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!

Whats in a Name? :

Street Names of Kalgoorlie Boulder, this excellent little book was published by the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society in 1996 and was written by E A Dawson. I actually came up with the title of the book but thats as much as my contribution was. Many of the streets have been named after Mayors and Councillors […]

Kunanalling and Beyond – book review

In 1895 gold was discovered in the area by prospectors and it was initially known as 25 mile which is its distance from Coolgardie. The goldfields warden recommended that a townsite be declared in the same area. The town was also called Connanalling but the spelling was changed by the Lands department when the town was gazetted in […]

Gold and Liquid Gold – book review

Obsolete Breweries of the Western Australian Goldfields:- Published by the WA Museum This excellent book is divided into the various towns in the Goldfields that had breweries (just about them all). It tells how each brewery started and about the people who ran them. It tells of the difficulties of brewing beer in places with […]

And Be Home Before Dark – a book review

Some of you may recall this excellent publication some years back, and some of you may have a copy, or have read it. Published in 2008, Im sure that you will agree with me that is is a wonderful recollection of a childhood spent ‘on the edge of nowhere’. The book has sold 25,000 copies […]

Golden Threads- book review

GOLDEN THREADS, Poetry from Western Australia’s gold rush This week saw the arrival in town of a new book on the poetry of the bush. I was very kindly given a copy by the author, John Terrell In the words of our Mayor, John Bowler:- ‘John Terrell has done it again. His book on Goldfields […]