long slog, but sometimes there’s a lucky break and this was one of them.  While my UK co-author Bruce Dowell and I were putting together our book on the Sunbeam 12-16 H.P. (1910-1914) we received an email from Geoff Brade in Western Australia, wanting to know if we could identify the cars in two photos he had.  He knew one was a 1913 Sunbeam but couldn’t put names to the others.  Thanks to an old friend, the late Bob Grantham of Perth, I already had a photo of a 1913 Sunbeam 12-16 taken in 1914 at Lake Perkolilli, near Kanowna in Western Australia, after the car in question had put 12 miles into 12 minutes.  It appeared that this was probably the same car seen in one of Brade’s photos, and so it turned out to be. I already had a family trip planned to WA so a meeting was arranged and Geoff gave me access to his family “archives” – lots of boxes full of papers and photos.  It took quite a while to sift through the material but the results made it worthwhile.   Using information from photos, motor registration records and Geoff’s family knowledge enabled me to tease out a number of interesting stories, all to do with one motor car in the period 1913 to 1919. GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!  Thank you, Norman.   Commercially viable gold deposits were discovered in Western Australia in the late 19^th Century, leading to the establishment of a significant mining industry in what became known as the Eastern Goldfields.  Kalgoorlie, Boulder, Coolgardie and Leonora were some of the cities and towns that grew out of the mining boom, isolated by many hundreds of miles from Perth and surrounded by a harsh and unforgiving desert. The Sons of Gwalia Ltd gold mine was a prosperous undertaking at Gwalia, a few miles south of Leonora, which is centrally located – in the middle of nowhere.  You will recall that this is where to-be-USA-President-in-1928 Herbert Hoover was General Manager around the turn of the 20^th century.   Motor registration records show that while the company had a preference for Overland cars as tough operational vehicles, it owned a 1913 Sunbeam 12-16 H.P. Sporting Model as transport for senior mine management. It’s not often we see a fine car in such a diversity of roles and in quite unexpected surroundings. The Sunbeam 12-16 H.P Sporting Model. From late 1911 Sunbeam offered the “Sporting Model”, a line of very elegant and sporty-looking cars based on the 12-16 chassis, that traded on the reputation Sunbeam was building with successes in domestic (UK) and international competition.  The Sporting Model was more about looks than actual performance, although averaging 60mph on a bush dirt track in 1914 was a fair testament to the car’s capabilities.  This particular car carries Sunbeam’s 4-seat sports touring body (1913 sales catalogue illustration above).  The scuttlebutt says that a number of these were shipped direct to Kalgoorlie rather than Perth because that was where the money was at the time.  There’s photographic evidence of two Sporting Models in WA. Sons of Gwalia Mine Site. The background may not be picturesque, but mines never are, my dear.  Empty desert or industrial structures would have been the car’s workaday environment.    The quality of this picture is striking and it was used as a form of Company postcard.   William Brade, great-grandfather of Geoff Brade, is the driver.  As I understand it he was also in charge of mechanical maintenance for the mine.  Some interesting features are the Holland covers for the car’s interior, an oversize and well-secured acetylene generator, three headlights and an apron between the front dumb irons to protect the radiator.   Even-handed patriotism is evident in the radiator ornamentation – the Union Jack flies above the Black Swan, Western Australia’s state emblem.  Image courtesy of Geoff Brade.

1914. Lake Perkolilli. Stripped of front wings, windscreen, sidelights and its regular headlights, the Sunbeam achieved an average of 60mph over 12 miles at Lake Perkolilli (a dry salt lake circuit a few miles outside Kalgoorlie) in 1914.  The centre headlamp was a Sons of Gwalia “trademark”, appearing on other vehicles owned by the company.  Before the discovery of this photo it had been assumed by local historians that Lake Perkolilli had not been a venue for speed events until after the First World War.  In 2014 the WA Motor Racing Centenary was celebrated at Lake Perkolilli.  Image courtesy of the late Bob Grantham.

Licence for Motor Car – Sunbeam

1917. License for Motor Car – Sunbeam Sporting Model. 100 years later that £1-10/- is now worth about $250, so the government hadn’t yet got serious about ripping off the motorist of the day.  In August of the same year Sons of Gwalia received License No. 13 for a black Overland Tourer and the issuing body had a new name – Leonora Malcolm Road Board.  Working backwards from the registration date suggests that the Sunbeam was delivered new in March 1913.   How sad that the License document doesn’t provide for a chassis number.

General Pau at the Kalgoorlie Railway Station

General Pau at Kalgoorlie. Beginning only a few months before the war ended, France’s General Paul Pau (retired) was led what has been described as either a commemorative mission or a trade mission to Australia.  Meeting all the right people, making patriotic speeches and inspecting local industries, it began in Sydney, then proceeded to Queensland, Victoria and South Australia before heading west on the new and shiny trans-Australia railway.  There’s a story on Trove of a chance encounter at Barton some days before he lobbed in Kalgoorlie for this photo opportunity on 18 November.   The sign held by one of the crowd appears to convey a secret meaning.  Anyway, by now the war had been won and he was met by an enthusiastic crowd and two Sunbeams – the Sons of Gwalia 12-16 H.P. (at left) driven by none other than William Brade and another larger Sunbeam, probably a 1913 25-30 H.P.  His tour continued in a westerly direction to Perth for more glad-handing, speechifying and inspections.  Image courtesy of Geoff Brade.

Millie’s Wedding Day

Millie’s Wedding Day. William Brade and Walter Bearman were lifelong friends who fought together in the Boer War.  Bearman was somewhat younger than Brade and joined the 10^th Light Horse Regiment in October 1914 after war broke out in Europe, eventually returning to Australia on 22 September, 1919.  Two months later Shoeing Smith Walter Alfred Bearman (Wally to his mates) married Millie Brade, daughter of William and Annie Brade, and they’re all here in this evocative photograph.  In the dusty and unromantic surroundings of a gold mining community, complete with the tailings dump in the background, there’s a dramatic contrast with the feminine and traditional touches of the bride’s dress, the flower girls and the car’s clever decoration.   Image courtesy of Geoff Brade.

Mystery Car – Leonora

Mystery Cars. This is the second photo originally sent to us by Geoff Brade.  It can be found in various Goldfields websites and publications.  Taken in the main street of Leonora, Western Australia, it is said to be of the last tram service to the mine site, putting the date at 1921.   Despite what Napier enthusiasts would have us believe, the shooting brake on rails is an Overland, and parts of it still reside in the Gwalia Museum.  The tramway ran from the town out to the mine and initially the service was steam driven, then electrically powered until the power station burnt down in 1915.  After that and until 1921 it was what you see here, bearing the mine’s signature third headlight, which suggests the Overland had been purchased from the mine in a hurry to restore tramway operations. The smaller car is a total mystery.  Nobody – not even the legendary Ariejan Bos – has been able to provide a firm identification, though it’s generally agreed that it is probably a very old car, by 1921 standards, that’s been rebodied.  Military and police records have yielded no clues about the uniform worn by the official-looking chap in the car.  Maybe he’s the State Inspector of Fairly Short Tramways.  Neither dog nor driver has been identified. ©Peter Ransom 2017

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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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