In the days of early Coolgardie, it was often the case that when a disagreement occurred, it was settled in the time-honoured way by bashing each other senseless. This was welcomed by the general population, who were somewhat starved for entertainment. It also ensured your ‘disagreement’ was well and truly ‘settled’. Coolgardie drew to the town its share of hard men and bruisers from the dens of Melbourne and Sydney, from the forests and the mines and sometimes, intriguingly, some ‘gentlemen’ whose hidden abilities surprised the crowds.

One of the best-known ‘grudge’ matches has its echoes to this day, and there is nothing like a fight over the affections of a lady to draw the crowds. The lady in question was young Bessie Stewart, the toast of Coolgardie, known as ‘De Bauns Bessie’ or ‘The Belle of Coolgardie’. She was the centre of attention and was showered with nuggets of gold by her many admirers. She held her court at the Great Western Hotel and was the first barmaid in Coolgardie. She would charm the assembled worshippers with her lovely voice and her Scottish ballads.

Sketch of the Great Western Hotel, Coolgardie – Image TROVE

The antagonists in this incident were William Bennit known as ‘Bull’, and Jimmy Reid. William Bennit (sometimes spelled Bennett) was from NSW. He was a champion sawyer and winner of many wood chopping events. He had walked to Coolgardie from Southern Cross in 1894 and was also well known in boxing circles around Sydney before his arrival on the WA Goldfields.

Jimmy Reid was a popular and well-known prospector. According to Larry Cammilleri, in the book ‘Chasing the Weight’, who knew Jimmy in 1892, he was part of a tough gang called the twelve apostles. His brother was involved in the shooting of ‘May Wain’ (but that’s another story). Jimmy had done very well with his quest for gold.

Coolgardie Miner advertisement

The date set for the bout was the 27^th November 1894. The following is an account from the account of an eyewitness:

‘First thing I see as I strolled into the bar was one of the prettiest rigged barques, I mean, young lady, I have ever clapped eyes on. The bar was packed with Murchison prospectors and new chums all rigged out in their best boiled shirts. The old hands soon told me that Bessie, the barmaid, divided her smiles between Bill Bennit and Jimmy Reid.  Jimmy was an all-round wrestling, fighting, gambling and drinking man; he would be hard to beat, but Bill was a tall, bony athlete just arrived from Sydney.

Fifty pounds had just been staked, and the loser was to leave Bessie forever, and the winner would gain her affections.  There was no time lost in ceremonies as each man stripped to the waist and stood glaring at each other; they looked fit to battle to kingdom come. ‘Bull’ was taller than Reid and a stone heavier. Round after bloody round was fought with no quarter being given by either man, when in the 13^th round, where the hard, rough life of prospectors’ life began to tell on Jimmy and although he came up game as ever, it was evident his strength was giving out. Even blinded by blood in his eyes, he strained to further the fight while his friends held him back. It was felt that manslaughter no less may have occurred if the friends of the parties had not intervened. No remonstrance was made when the Sydney man pocketed the winnings and withdrew to De Baun’s bar, where Bessie waited. Bessie stood a round of drinks before leading Bill from the room.

The outcome of this scrap was another bout arranged between the two men for from £100 – £200. It was rumoured that this was because of a ‘slur’ on the good name of the lovely Bessie!!

On the 8^th Dec 1894, the Coolgardie Miner ran the following:

Much interest is being exhibited in the town by the forthcoming boxing bout between Jimmy Reid and Billy Bennit at the Theatre Royal next week. Both men are well known in the field, with Bennit having the advantage of having a professional trainer. People are coming to town to witness this bout from all corners of the fields.

Then The Coolgardie Miner reported on 2 February 1895:

The much-talked-of battle between Jim Reid and Bill Bennit last December did not come off as advertised to the disappointment of hundreds of anxious sports fans. The fight was advertised for a Monday evening, but the previous Friday Bennit knocked up his right hand in a spar. Although every application was made to the injured member, it was generally known that no bout would occur that night.  To Jimmy’s disgust, Bennet had his stake of £100 returned to him. There was some talk of legal proceedings being taken against the stakeholder, Mr Leevers.  Jimmy was still keen for a rematch.

A rematch was set for the 4^th Feb 1895, and shortly before 8 o’clock on the night, excitement was caused by a bellman announcing that the fight between Bennit and Reid would take place and they would do battle for the ‘gate’ takings. This caused a rush to the Royal Theatre, but there was no appearance of the combatants.  It was announced to the waiting crowd that Bennit was not fit to fight that night.  He had been given an injection of cocaine and had appeared well enough to fight before falling into a stupor.  The disappointed crowd were sadly refunded their money.

It was only later in February 1895 that the truth of Bill’s actions came to light. It appeared that while Jimmy was hard at training down the coast for the match on the 4 February, Billy hopped in and eloped with Bessie to Sydney, where they were married on the 25^th February 1895 at St John’s church, Darlinghurst, NSW.  They then returned to Coolgardie, telling no one. This, of course, would have removed the point of any further fight over the lady’s favour as she was now lost to Jimmy forever.

There were various challenges between the men, which were published in the current Coolgardie Miner back and forth between to two with much ill feeling.

Bill Bennet managed the Red Bluff Hotel at Coolgardie with Bessie before becoming the licensee of the Rising Sun Hotel at Parkeston (near Coolgardie)  in 1909. He was to hold this licence for over 30 years.

