So All’s Well that Ends Well –

Western Mail Perth 30 January 1941, page 9 – The Dollypot Over the Plates – A Lucky Shot. by Big Jim Allanson. All sorts and conditions of men were to be found on the Murchison goldfield in 1893.  A number of prospectors were camped at a rocky pool on the west side of the Cuddingwarra […]

Joanni Fidele Scattini – grave tales

Joanni (Joseph) Fidele SCATTINI was born on the 17th Dec 1879 in Strathfieldsaye, Victoria to Giovanni Antonio Fidele SCATTINI (Born in Brione, Verzasca, Switzerland) and Mary Elizabeth GOOD (born Sheep Wash, Victoria). He married Martha Wilson in Kalgoorlie WA on the 5th Aug 1908. Martha was from Adelaide Lead VIC and was the daughter of […]

A Tale of Two Franks –

Earlier this year I was in correspondence with Julie McKenna and she told me of her wonderful family story which appeared in the Warrnambool Standard newspaper on 13th February 2024.  I would like to acknowledge and thank Jenny McLaren, of The Warrnambool Standard, for her kind permission to reproduce the story, and to Julie for […]

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, […]

Snake’s Opals by W Watkins

Western Mail Perth – 29 December 1949 Snake was afraid! It was dangerous to have ‘struck it rich’ when Harrod was around . . . Snake Sherwood was just beginning his after-tea smoke when he heard the horse approaching through the mulga scrub that bordered the old opal cut. “Damn!” he muttered “Just as I […]