The Asplin Brothers:-

Jo Roelofs has very kindly shared the following photographs from the family album of her Great Grandfather Thomas Asplin and his brother Jack:-

The Great Western Hotel – Coolgardie

The Great Western Hotel stood on the corner of Bayley and Hunt Sts Coolgardie. The site is now occupied by the Coolgardie Motel. It was also known as De Baun’s, after the first licensee. It was built in 1893 and was destroyed in the great fire of 1897.

The Old Coolgardie Road – a verse

A FLITTING shadow follows The rushing night express; Dawn shades the eastern hollows And wakes the wilderness. And there across the valley One fleeting moment showed, Between the clump of mallee, The old Coolgardie road! No clouds of dust betoken The old-time roaring days; It keeps a peace unbroken Throughout its winding ways. But when […]

Ernest Giles – grave tales

The Australian explorer Ernest Giles (1835-1897) was the first man to cross the desert wilderness between central and western Australia both ways. The Australian explorer Ernest Giles (1835-1897) was the first man to cross the desert wilderness between central and western Australia both ways. Ernest Giles was born in Bristol, England, on July 20, 1835, […]

The Globe Hotel – Coolgardie hotels 2

The Globe Hotel was situated between Ford and Hunt Streets Coolgardie. There is no known photograph of the building which has survived. W M Faahan was the first owner and claimed it to be the first hotel in Coolgardie. In 1895 it was known as, Alec Caro’s Wine and Beer Saloon, three months later, when […]