O’Neil- Osmond wedding 1911, Back row standing William ‘Bill’ Bennit, Elizabeth Bennit, unknown man, Front row seated Vera Mills, Michael O’Neill (groom), Maude Alice Osmond (bride), Blanche Osmond (mother of the bride) – Image SLWA

Jimmy continued his life as a prospector and ‘died in harness’ in Kalgoorlie aged 62 years, as this, his obituary, says, the story of Billy, Jimmy, and Bessie was still remembered.

Western Mail 2 August 1928, page 14  –  The Late Jimmy Reid.

There was no more prominent figure among the. outback prospectors of the ‘nineties than Jimmy Reid, who died recently in Kalgoorlie. His partners for years were Barlow, Traveena, and “Ponky’ Harney. Some of their achievements were the discovery of the Day Dawn field and making the track across the then untrodden bush from Murchison to Coolgardie when the latter field was declared. They figured in the first discoveries of Goongarrie, Broad Arrow, I.O.U., and Kurnalpi, and they sank the well on the Goongarrie road at the 42 Mile, which served to keep that road open to the north.

Jimmy originated the” name” for Broad Arrow. He had been scouting ahead of his party before the tracks were defined, and as a guide to them, where turnings were doubtful, he marked directing arrows on the ground. The big rush that followed after consequently named the field Broad Arrow.

Coolgardie townspeople knew him best through his epic fist battle with Bill ‘Bull’ Bennit to decide which of them was to take precedence in bidding for the favour of a popular barmaid. Jimmy was unusually happy-natured and ever ready with a cheery word or joke. His campfire was the usual centre of attraction on social occasions. Although fortunate to a limited degree with alluvial, he never found any substantial stake. When his luck reversed and capital faded, being but a simple, untutored bushman, he found work for a living on the Golden Mile. He “died in harness” at the age of 62. He is buried in the Boulder Cemetery.

And now the story ends – It is obvious that there was tremendous rancour between Billy and Jimmy. Bessie smiled at both men, but did she demand a commitment from Billy? Was it she or Billy who was prevented from legal marriage, possibly by a previous marriage? What did Jimmy do to engage in such a savage fight? It was later found that Bessie also had a son born on 17^th Aug 1890 in Perth and registered as Leslie George Beaumont Stewart. This name was to be changed in 1958 to Leslie George Bennit. Leslie was to become the licensee of the Inland City Hotel and ran it with the help of his stepfather, Billy, till he lost his sight. Bill was to die at the Inland City Hotel on the 16^th December 1940. Bessie was to pass away a few years later on the 14^th April 1947. Although this story had disappeared into history it was long remembered as the biggest con ever run on the boxing fraternity.

There is a great deal more to read about both this story and that of other ‘Bruisers of the Bush’ in a book by the same title written by Peter Bridge, Susan Bennett and myself. It tells the story of men who made their living by fighting. It was fascinating co-editing this book with Peter Bridge and Susan Bennett, and it is a great read.

Taken on board a ship early 1930s. Possibly on their last visit to Sydney. Bessie is to Bull’s right, and his sister, Eliza (Mrs A Hanson) is far left. – Image SLWA

If you wish to purchase a copy of the book, you can do so from Hesperian Press  or The Eastern Goldfields Historical Soc

The outback mining centre of Maninga Marley was situated some 27 kilometres southeast of Sandstone on the Dandaraga Station in the Black Range district.

Maninga Marley Riflemen 1911 – Photo Sandstone Heritage Museum

The Maninga Marley Gold Mine, from which the place takes its name, was found by prospectors Ernest Alfred Arundel and Matthew Dwyer. The claim was registered by Arundel Gold was discovered in the area in 1903, and in 190,6 the lease was held in four names, Arundel, Matthew, John J Dwyer, and Charles A Greenham. Since its discovery, this little mining centre has turned out over £200,000 worth of gold, and is yet, so to speak, only scratched. Some day, when the capitalist takes a hand to open up the shows, another busy centre will be added to the State. The district around Maninga Marley is good stock country, and notwithstanding the small rainfall, horses, donkeys, cattle, and sheep thrive wonderfully well, and the land is now mostly taken up for pastoral purposes.

Maninga Marley GM 1906 – Photo SLWA

Maninga Marley was somewhat unlucky in the placement of its townsite. When local residents requested the warden to allot business areas, he complied by marking out several streets. When Mr. Hans Irvine came along and purchased the Havilah Mine, he considered that the reef might extend further, so he pegged out the entire townsite, thus precluding any further business areas. When questioned, the warden exclaimed,

‘The whole blessed place seems to be reefs, and if I give a site today there’s nothing to show that somebody won’t strike a reef digging a verandah post and peg out the whole country”.

The Men of the Tagliaferri Family (yes, three are holding chickens) at Maninga Marley, 1927 – Photo SLWA

In 1925, the mine was being worked alone by Frederick Sonnenschein (59). There were two areas, the part worked by the prospector and the abandoned workings. An explosive charge broke through to the abandoned part, which was full of water. This rushed into the other workings, and Sonnenschein drowned.

The Tagliaferri brothers outside their home at Maninga Marley, 1927 – Photo SLWA

Maninga Marley – Bonzle maps

Original Reward Claim document – supplied by Ian Murray

Reward Lease – Maninga Marley

Alessandro ‘Alec’ EPIS ‘Kookaburra’
by Tony De Bolfo – Aug 2006

Alec Epis never married or fathered any children, but he’s never been lonely. That he says is the legacy of his Italian upbringing in one of Australia’s most inhospitable environments. “They were hard days but they were happy days”, Alex said of his boyhood years on the West Australian Goldfields, “Mum used to say they were the best years of her life”, and I’d say ‘why’ and she’d say;

“Because we were all together and we all needed one another.”

