Archives for September 2018

“Mr Everything”: pioneer profile

Mr Vaiben Louis Solomon was a very successful businessman in eary Coolgardie. He was also the first Jewish person to become a Premier of an Australian State. Vaiben Louis Solomon (1853-1908), businessman and premier, was born on 13 May 1853 in Adelaide, son of Judah Moss Solomon and his wife Rachel, née Cohen. He was educated at John […]

Philp & Royal – Pioneer Builders

The firm of Phil and Royal, Master Builders and Contractors, were located in Sylvester Street, Coolgardie (see map). They also had a factory in Cassidy Street, Kalgoorlie. In 1897, Phil and Royal were the builders for the Kalgoorlie Primary School and additions to the Kalgoorlie Post Office, which included, a mail room, a new despatch clerk’s room,money […]

J H H Penberthy – A Coolgardie Pioneer

James Henry Harris Penberthy was the eldest son of James Harris Penberthy and Elizabeth nee MITCHELL, Penberthy. He was born on Christmas Day 25th Dec 1853 at Samford Spiney, a mining village near Tavistock in Devon, England. Earlier generations of the Penberthy family had been involved in mining as far back as 1670, first in […]

The Exchange Hotel – Coolgardie Hotels 6

  When Evon Wisdom was granted one of the four Wayside Licences in April 1893, he erected a hessian building on the corner of what later became the junction of Bayley and Ford Streets, which he called the Exchange Hotel. The Exchange was the venue for the first meeting of the newly elected Coolgardie Corporation […]

Kalpini – ghost towns

It’s not often that I come across a Goldfields town that I have not heard of before, but this is a new one for me. Although no traces of a town exist today it appears that mining is still carried out in the area. Situated 26 miles East North East of Kanowna its appears to […]