Coolgardie was booming, diggers who had struck it rich were as common as sand flies; money was easy to come by and even easier to lose. If you wanted to part with what you had in a hurry, ‘Hughie the Baker’ or ‘Handsome Jack Wilson’, the towns leading professional gamblers would assist you in your […]
Frank Ernest RANDELL & CO.
27/01/2024 By Leave a Comment
Weekly Times (Melbourne VIC) – 10 September 1898, page 48 Frank Ernest Randell & Co. Messrs F E. Randell and Co. are well known on the West Australian goldfields as carrying and forwarding agents. Their head office is at Fremantle, having lately been transferred to that rising port, from the goldfields, and there are branches […]
The History of the Goldfields Cycle Express
13/01/2024 By 1 Comment
The Goldfields Cycle Express History by Gary Cowans The Coolgardie Cycle Express, a pioneering mail service on the goldfields before telegraphy, thrived on swift desert deliveries but succumbed to competition and changing technology, leaving behind colourful camel-stamped memories. Coolgardie Cycle Express Co. was a delivery service that began with a mail delivery from Coolgardie to […]
Mudgedeen – Cameleer and Grocer
06/01/2024 By 2 Comments
The following photographs from the family album of Carole Hampton were sent to me recently. Mudgedeen was her husband’s Grandfather. Her husband is the son of Mudgedeen and Clara’s daughter Violet, from her second marriage. Mudgedeen, (AKA Charles), was born in 1873 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, the son of M Barradeen. He married Clara Ellen […]
The Story of a Daring Coward –
30/12/2023 By 1 Comment
Sunday Times Perth 31 January 1909, page 1 Have you heard of Jim Connolly? He was a great bushman and a line prospector and could fire two revolvers at once. The left hand was as deadly as the right, and either was certain death if Jim had any interest in mitigating your existence. He was […]