I never felt isolated, but it’s probably why I’m a bit of a loner now. I learned to occupy myself, and I never really needed people around me. The Epis family links with Australia were first forged in 1893 when Alex’s great-grandfather, Giuseppe BORLINI, left the zinc mines of Gorno, 30 kilometres outside of Bergamo in Italy, in search of gold. But the move would bring tragic consequences. Giuseppi came to Australia to work in Coolgardie, but he fell down a mine shaft and was killed, leaving twelve children behind him in Bergamo.

Alec Epis – Image Free Social Encyclopedia.

“Then my mother’s father, Angelo, was forced to leave the law and go to work to support the family. Then the 1914-18 war came, and he was forced to go and fight. He was very young, but he survived, and when he returned from the War, he also migrated to Kalgoorlie. He came for the gold because he’d heard about it from one of the others who had worked in the zinc mines in Italy.

At the same time, my father’s father, Alessandro Epis, also migrated because he and Angelo were best mates. After their arrival, they lived in a hotel in Boulder, but they couldn’t go out together because they only had one suit, so they had to take turns wearing it. Dad told me once that the only argument he ever had with my mom’s dad was over this suit. One day they both needed to go out, but they only had one suit and both needed it. So when they got a tip on a horse, Dad put all his week’s wages on it and it lost! He reckons they hardly ate for a week and never spoke for a month.

My dad’s father was already here by then and was working in the mines. Dad was only 13 years old when he came out in 1924; he was the only one of the children who was Italian born. He had a younger brother, Mario and a younger sister, Tessie. Mario, who later was a gold prospector, was educated at Aquinas College, but my Dad wasn’t sent to school. He spoke very broken English throughout his whole life.

He used to call Essendon ‘the Bompers’ and Hawthorn ‘Haw-bloody-torn”.

In 1935, Alec’s father, Virgilio, married Giusefina Borlini in Collie, 203 kilometres south of Perth. Not long after the newlyweds returned to Boulder, where they lived with Virgilio’s brother Mario, sister Tessie and mother Lucia. There, Virgilio and Giusefina’s father Angelo, worked as gold prospectors.

Alec and Ena with their father Virgilio Epis and trusty dog Pippi outside the family home with its cloth walls at Yilgangi Queen mine c 1947 – Image Alec Epis.

It was during this time that the Epis family was drawn into the infamous race riots which erupted in Kalgoorlie/Boulder after two men named Claudio Mattaboni and Edward Jordan came to blows at the Home from Home Hotel on the Australia Day weekend of 1934. The mobs came from everywhere and burnt down many houses.

At this time, they lived on Dwyer Street in Boulder next door to a one-armed Irishman called Paddy Coffey. They had been very good to him. They used to invite him over for dinner and generally look after him because he had nobody. So when the mob and the rioters approached my grandparents’ house, Paddy stormed out and stood in front of the house and said, “You’re going to have to shoot me to get in the door, you’re not touching the house of the Epis’s,” and the mob backed off.

Alec and Ena Epis at Yilgangi Queen in the two-room house on the site of the mine c 1949. Note the bough shed on the left made from the boughs of a gum tree to provide welcome respite from the oppresive heat – Image Alec Epis.

In the end, things were so bad that police reinforcements were brought from Perth and after a while, the Italians had to leave. Many went bush to a place called White Hope, about 20 miles out of Boulder. Some of them lived in the caves out there for up to three months. The Salvation Army used to go out to them every few days with food and water, and I know that over the years my Mum and Dad always gave to the Salvation Army.

Alessandro ‘Alec’, the only son of Virgilio and Giusefina Epis was born in Boulder in 1937. Alec and his older sister Ena later attended St Joseph’s Primary School, with Alec furthering his studies at Christian Brothers College, Kalgoorlie, for two years from 1947. It was a baptism of fire for the little blokes. “The brothers were a bit hard, they used to belt you a bit”, says Alex. “I used to come home and whinge to Mum, and she would say, “You must have deserved it, and if I hear from you again, you’ll get another one from me” There was no sympathy from Mum.

In 1949, Alec and Ena were both placed into boarding school when their father sought to stake a claim at an abandoned gold mine at Yilgangi Queen, 193 kilometres northeast of Kalgoorlie. The mine was located at what was once known as ‘Heppingstone’s Find’. It had been mined before and was owned by Western Mining Corporation. It was abandoned, so Dad and three other men got a lease from Western Mining and went out and had a look. He found some good stone down the 300-foot shaft and gave a percentage of whatever he found back to the company.

Dad was there from 1954 until 1966. He and I used to go down the shaft by ladder. He drilled all the holes into what we call the drive. I’d put the dynamite in the holes, and then I’d put the fuses in and regulate all so that the one in the middle went off first. We then lit the fuses and ran from the shaft into this big bucket to be hoisted up, and moments later, you’d hear boom, boom, boom.  It was Alec’s dream to work with his father, but first he had to finish his schooling at New Norcia (a Marist Brothers College) for three years from 1949. Every three months, we would go home for holidays for two weeks at a time.

I did miss home, a lot of kids at the boarding home came from farming areas not far away, and every week their parents would visit them, bringing chocolates and cakes….. I had nobody visiting me, so it was quite lonely, but then again, I got used to being lonely, and that’s what gets me through now because I don’t need a lot of people around me. I was lucky that my sister was at the nearby St Joseph’s Girls College.

