Towns and places

The Eastern Goldfields is made up of hundred towns both big and small. Outback Family History would like to bring you a collection of stories about some of these abandoned towns which you may never have heard of. Some may only have been there for a few years and now very little remains of the small thriving communities.

Beware of Victorians Bearing Gifts –

Western Mail 29 September 1938, page 11 OVER THE PLATES One Day in Early Kanowna. A couple of young Victorians blew into camp one morning with a spring cart loaded with fresh vegetables, no more than a week old at least. Every man on the field was troubled with ‘Barcoo Rot‘, so the half-withered green […]

Where is the ‘Pig Rock’?

I’m sure that many of you will have heard of ‘Frog Rock’ just near the turn off to Kookynie. But has anyone heard of the ‘Pig Rock’ in Coolgardie? Where is Pig Rock ? from an undated article in the Coolgardie Newspaper in the 1980’s. Coolgardie Shire Councillors are taking more than a casual glance […]

Remembering Sister Mary Anthony –

With thanks to Susie de Monchaux for sharing her wonderful family story with us – Sister Mary Anthony Fitzpatrick (1888–1986) by Susie de Monchaux and family Eric Sierins, image editor Sister Mary Anthony Fitzpatrick was the first cousin of my paternal grandmother, Mrs Minnie Lillian de Monchaux (nee Fitzpatrick). In 1970, when I was eight […]

The Little Man who Strangled his Mate

Sunday Times Perth – 5 September 1943, page 4 The Little Man Who Strangled His Mate In the days when the deep leads attracted thousands to Kanowna, Moore was among the adventurous gold-seekers. In the hurly-burly of the boom days of Kanowna, when thousands rushed from all parts of Australia to what afterwards became the […]

The Bermingham’s – a pioneering family

The Bermingham Family by Pat Callahan Eastern Australia was experiencing a depression in the 1890s. At the end of 1894 when he was nineteen, James Bermingham or Jas as he was called, sailed for Fremantle in Western Australia. After settling in and slowly getting his gear together, Jas and a mate took the train to […]