THE LEGEND OF C.Y. O’CONNOR … and his golden pipeline
by John Terrell
The following was a well-deserved Blue Ribbon winner by John Terrell at the Kununurra Agricultural Society’s annual show in July 2024 in the category of – Poetry and Prose – Yarn (max 900 words) theme ‘Water’.
Water was the central issue in one of the saddest events in Western Australia’s development history. The victim of this tragedy was the state’s colonial engineer C.Y. O’Connor.
The struggling Swan River Colony, with its predominant agricultural economy, had grown at a much slower rate than other Australian states from its establishment in 1829 through to the early 1890s. WA was generally seen as an embarrassment to the rest of Australia, and also by the state’s controlling administrative masters in London, the Colonial Office.
Then came the momentous discovery of gold at Coolgardie in September 1892, which was followed nine months later by Australia’s biggest-ever goldrush at Kalgoorlie, 23 miles away, in June 1893.
In 1891 Western Australia’s population was only 49,000, compared with New South Wales’ 1.12 million, Victoria’s 1.139 million, Queensland’s 393,000, South Australia’s 325,000, and Tasmania’s 146,000. Within 10 years (from 1891 to 1900) WA’s population nearly quadrupled because of an influx of people associated with the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie gold rushes.]
However, a major problem existed. While these game-changing gold discoveries caused a huge boost for Western Australia’s economy, there was little or no water available to allow large inland gold developments to flourish, especially during the dry summer months. Thousands of men who ventured to the goldfields in the 1890s battled under intense inland heat in summer, and by drinking contaminated water. Some of the water came from gnamma holes (natural hard-rock surface cavities), shallow lakes and lagoons, as well as from underground sources. Many people died from typhoid fever, dysentery and “condenser sickness”, the latter caused by drinking water treated in local wood-fired condenser plants.
A water condenser plant near Coolgardie, circa mid 1890s – Photo SLWA
Legend has it that about 1000 men under the age of 26 were buried in the Coolgardie Cemetery by 1900 as a result of poor-quality water and sanitary-related diseases during the gold rush period. Other men in more remote areas of the goldfields also died of thirst.]
The concept of building a fresh water pipeline to the Eastern Goldfields was floated in Perth newspapers and in the Western Australian parliament. One of the big supporters of the proposal was John Forrest, the state’s first premier from 1890 to 1901.
However, he was howled down by gentry influencers—people referred to by poet Dryblower Murphy as “The Lordly Six”. They saw the project as a “scheme of madness”; they wanted to preserve local fresh water supplies for their own ends, including vineyard and grazing interests in the Swan Valley. The vision of premier Forrest was to dam the Helena River in the Darling Ranges, and channel the water from Mundaring Weir to the Goldfields via a 30-inch diameter pipeline.
After much debate, on 16th July 1896 Forrest introduced to the Western Australian Parliament a bill to authorise the raising of a loan of 2.5 million pounds to construct the pipeline, plus eight pumping stations and associated infrastructure to deliver fresh water to the inland Goldfields some 560km away. The amount invested in the pipeline project was equivalent to the colony’s entire annual budget.
Premier Forrest appointed Charles Yelverton O’Connor as the Engineer-in-Chief to oversee planning and construction of the pipeline. Irish-born O’Connor, who had been working in New Zealand at the time, was approached by Forrest to bring the pipeline project to fruition.
Its construction began in 1898 with most of the materials being sourced from England. Like most major projects in a remote and challenging environment, a number of technical and logistical problems arose. Delays and cost blow-outs occurred, which led to a hostile reaction from newspaper scribes of the day, especially ex-politician and then editor of the Sunday Times newspaper, Frederick Vosper.
This adverse publicity took its toll on O’Connor’s mental health, and on 10 March 1902, the father of seven from County Mead in Ireland succumbed to the pressures of persistent, scurrilous and often unfounded attacks. Early in the morning he rode his horse into the sea near Robb’s Jetty, just south of Fremantle, and shot himself with a pistol.
Ten months later on 24 January 1903 Sir John Forrest triumphantly opened the famous Goldfields water pipeline in Kalgoorlie—bringing clean, fresh water to a place which became the engine room of the Western Australian economy for many decades to come.
Water gushes into the Mt Charlotte reservoir at Kalgoorlie on 24 January 1903 – Photo SLWA
The Eastern Goldfields is to this day a major gold producer, and an important mineral producer in a broader sense with nickel, copper and lithium adding significantly to WA’s economy and Australia’s export income.
Without water, and the combined vision of John Forrest and C.Y. O’Connor, none of this would ever have been possible.
Moya Sharp
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Very interesting and inspiring.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Uma
Having grown up in Fremantle WA I have always been aware of the history of CY O’Connor & his engineering feats. When in final year in Palmyra primary school , our teacher (also Principal) took us on an excursion. Walked to Fremantle Cemetery to see the gravesite of CY O’Connor, then into Fremantle (I assume by tram) to the wharf which he also engineered. Never forgot that day & the history of a great man. I was aware he came under fire, I guess as most people do when doing something new. He was an engineer & knew what he was doing, his critics were mostly politicians & others who knew nothing about engineering. I had always believed that when the project was finished & taps turned on at Mundaring Weir to send the water to Kalgoorlie, the tap was turned on in Kalgoorlie, but the water didn’t immediatley gush out, so more critics who then said “we said it would never work”. CY O’Connor then when to Coogee beach, into the water on his horse & shot himself. Then of course eventually the water arrived in Kalgoorlie & gushed out of the taps. They had not taken into account how long it would take the water to travel that long distance & after some time, the water did flow & Kalgoorlie was to reap great benefits. Sadly CY O’Connor was not to see his project give Kalgoorlie the great benefits it received. That is how I remember the story, which maybe right or maybe wrong. My father as a 9year old arrived in Kalgoorlie with his parents about 1898, was there until about age 20y when he went to the coast. His mother died in 1909, although due to miscarriages, I am sure the drinking water of Kalgoorlie did not help.