It was at boarding school that Alec came to the realisation that he was blessed with a genuine athletic prowess. I could run like a gazelle, and I was fairly good at most sports. I played footy, along with cricket, tennis and hockey. I really didn’t know that I was very good at it, I just thought I was like everyone else, having a go at sport.

Alec also recalls matches against Central Magumber, a little town near New Norcia. The ladies would supply afternoon tea. They would bring in sponge cakes and scones and all sorts of stuff that us kids in boarding schools never got. The footy there was terrific and I loved it. I always loved my Italian background, and there were lots of Italian kids around, like my mate Joe Fanchi. When I was going to school at Saint Joseph’s in Boulder, there was a State School next door. We had a big influx of Croatians and Slavs, and they were our best mates, so we won the war with the kids at state school, and they left us alone from then on. The kids there used to yell out

‘Italian dogs jump like frogs in and out of the teachers’ gobs’

It would take Alec and his sister over an overnight train trip to make it home from boarding school for the holidays. They would get to the station at six in the morning and jump straight onto the truck and head off to the mine, which was reached about one in the afternoon. Mum and Dad were very happy to see us back home. At home, we lived off fresh meat, bread and ice cream delivered once a week. Every Friday at 1 o’clock, the old truck would turn up and we could hear it coming for five miles away, so we used to run down to meet the truck and hop onto it. When we were living out in the bush, my job was to shoot a kangaroo and two rabbits, and if I could get a goat or a wild turkey or a pigeon, then that was a bonus. Back in Boulder, we all used to help make salamis and cheeses, too. Alex said that the family all conversed in Italian at home. When I went to school, I couldn’t speak any English, but then I started to learn, and later on mum began to speak English as well.

Alec at CBC Kalgoorlie Sports Day Oct 29 1948 – Image Alec Epis

I remember once we went to town from the mine in the big Chevy truck and I said to Dad “why are we going in the big Chevy?” he said “shut up and mind your own business and get in the truck and take the guns” which was the shotgun and the revolver and I used to hold them as we drove. We were about 200 kilometres from town, and we had to go through these cattle runs where you had to slow down. On this particular day we hit a cattle run and as we turned around the corner two cars came out and tried to hold us up, this was in the 1950’s, my dad said give me the gun and as he planted his foot and drove straight through them, they fired a shot and it flew across the roof of the truck.
Dad always had a big bumper bar, and I found out later that he even had the side doors lined with steel; that’s why we always took the gold in the truck. Today, Alex still has the gun, which he also used to guard the battery, where they crushed the ore. It’s a constant reminder to him of another place and another time when I used to come home for school holidays, and dad would get me to guard the gold while he slept.

Alec was 15 years old when he returned to Boulder from boarding school for good. It was 1952, and he then went to Boulder High School. “Mum came into town to look after me, and it was then that I joined Mines Rovers, my dad’s football team, where all the Italians played. It was terrific.” Alec had already won a handsome reputation as a junior footballer before making his senior debut with Mines Rovers in 1955, still a few months shy of his 18th birthday. For Alec, 1955 was a dream year, not only did he take out the Fletcher Medal for the Fairest and Best in what was then the Goldfields National Football League, but he also contributed to mines Rovers 44-point victory over Kalgoorlie City in the Grand Final, it was to be his only season in the GNFL.

Angelo Borlini – Image Alec Epis

Alec’s maternal grandfather, Angelo Borlini, left Kalgoorlie for Collie to work on the coalfields. he later acquired a 200 acre farm there and settled with his wife and children. He was 6 ft 4 in and as strong as an ox. In later years he was stricken with gangrene which forced doctors to amputate his leg but he never complained. He said “Plenty worse off”.

In 1956, Alex sought a clearance to Essendon Football Club in Victoria, but the WAFL kept me out of football for two years because they said I’d been lured by Essendon. It was well worth the wait, for Alec gave outstanding service in the 180 VFL games over the next eleven seasons.

“A lot of other teams got interested initially, and in the end, Essendon wrote to me and invited me to train with them. They didn’t offer me anything, they just told me to catch the train to Melbourne, second class. My father was devastated; he started crying and said he’d buy me any car I wanted if I didn’t go, but I wasn’t tempted. I’d followed the WAFL, and to go to the VFL was a dream come true. I wasn’t thinking about Dad and Mum, all I was thinking about was going over there to play the VFL.

It was an adventure, the chance to do something.

When I arrived, I found a welcoming committee from the club at the station and was taken to a boarding house, which I lived in with three other young blokes for two years. The old lady who ran it was a terrible cook, so we would go down to the milk bar to buy pies before we’d go home, where we would sleep out the back in bunk beds. Not long afterwards, Alex commenced his National Service at Puckapunyal and he had a lot of trouble getting out to practise games. “There was a Lieutenant there who was a mad Essendon supporter who would take me in once a week. As I was a butcher at the camp, I had to give him a big eye fillet steak once a week as payment. I had actually worked as a butcher in Boulder when I was 16. When I came to Melbourne, I worked as a butcher for Frank Cappicchiano at Moonee Ponds until 1962. To get to footy training, I had to work at the butchers through my lunch hour, and also worked the Saturday mornings before a game.”

