Outback Family History
  • Home
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales
  • Grave Tales
You are here: Home / Archives for Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales

The Gate of Golden Hope –

27/06/2026 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Western Mail Perth 25 December 1928, page 76 Micky O’Driscoll, or “Micky the Priest”, as he was known, humped his bluey disconsolately through the scrubby jam-tree thicket. Behind him, some ten miles lay the town . . . . Hell’s blessings on it! . . . where he had squandered two months’ wages in as […]

Filed Under: Books, People, Places & Towns, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Goldfields History, Western Australia

Over the Plates: The Unlucky Gamble

27/06/2026 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Dolly Pot – Western Mail, Perth – 21 November 1940, page 8 OVER THE PLATES An Unlucky Gamble Early in the “Roaring Nineties,” Billy Collins, Ned Campion, Barney, and I were camped at a pool ten miles west of Cue. At the south end of the pool, flies were making short work of a horse […]

Filed Under: People, Places & Towns, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Cue, Goldfields History, Western Australia

Navvies, Newlyweds and the Goldfields Dream

27/06/2026 By Moya Sharp 2 Comments

The Sun. Kalgoorlie 8 December 1901 North Country Notes by Pharisee Since the advent of the navvies with the Malcolm-Leonora railway construction, the Malcolm hash houses have received a severe shaking up. Formerly it was only possible to get a square feed if – like Oliver Twist — a man possessed the grit to ask […]

Filed Under: People, Places & Towns, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Goldfields History, Leonora, Malcolm, Western Australia

The Brewery on the Breakaway: Sandstone’s Beer-Making Marvel

20/06/2026 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

The Black Range Brewery, or the Breakaway Brewery as it was also known, began trading in August of 1907 with the proprietor as Joseph Vincent Kearney, an Irishman born in 1873 at Ballymoon, Co Carlow, Ireland. The manager was Michael ‘Mick’ Dempsey. It was located on the Maninga Marley Road, 4.8 kilometres from Sandstone. What […]

Filed Under: Books, People, Places & Towns, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Beer, Goldfields History, Sandstone, Western Australia

Lost for Love – The Tragedy of Beth Maynard

20/06/2026 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

The following story is one of the most unusual I have read for some time. It really does fit into the category of ‘Ripping Yarns and Tragic Tales’. The story starts in South Australia and ends in NSW but has a WA Goldfields link. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author, […]

Filed Under: People, Places & Towns, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Afghan, Goldfields History, Western Australia

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 110
  • Next Page »

Donate Jar

Leave a Tip!

If you would like to support my work sharing stories of the Western Australian Goldfields, a small tip – starting at just $2 – would mean a great deal. You’re welcome to give more if you feel inclined.

Every contribution, no matter the amount, helps me continue researching and preserving these important stories for future generations. Your generosity supports the ongoing costs of running the website. Thank you so much.






🏦 Direct Deposit

Free Subscription to the Latest Stories

* indicates required

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2026 ·