Columnist ‘Carrie of the Miner’ may not have been as widely known as Carrie Bradshaw of a certain TV show, but in Eastern Goldfields, she is by far more important and arguably more impressive. Carrie’s real name was Amy Augusta Buscombe, who was born in Victoria in 1862. She was the first female journalist at the Kalgoorlie Miner Newspaper, which is still published today.
Following the Victorian bank crashes of the late 1800s, Amy and her solicitor husband, Charles Alfred Argyle, travelled from Victoria to Perth, where he continued to practice law. The couple had married in 1889 in Melbourne and had a daughter, Nancy.
Amy on the stage!
Because Kalgoorlie was rife with Typhoid, it was not considered a safe place for children, and Nancy, aged 9, was left in Melbourne with a wealthy aunt. Nancy went on to become the first physiotherapist in Kalgoorlie when she returned as an adult many years later. Amy, after a short stint in Perth, followed her sisters, Lillian and Alicia, to Kalgoorlie. It is not known what happened with her husband, Charles, at this time, but the marriage quickly deteriorated, and he returned to Melbourne, leaving Amy in the Goldfields with her sisters. She started out in her new town doing hairdressing and, with the help of her sisters, opened the Mia Mia café in 1898. (The Cafe was located diagonally opposite the Tower Hotel on the corner of Bourke and Maritana Sts, where a petrol station now stands.)
Alicia Buscombe, aged 27 years, with Amy Argyle (nee Buscombe), aged 36 years, and a cameleer in 1900 – Image TROVE
She loved theatrical productions, and she and her sisters formed a theatrical company. They would stack their horse and cart with theatrical props and costumes and perform shows along the Golden Mile for charity. Amy was instrumental in raising funds for the Red Cross and the war effort in 1914-1918. When Dame Nellie Melba visited the Goldfields, there was a letter she left for Amy on Palace Hotel letterhead. It said,
“Dear Mrs Argyle, How very kind of you to send me such lovely sweet peas. Thank you so much. I do appreciate them as I did not realise that such lovely flowers could grow in a desert, yours sincerely, Nellie Melba.”
In 1907, Amy started writing ‘Ladies Letter’ for the Kalgoorlie Miner and would continue to do so for about ten years. The column took the form of a letter to a fictional friend, Mary, and detailed all the social happenings around the town. Amy’s great-granddaughter, Susan Clarke, said that the sister who had come from a very privileged existence before the bank crashes still thought very highly of themselves in their newfound, much simpler surroundings. She said that Amy had a habit of chatting to everyone, no matter what their social status. She said, ‘She was a naturally friendly person and was known to stop on the street to talk to all kinds of people, a thing that her once well-to-do family did not approve of.”
Amy playing a part in ‘The Old Woman Swept The Sky’
The family had largely left Kalgoorlie by 1926, mainly to pursue farming interests elsewhere. Amy was still single but eventually became the companion to a ‘dear man’ much younger than herself, of whom the family was ‘very fond’. Amy’s great-granddaughter, Susan Clarke, said that no one was ever brave enough to ask Amy what the nature of the relationship was with this younger man. Amy was to remain single and passed away near Perth and was cremated at the Karrakatta Cemetery in 1939 when she was 76 years old, and her ashes were placed in the niche wall.
Amy’s sister, Alicia Mary Buscombe was to marry Harry Duncan in 1902, and Lilian Marie Buscombe was to marry James Kennedy Brougham in 1901, both in Kalgoorlie. Lillian was to have two children born in Kalgoorlie, Edna Waugh and Jack.
This article was kindly reproduced in part with permission from the WA Newspapers – Kalgoorlie Miner, The Biographical Dictionary of Western Australians, The Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, and Susan Clarke, the great-granddaughter of Amy.
Moya Sharp
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An interesting read