Alec is both fiercely proud of his Italian heritage and Australian homeland, and is only too happy to recount how his chirpy nature earned him the nickname of one of his nation’s greatest icons, “Kookaburra”

We went away with the Victorian side to Perth to play and came back via Adelaide. We stayed in a motel there and were sitting around telling jokes, I was killing myself laughing, and Mick Aylett said I sounded like a Kookaburra, so they gave me that nickname and it’s stuck ever since. Alec’s parent were not there to see their boy complete his senior VFL debut against the Hawks, but used to make the trip to Melbourne at intervals of two or three months to see his progress. They loved it; it made up for the sorrow of seeing him leave WA.

Alec back at Yilgangi Queen – Image Alec Epis

Alec proudly declares that, so far as his League football is concerned, he achieved more than he’d ever set out to. Contrary to what a lot of people think, I never dreamed that I could play 180 games, including four Grand Finals. It’s not something I talk a lot about, but when you think about it, it was a great achievement for a kid from the bush, and the only kid from Boulder.

One of my greatest regrets is that I didn’t spend more time with my father because Dad was a wonderful person. I loved him, and I got on with him really well. It’s not so much that I couldn’t get back to Boulder, it was more that circumstances took me away, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. I did get back to see him every year for holidays, and I also saw him in Melbourne when he came across. However, while the mine brought financial reward to the family, it probably killed Dad in the end.

He had two partners at the time, but he used to take on a lot of the work himself, which put a strain on his heart. He died in 1964 when he was only 53. Mum died in Kalgoorlie about 15 years ago, in 1991. I was in Melbourne when he died suddenly on his way to Perth, it was 1964. I was playing then, and I went home for the funeral. I was really upset with the Essendon coach when I returned because he dropped me to the seconds for missing a week’s training.

Alec’s sense of morality and his core values of respect later saw him serve at the now-closed Pentridge prison as a voluntary social worker for 23 years until the 1980s. I mixed with a lot of murderers and robbers, but also met some terrific blokes there. I helped build a boxing ring as well as an Olympic-sized swimming pool for the inmates. Alex now spends his days between his Moonee Ponds home, not far from the old Windy Hill ground and his vineyard at Woodend. It would have been wonderful to have married and had a couple of kids, but it wasn’t the hand that I was dealt in life.

I played Australian Rules, I’ve got my vineyard, and I still make my salami, my cheese, my prosciutto and my olives because I love the traditions. My Mum and Dad went without. Dad worked hard in the mine, and Mum used to do ironing for five shillings an hour to try to help us get through school. She reckons she never bought so much as a new dress for over two years. We didn’t know it then, but we were very poor. In the end, Dad did alright, but before that, we were living in the desert like Arabs. I realise now how good it was,

we were all close, we never wanted for anything, and we were never envious of anybody.

I was given a lot of great things in my upbringing for which I’m really appreciative, like good morals, great family values and respect for people. I love the Italian culture, I love the Italian mentality, I’m an Aussie and I love all those great Australian qualities as well, but I say you to young Italian kids, be thankful you’ve been given the European legacy of having respect for people, particularly older people, because they’ve done all the hard work for us.

I’m big on customs, I’m also a traditionalist, and I love the Italian side of my family. As soon as I’m with someone who’s Italian, I’m at home. I know I’m only first generation, but I feel as if I’m Italian-born because I grew up with so many of them. At the same time, I’m very appreciative of Australia for giving my father an opportunity, and as he always said,

“Never forget what this country has done for us and never ever let this country down.”

Alessandron Angelo ‘Alec’ Epis.
Born: Boulder, WA – 27  Aug 1937
Height 187cm – Weight: 88 kg
Recruited from the Mines Rovers Football Club
Guernsey number 28
Nickname: Kookaburra
Games: 180 for Essendon – 1958 to 1968
Honours: Essendon premiership player 1962 & 1965.
Victorian Representative 1960 & 1963.

REEDY (Murchison Goldfields)

Population in 1937 = 1300 of which 350 were Miners.
Latitude 27° 08′ S Longitude 118° 17′ E

The abandoned goldfields townsite of Reedy (AKA Reedy’s) is located in the Murchison Goldfields, 721 km northeast of Perth and 70 km northeast of Cue. Gold was discovered in the area by H. Reed in 1899–1900 and a nearby well, Reedy’s Well, was named after him. The well appeared on maps of the area in 1908 as a known water source.

Map by Bonzel

Several gold discoveries made in the area in the early 1930s resulted in mining development booming and in 1933 a request from the Cue-Day Dawn Road Board was made for a townsite to be surveyed and declared. Following a survey of lots, a name was sought for the townsite, and Mathers and Triton were suggested, with Reedy being another choice. Reedy was selected, and the townsite was gazetted in 1934. The name is derived from “Reedy’s Well”, a nearby water source.

Although a relatively small town, Reedy didn’t lack facilities, it had a large two story hotel, The Occidental Hotel, a state school and a convent school, an outdoor movie theatre, a community hall, a hospital with operating theatre and morgue and catholic and anglican church. For the sports minded there were lots of choices, a swimming pool, a golf course, cricket for both men and women, tennis, cycling, badminton and football clubs and of course a CWA group.

The Reedy Hospital – Photo from Maureen Hurley

The Reedy Outdoor Theatre 1933 – Photo SLWA

There were social events planned all the time with bridge tournaments and homing pigeons being very popular. These events were held in competition with the nearby town of Tuckanarra, Cue and Big Bell.  A local mining company provided a park and a recreational ground where all sorts of sporting and social events took place.There was also a thriving  newspaper to keep everyone up with local happenings.

