Rediscovery of Hunt’s Historic Slate Well – by Eric Hancock The historic Hunt’s Slate Well which has been lost for over 100 years was uncovered on Tuesday 24th May 2022. This well was the most easterly of a series of wells created by the party of Charles Cooke Hunt in 1865. The site has huge […]
The Matron and the Major – Nurse Annie Jones
24/06/2022 By Leave a Comment
In early 1896 Annie Jones from Bendigo Victoria was nursing in the Government hospital at Cue, Western Australia. While she was recovering from a mild form of typhoid fever, word came by camel train that Mr. Magnus Maxton Calder, a member of the firm Calder & Co of Cue, was suffering from typhoid fever in […]
First Female Police Officer – Helen Dugdale
24/06/2022 By Leave a Comment
There are many ‘Firsts’ that have occurred in the Goldfields and one of them is that we had the first female police officer, Helen Blanche Dugdale who was appointed from Kalgoorlie. The Police Historical Society have recognised the contribution of Helen Dugdale and in 2006 the Goldfields Family History Society had a plaque placed on […]
Bridget Delia OATES – grave tales
24/06/2022 By Leave a Comment
The following photograph is of the headstone and grave of Bridget Delia Oates, who was the beloved wife of Richard Knight Oates, born in County Clare Ireland on 28 Jan 1873. She died at Kalgoorlie on the 17th Sep 1909 aged 37 years. This photograph was taken just after the headstone, ledger, and grave fencing […]
Merchants -v- Miners ‘when there’s a gold rush, sell shovels!’
24/06/2022 By Leave a Comment
“When there is a gold rush, ‘Sell Shovel’s’ was a term coined in the California Gold Rushes but it can be said to be true of the Gold Rushes in Australia. Many merchants selling everything from mining equipment to ribbons made more money than most miners ever dreamed of. The following is a snapshot of […]
