Southern Cross Times – Christmas Eve – 24 December 1904, page 25 Harold Cocking A Plucky Pioneer Mr Harold Arundle Sidney Cocking was born at Latchley near Plymouth, Devon, England, and is a typical son of an English yeoman. It is slightly over 13 years since he landed in the West, and was extremely surprised to find that […]
Death of a Desperate Man –
29/03/2025 By Leave a Comment
Munarra Gully is located 52 kilometres from Meekatharra, close to Tuckanarra. On the old Munarra Station (now Byro Station), three graves rest within a fenced, ungazetted burial ground. Among them lies Michael Koningas, Suig AH, a labourer who passed away from natural causes on May 9, 1904, along with one unidentified individual. Michael KONINGAS Cause […]
Water, Water Nowhere – and not a drop to drink
29/03/2025 By Leave a Comment
Water was the great leveller. Everyone needed it, young or old, rich or poor. Many a venture has failed through lack of water, and many a life has ended through lack of, or too much of it. In the early gold rush days, it was often safer to drink whiskey than water that could be […]
One Crowded Night of Life – by John Drayton
22/03/2025 By 4 Comments
That day Mount Margaret was as quiet as a cemetery on a Sunday morning in Melbourne. Andy Flannagan, the ‘Learned Bushman’ and his mates, had reported a strike of alluvial gold 18 miles east, and all the prospectors not on good shows, and had pulled out for the new find, from which Flannagan’s party had […]
What is a t’othersider ???
22/03/2025 By Leave a Comment
T’othersiders People from the eastern colonies were referred to as t’othersiders, an instance of the isolation felt by many in Australia’s ‘Western Third’. It was the influx of ‘t’othersiders’ to the Goldfields however which helped Western Australia to catch up in population and improve its financial status. Some of these people would remain to swell […]