The Reedy Golf Club – Photo SLWA

Derm Ryan outside his home at Reedy 1938 – Photo SLWA

The town although isolated was not without communication and transport. In the 1930-1940 there were motor vehicles such as cars and trucks as well as a light plane which used a short runway made by the Triton mining company. Although the town didn’t have its own railway station a train could be caught from nearby Tuckanarra.

The Occidental Hotel under construction in 1933 – Photo SLWA

The Occidental Hotel – Photo TROVE

Cue-Big Bell Chronicle and Reedy Record 5 December 1941, page 1

The towns heyday years were between 1934 and 1945. The exodus of men during WW2 depleted the population which was revived when hostilities ceased in 1945 only to then decline again by 1949.

Reedy Townsite map – Image SLWA

The local residents were also provided with all the services of a much bigger town with grocery stores, bakers, butchers, dress shops, hairdressers, newsagents, a laundry two garagges and several boarding houses. Although the mines provided some accomodation for their workers many chose to stay in the towns private establishments.

Annie and Antoni WOINAR in their boarding house at Reedy 1942 – Photo Sharp family

Reedy Cemetery on Cullculli Station – Reserve 21243
Site now under the waste heap of the Rand Mine.

EVANS Marion – d 1942, 7 days, Mother: Thelma mary EVANS, Reg: 27/1942 Murchison, Buried in the Reedy Cemetery.

GREAN Walter Aiden – d 2 Feb 1942, 36 years, Occ: Miner, Cause: Accidentally electrocuted by contact with a metal guy rope charged with electricity, he had been returning to his quarters after leaving the Occidental Hotel, Buried by T A Wilton, Reg: 5/1942 Murchison, Buried in the Reedy Cemetery.

WATSON George – d 20 Aug 1941, 2 hours, at the Reedy Hospital, Father: Frederick George WATSON (Miner), Mother: Christina May REGAN, Reg: 33/1941 Murchison, Buried in the Reedy Cemetery.

Kookynie Advocate and Northern Goldfields News 31 October 1903, page 2

The Niagara Football Club.
(With apologies to “Banjo” Patterson.)

On Saturday 17th October 1903, after Niagara became football premiers, there was a grand wind-up at the Niagara Hotel where over fifty people sat down to a great feast. To mark this event the following poem was published.

Niagara Football Club Kalgoorlie Western Argus 6 June 1905, page 19

It was somewhere in Westralia, in this land of sand and scrub,
That they formed an institution, called the Niagara Football Club;
They were small but wiry fellows, who seldom knew defeat,
The Mines and Towns will tell you now how hard they were to beat,

Their way of playing football was anything but flash,
But what they lacked in science they made up for in dash.
From the time the whistle sounded until the bell had rung,
Every player in the team his very best had done.

There was Burke, their genial captain always to the fore.
And Marvin playing forward, a certainty to score;
And Billy Howe and Kelly were dandies at the game,
For, no matter what their difficulties, they got there just the same.

O’Halloran, and Leipold deserve their need of praise;
And Davey Bright, the youngster — oh, what a game he plays.
And ” Morgey “— lately raised to the dignity of ” Pa “,
Played the game, as also did our wiley friend ‘Jack Barr’.

Cartilage and Benson, Lou Stoltz, and Richardson
Worked like “little beauties” until the day was won.
The Hartley brothers, George and Bill— the latter very fleet,
Could always be depended on to do things very neat.

Cowan always worth his place, as also was Hickmott,
With Jimmy Frewin, now completes this valiant” little lot”,
But Johnston with the whistle, and the games open and free,
Helped make Niagara premiers for nineteen hundred and three.

The Goldfields Cycle Express History
by Gary Cowans

The Coolgardie Cycle Express, a pioneering mail service on the goldfields before telegraphy, thrived on swift desert deliveries but succumbed to competition and changing technology, leaving behind colourful camel-stamped memories.

Coolgardie Cycle Express Co. was a delivery service that began with a mail delivery from Coolgardie to Ora Banda on a bicycle in 1893. In early 1894 they expanded the service to Southern Cross and the locations as listed in a card issued by the Proprietor James A. Healy.

A Limited company was formed in May 1894 and the company issued its own postage stamps.

Sadly, the limited company was only short lived as the telegraph line reached Coolgardie & Kalgoorlie from Southern Cross in August 1894 the company was liquidated. However, the company continued to operate to other locations as advertised:

Coolgardie Miner on the 18 August 1894.
Our readers and the public generally will be pleased to hear that the good work hitherto performed by the Coolgardie Cycle Express Co., Ltd. (now in liquidation), in opening up and maintaining communication with the outer centres is not to be allowed to lapse.

As will be noticed on reference to our advertising columns, a new company has been formal, having for its objects the undertaking and prompt dispatch of all express message and other business between the various mining centres, camps and rushes on the field. The services of the best cyclists, Including Mr. J. H. C. Bamlett and other cracks have been secured, and we trust that the new company by executing all business entrusted to them promptly and efficiently will earn that confidence and patronage from the public which their enterprise certainly deserves. Full particulars as to terms, timetables, etc., may be had on application to the agents, Messrs. O’Driscoll. Scott & Rebbeck.

Coolgardie Cycle Express Co Advertisement – Photo Flickr

 Some cyclists soon left the employee of the Coolgardie Express and set up their own agencies in Dundas and Menzies.

