Captain Kettle and the Toorak Hotel –

The Toorak Hotel, built in 1899. On June 25, 1903, a fire destroyed the whole of the front of the hotel. Situated on the 90 Mile Road, in the early days this was the road out of Coolgardie on the North side. The hotel closed sometime in 1910. Licensee’s Harold B McCormick – 1900 E […]

Helena Maud ‘Lily’ Pike – grave tales

On the 27th April 1906, Helena ‘Lily’ Maud Pike (nee Rosevere) aged 30yrs, passed away at the St John of God Hospital in Dugan Street, Kalgoorlie from Typhoid. She was the wife of councillor Eustace Walter Pike and the mother of one child, James Albert, aged 6yrs. The couple had married in Adelaide SA in […]

Police Honour Legendry Tracker Pannican

Police Honour Legendary Aboriginal Tracker On the 2nd of July 2008, a memorial was unveiled in Kalgoorlie for one of the state’s most renowned Aboriginal police trackers.  Johnny Grey, also known as Pannican, who was considered one of the best trackers of his time. He worked for the police in the Laverton-Leonora area from 1942 […]

Where is the ‘Pig Rock’?

I’m sure that many of you will have heard of ‘Frog Rock’ just near the turn off to Kookynie. But has anyone heard of the ‘Pig Rock’ in Coolgardie? Where is Pig Rock ? from an undated article in the Coolgardie Newspaper in the 1980’s. Coolgardie Shire Councillors are taking more than a casual glance […]

Thomas Joseph Tobin – pioneer profile

I was recently sent the following story by Mary Mayenfisch about her Grandfather, Thomas J TOBIN, in her words of “the whole story reads like a film! “Outlander” in Australia…. “ On Easter Sunday in the time of Covid 19 – when in the throes of James Joyce “Ulysses” the Jesuit schools in Ireland came […]