I first read this book many years ago, in 1998, not long after it was published in 1996. It was a fascinating read then and I have really enjoyed reading it again recently when I was able to purchase a copy of my own. I wish I had bought it way back then but as […]
Charlie the Goose and The Goose’s Puzzle
No one knew his real name and it was thought that Charlie himself too was hazy on that point. There are many colourful characters in the Early Goldfields of Western Australia but the tales of ‘Charlie The Goose’ must be amongst the best. As you will see from these stories, taken from the newspapers of […]
DIGGER – one man, one pan and a million square miles of outback !!!
A naïve Pom stops at a pub in a Goldfields ghost town. He’s equipped with a shovel, a suitcase of books and a dog with a stupid name. “I’d like to find some gold!” he announces brightly. The huge bloke behind the bar takes a pull on his cigarillo, squints through the smoke: “Yeah,” he […]
Vosper’s Dog and the Goat
(July 10, 1910)When the late rederick C.B. Vosper was editing the “Coolgardie Miner” for Billy Clare (the founder), in the middle nineties (1890’s), the long-haired litterateur owned a dog that was the terror of all within reach of its teeth. Day after day complaints poured in to the office in reference to children and other […]
Clara Saunders – First wedding in Coolgardie
In Celebration of International Woman’s Day 8th March 2016 On 4th July 1894 Clara SAUNDERS & Arthur WILLIAMS were married by the Rev. Thomas TRESTRAIL at John DE BAUN’S Great Western Hotel in Bayley Street Coolgardie. (now the site of the Coolgardie Motel on the corner of Bayley & Hunt Streets) Clara was seventeen & […]