A trip from Coolgardie to Dundas was described in the

Coolgardie Miner 15 Sep 1894, Page 3 – A TRIP TO DUNDAS.
A new line of Cycle Express has been opened to carry on the useful work of the defunct company, and the initial trip was commenced on Saturday 25th ult., when Mr. Jas. H. C. Bamlett left to establish a regular weekly service between Coolgardie and Dundas. Mr. Bamlett has supplied us with the following interesting account of the trip:

Having ascertained that the distance to Dundas was about 150 miles, and that the track was almost entirely unfrequented I took the precaution to supply myself with a sufficient quantity of provisions to carry me through and fastened to the frame of the machine the indispensable water bag and rug.

Thus equipped I left Coolgardie at 9am and sped along the Esperance Bay track. The riding on the horse pad for the first forty miles was fairly good, but then at intervals there came sand patches, which were more conducive to perspiration than comfort. By evening I had ridden about sixty-five miles and was within 5 miles of Sunday Soak, where there is an excellent ” turn out.” Early dawn found me again on the track. The road was. very lonely and not even a single traveller passed to break the unvarying monotony of mile, after mile of forest and scrub, red soil, and sand. As evening drew on I pulled up and camped alongside a hollow log, to which I set fire, and thus secured a warm though lonely camp. The distance travelled during the day was about seventy miles. Next morning stumps and scrub made the road very bad for riding as far as, McPherson’s Rock, where the road turns off to the left, thence into Dundas eight miles further; the riding was good. I arrived about mid-day and proceeded to Mawson’s Reward-Claim, where I was most hospitably received by the manager, Mr. A. R. Browne.

Water was very plentiful all the way from Coolgardie at the various soaks, but here, they have been threatened with a water famine, owing to the soaks at Dundas and McPherson Rock having entirely given out. This difficulty was overcome by Mr. Browne, who erected a condenser capable of turning out 80 gallons per day; he intends to erect a plant capable of turning out 2000 gallons per day, and in addition to this the Mawson’s Reward Co. has two large dams with good catchments in the course of construction. The Government is also constructing a. large dam at the township, so there is not likely to be any further scarcity of water.

The Great Dundas Mine is on the North side of Lake Cowan, one mile from the township, and has a reef twelve feet wide, estimated to average two ounces per ton. Two tons of unpicked stone shipped for treatment gave a return of 2½ ounces per ton. The Mawson’s Reward Claim is 1½ miles east of the Great Dundas. This property has been acquired by an English company with ample capital to develop it. Prior to my arrival everyone was on a short allowance of food, owing to the teams from Esperance Bay being delayed on the road. Preparations had been made to temporarily abandon the field, but this was happily rendered unnecessary by the safe arrival of the teams. A new reefing find has been made about18 miles north of Dundas, where excellent stone has been unearthed by Sinclair & Allsop. The line of reef outcrops for 1½ miles, with a width of over 3 feet. There is a cleared road from Dundas to the find. On Sinclair and Allsop’s lease the stone averages 30 oz. per ton, and the adjoining lease owned by the Sydney Prospecting Co., is even richer. One specimen measuring 12 inches by 9 inches contains 30oz. of gold. Altogether the prospects of the field appear very good, and with the establishment of regular communication with Coolgardie, there is little doubt that it will soon command further attention.

Having completed my arrangements. I returned by the Wigiemoola track, which I found to be almost destitute of water, and arrived in Coolgardie in 46 hours. The machine I rode was a Vanguard, and I have every reason to be satisfied with its strength and easy-running qualities.

From ‘The Bicycle and the Bush’ by Jim Fitzpatrick

 In early 1895 the public complained about the cost of the mail service and encouraged more competition and lobbied for a government service at a meeting of the Norseman Progress League as below.

Norseman. March 23 1895.
A largely attended general meeting of the Progress League took place on Saturday afternoon to make a definite move re postal arrangements. Great dissatisfaction was expressed by all the speakers at the manner in which the field has been humbugged in this important particular, the long promised fortnightly service via Esperance being apparently no nearer than it was three months ago, when a decision was arrived at to run same. It was unanimously resolved that a petition be drawn up for signature and forwarded on to the Postmaster-General, asking that a fortnightly service from Esperance and a weekly one from Coolgardie be granted the large and growing population on the Dundas goldfields. The field hitherto has had to depend chiefly on the cycle express, via Coolgardie, but this has been a heavy drain on the residents here, and it is high time that the proper authorities should afford regular and cheaper facilities than can be given by private parties. Owing to the exorbitant charges fixed by the cycle representative for the future, it has been decided to run an opposition cycle express, Mr. W. Miller, a champion amateur ruler of Dorsetshire, undertaking the venture at considerably reduced rates. The authorities will therefore easily see that residents are helping themselves, and consequently should receive every consideration for their very moderate demands.

In July 1895 Healy from the Coolgardie Cycle Express bought out the Dundas competition.

Coolgardie Pioneer (WA) 3 Jul 1895, Page 3.
Mr. J. Healy commission agent, reports the sale of the goodwill of the cycle service between here and Dundas, lately carried on by Mr Bamlett, to Messrs Miller and Kilminster, who will run under the name of the Coolgardie Cycle Express.

The stamps first used by the company were plain blue as below.

The stamps were cancelled with a steel stamp (with violet ink) showing

‘Per Coolgardie Cycle Express Co., Hunt-street’ Later, a new supply of stamps was obtained, consisting of three values 6d., 2/, and 5/. These were lithographed in two colours.

The centre showing a camel and rider travelling across the desert with the setting sun in the distance. They were inscribed:

‘Coolgardie Cycle Express Company, Western Australia.”

