The Lillis Family – pioneer profile

The Lillis family were pioneers of early Coolgardie up to the 1940’s.

The Wilkie Bros – Courageous Speculators!

The following story was sent by Susan Stevenson nee (Wilkie). Wilkie Brothers History 1895 to 1910 Early in 1895 John, Adam and David Wilkie left for Western Australia after John had sold one Waitotara property in New Zealand and a boot shop to help finance the Coolgardie contract. John at the time owned 380 acres […]

Where was Birrigrin – ghost towns

Latitude and Longitude – 27° 30′ 14” South , 119° 31′ 13” East Birrigrin is 120 km from Wiluna and is in the Black Range District near Sandstone. It was known in the early days as the ’50 Mile’ as it was about 50 miles from Nungarra. The main mining in the district is gold […]

Cess, the hermit of Oobagooma:

CESS RODERICK, OOBAGOOMA, KIMBERLEY ‘TIL SHE DROPPED HER STRIDES’ This story is an extract from the book “‘Til She Dropped Her Strides” by Roger Garwood and Trish Ainslie published in 1991. The book was one of a series which documented the traditional lifestyles in the Australian outback which were under threat from an increasingly modernised […]

Will Kanowna Live Again?

Mirror (Perth) 15 September 1934 KANOWNA ONCE BOASTED TWENTY HOTELS! Kanowna Shows Signs of Big Recovery Hectic Days of White Feather Golden Valley Recalled If you take the Kanowna road out of Kalgoorlie, you will travel for some 12 miles parallel with the formation of what was once a busy railway, to the remains of […]