Towns and places

The Eastern Goldfields is made up of hundred towns both big and small. Outback Family History would like to bring you a collection of stories about some of these abandoned towns which you may never have heard of. Some may only have been there for a few years and now very little remains of the small thriving communities.

Tommy Ningebong by Phil Bianchi

My good friend and fellow historian, Phil Bianchi, recently wrote a book on the well-known bushman, tracker, drover and pastoralist Tommy Ningebong. Tommy was a highly regarded Aboriginal man from the Wiluna district. Phil tells me that every person he interviewed about Tommy for the book spoke of how Tommy was a such a genuine […]

Broad Arrow Cemetery – Kurawah

For some time I have been working on my database of burials at the Broad Arrow Cemetery. My final total as of now, is 191 burials with 18 headstones (this is never set in stone and can change if new details come to light). Every cemetery provides a snapshot of the community at the time, […]

The Queen of White Feather –

The Queen of White Feather A true story of the introduction of the first barmaid in Kanowna in 1896 by John Drayton. Smith’s Weekly Sydney – 2 September 1922, page 24 TOM DOYLE, licensee of the Kanowna Hotel (White Feather) in 1896, introduced the first barmaid to the fields. There were, women in the camp, […]

Yellowdine – a walk through a canvas town (Part 1)

Sadly, we recently heard of the burning down of the Yellowdine Roadhouse. I thought that a story about the town of Yellowdine would be of interest. West Australian 16 April 1935, page 23 YELLOWDINE A Walk Through Canvas Town. A Canvas town beside a hill of gold . . . that is Palmer’s Find, which, […]

Nullagine – ghost town

Although Nullagine is outside of the usual boundaries of Outback Family History, is is still of interest as so many miners from the central goldfields of WA ventured up that way. I am sure you will find the 1904 account of the town most interesting. Latitude 21° 53′ S Longitude 120° 07′ E The townsite […]