Sailor Bill’s Elopement –

The Sun Kalgoorlie 22 September 1907, page 6 THE ROARING NINETIES A BULLA BULLING ROMANCE SAILOR BILL’S ELOPEMENT (By Spinifex). Many of the boys of the old brigade have disappeared. They were a roving lot, and when the share boom collapsed in ’97, and the demand for “properties” had petered out, they booked for various […]

When there’s a Gold Rush ‘Sell Beer’

Coolgardie Pioneer  24 December 1898, page 38 THE MAYOR AND HIS ESTABLISHMENT “I don’t want no pioneering life, take me back to Collingwood.” This was the strain sung by an Eastern states poet who visited and was disgusted with these fields in the early days. Fortunately for the country, the majority of the old-timers, although […]

The Crown for the Queen of the Murchison

Geraldton Express and Murchison and Yalgo Goldfields Chronicler – 26 March 1897 Parer’s Crown Hotel, Cue, is one of the most popular resorts for visitors and residents of the town at which to make their home while on the fields. The name of Parer Bros is well known to everyone who has ever been in […]

The Murchison – on dust storms and barmaids

Murchison Times and Day Dawn Gazette – 25 September 1897, page 4 The Murchison Author unknown (From the London Financial Times) The Murchison was the earliest explored field in West Australia, not the first goldfield—that was Yilgarn, discovered by my friend Anstey—but the first upon which development work was undertaken. It went with a boom […]

Francis Patrick Joseph Moran – pioneer profile

The following story has been very kindly shared with us by Philip Moran, Grandson of Frank Moran, and with permission from the Moran family: Francis Patrick Joseph Moran a Life in Summary Francis ‘Frank’ Patrick Joseph MORAN was born on 18 December 1879. He was the son of Francis and Bridget Moran (Marron). He married […]