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:                               […]

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. There were two hotels are the height of the gold rush period. Mt Jackson Station and homestead […]

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 he never knew him but has always wanted to know more about him […]

Marjorie Lancaster – a wonderful life

The Kalgoorlie Miner – Weekend Edition – 5 Oct 1991 Marjorie Frances Minson was born in Northam WA in 1912 to Charles Henry MINSON and Elizabeth JEFFREY. This is a story she told about her early life in the Goldfields, first with her family and then as a married woman. She married Richard Alfred LANCASTER […]

Meat for the Fields – The Rowell Boys

Western Mail 12 February 1953, page 23 WESTRALIANA Meat for the Fields by E. Rowell A Butcher who was a heavyweight athlete and successful prospector too, will be remembered by some who were on the Eastern Goldfields in 1894. My elder brother Bill went to Coolgardie some months after Bayley and Ford found the rich […]