Books on the History of the Western Australian Goldfields

Hundreds of books have been written on the Western Australian Goldfields. From reference books to fiction and most of all the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the quest for gold and the search for adventure. There are also many biographies and history books some on the broader subject of the history of the region and others on a specific subject or town. Outback Family History would like to review some of these that you may not have heard of and to tell you where they can be purchased if you would like your own copy. We also have a monthly book giveaway!

Lawlers Golden Dawn: The East Murchison Gold Rush of the 1890s

LAWLERS Latitude 28° 05′ S Longitude 120° 31′ E The townsite of Lawlers is located in the eastern goldfields, about 992 km from Perth. It is also about 32 km from Leinster. Gold was discovered here in 1894 by Patrick J Lawler (“Paddy Lawler”), a prospector who was rewarded for his discovery in 1899. In […]

A Promise Kept: Retracing Carnegie’s Desert Odyssey

Kalgoorlie Miner 10th Jul 1996 When 69-year-old Perth man Dr William Peasley led his party of men and camels down the streets of Coolgardie, he was fulfilling a promise he made more than a decade ago to the nephew of explorer David Carnegie. In 1995, Dr Peasley visited the Carnegie home, Kinnaird Castle in Scotland […]

The Death of Stephen Grace –

Western Mail Perth -19 October 1907, page 16 AN EAST MURCHISON TRAGEDY THE DEATH OF STEPHEN GRACE – MURDERED BY NATIVES A telegram was received this afternoon from Constable Walker, who proceeded from Wiluna to bury the body of Stephen Grace, one of Kirkpatrick Bros party of prospectors who was speared through the chest by […]

The Alluvialists – a book review

The Alluvialists – The Kalgoorlie Riot of 1898 Rod Moncrieff The fight of the alluvial prospectors and miners against the Forrest government’s mining laws. Laws against alluvial mining on reef and lode leases. ‘Ten Foot Ned’ Wittenoom and the government’s intransigence against the alluvialists created riots that led to the gaoling of prospectors. Their slogan […]

John Minden Caulfeild – grave tales

On the evening of Monday 20th October 1896, three men of Kanowna, Open Call stockbroker Thomas Moore Fletcher, 22-year-old photographer John Minden Caulfeild, and Richard Baugh, cycled out to Lake Gwynn and set up a camp on the western shore of the lake about 5 miles from Kanowna. They had hired ‘The Gwynn’, a flat […]