Deeming a Goldfields Murderer? ……. Or was he really ‘Jack the Ripper’? This black hearted Englishman caused mass hysteria in the streets of Perth and Melbourne, and began with his arrest by two West Australian police troopers at Southern Cross for the brutal pickaxe murder of his newlywed bride. It brought Perth to a standstill […]
Violence, Murder, and Dispossession – The Human Cost of the Australian Gold Rush
Contributor of the week – Violence, Murder, and Dispossession – The Human Cost of the Australian Gold Rush – By Outback Family History reader Jenni Hodge Rushing for gold makes a few individual fortunes, and breaks the hearts and lives of many more. While it is undoubtedly true that, on a larger level, the Australian […]
The Tea and Sugar Train
This is a fascinating short film on the ‘Tea And Sugar Train’ made by the Commonwealth Film Unit 1954. Once a week the Tea and Sugar Train leaves Port Augusta and heads west along the Nullarbor with all the supplies needed by the track maintenance workers and their families that live along the route. Everything […]
The Legend of Hell Fire Jack
There was the time that the brokers were negotiating for the purchase of Merton’s Reward Goldmine in 1902, and arrived at Menzies by horse-drawn buggy at 8pm after the train for Kalgoorlie had left. It was essential for them to reach Kalgoorlie before midnight when the option on the lease would expire. So a privately […]
The Bardoc Murder –
The grave of the victim of the unsolved Bardoc murder is on the bank of the creek leading down from Lindsay’s Soak, which is crossed by the road from the Dark Horse (mine) to the Bellvue (mine) about three miles east of Grants Patch. The fenced grave is on the North bank of the creek, […]