The value appeared in figures in each corner, and in words at the foot of the stamp. Some cycling records were put up by the cyclists for the Coolgardie Cycle Express Company, notably by Charlie Bamlett and ‘Wally’ Hamblin.

W ‘Wally’ HAMBLIN – Coolgardie Pioneer 29 July 1896

In addition to the stamps issued by the Coolgardie Cycle Express Company, another local stamp was used for a short period between Lake Lefroy and Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie.

The Coolgardie Cycle Express, a pioneering desert mail service from 1893, folded in December 1896 after facing competition from telegraphs and government postal services. Although short-lived, it left behind a legacy of swift deliveries and unique camel-stamped memories.

Stamp photo credit:  Richard Juzwin Stamps

Frank Henry Winfield was born on 27 Dec 1881 in Gregory, South Australia. He was the son of Edmund James Blackeby WINFIELD (1849-1941) and Amelia Catherine TILLY (1846-1926). Frank was to marry Valitie Mary WIVELL on the 22nd Sep 1913 in Adelaide South Australia at the age of 32 yrs.

Wedding photograph of Frank Henry Winfield and Valetie “Lettie’ Mary WIVELL in SA 1923 – Photo SLWA

Prior to his return to South Australia to marry Valetie, Frank spent some years in Western Australia searching for tin in  Greenbushes between 1903 and 1905. He is shown in the following photograph in a football team in Greebbushes.

Greenbushes Australian football team portrait, Winfield in the front row, far left hand side, c 1905 – Photo SLWA

Four O’Clock Shift East Murchison Gold Mine, Frank Winfield in centre holding dog 1905. Photo SLWA

He later moved to the Murchison were he started working for the East Murchison Gold Mine. He is shown in the following photograph in the front centre holding a dog.

Finding out that it was more profitable to supply miners than to be one, he then opened two general stores in the twin towns of Sandstone and Black Range near Leinster.

Winfield & Co. store, Black Range, ca. 1906 – Photo taken by Frank Winfield

Winfield & Co., Sandstone, W.A., ca. 1906 – Photo taken by Frank Winfield.

To say that these stores had multiple of uses can be seen in the advertidsing on the front of the awnings. Some are, Auctioneers, Financier, Beer, Newsagent, Habidashery, fruit, cool drink, drapery, medicines and even a library. You will see that both stores are of the timber and hesian variety and easily dismantled and moved to a new location.

After his marriage Frank never returned to Western Australia, his three sons, Raymond born 1920, Frank Henry born 1923 and David Bruce born 1927 were all born in his home town where Frank himself died in 1953.

The Round
By Darren McAullay

‘The Round’ Kalgoorlie Boulder Annual Race Meeting.

It is, without doubt, one of the biggest, most colourful, and successful racing carnivals to be staged anywhere in Australia. It is steeped in history, has been the scene of some of the most incredible events both on and off the track and for many, it has etched memories that have lasted a lifetime. But it’s much more than just a racing carnival. It is a social pilgrimage where friendships are made, bonded, and often rekindled by people from all walks of life.

It is a carnival in the true sense of the word It is the annual Kalgoorlie-Boulder Race Round.  A document written at the turn of the century revealed the important role racing and its social aspect meant to those who blazed the rugged Goldfields trail.

“The struggles of the pioneers against drought, fever, and all the ills that attend the men who ‘blaze’ the track could not kill their sporting instinct, and even back in the days when their weekly bath was measured in a pannikin and fever was claiming its scores of victims every week, racing thankfully took place periodically.”

The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club is one of the oldest registered racing associations in Western Australia having been formed in 1896.  When Mr. J A ‘Jack’ Wilson convened a special meeting at the Exchange Hotel in April of that year, to start the club, neither he nor any of those attending could have predicted the important role the Kalgoorlie Boulder Racing Club was to play in the history of WA racing.  Over the years, arguably some of the best gallopers that have ever looked through a bridle in Australia have graced the turf of the now-famous Kalgoorlie race track. The 1905 Melbourne Cup winner ‘Blue Spec’ is probably the most notable by first winning the 1904 Kalgoorlie Cup and then the Perth Cup, Moonee Valley Cup, and the Melbourne Cup all in the following year.

Some of the other great thoroughbreds of yesteryear that helped make the Kalgoorlie-Boulder race track a course of history include Sport Royal, May King, Jolly Beggar, Dyed Garments, and Lilyveil. While in more recent years names like Fairetha, Blue Spring, Special Test, and Moss Kingdom to name but a few. The round of course is not just the hustle and bustle of racing. Many social activities are conducted during the week-long program as well as the Golden Mile Trotting Club’s annual pacing carnival, Which attracts hundreds of visitors and tourists to the city every year.  For some people, and my guess is a mere few, the Round means little. For the majority of residents, punters, and those who simply enjoy a fun day at the races, the annual racing carnival always will be one of the highlights of the sporting calendar. From The Kalgoorlie Boulder Racing Club, ‘A Course History’ 1989′.

To end the Race Round on a sartorial note. These smart ladies were the winners of the 1938 ‘Fashion of the Fields’. They look as lovely as today’s fashionistas!!

The Round – A History of the First Century of Racing on the Western Australian Goldfields

The Kalgoorlie City Football Club recently celebrated 125 years of football, and with it came a book authored by John Terrell with heavy local research assistance coming from local club stalwart Cobber Rogers (88).

The club, through its predecessor Hannans, was established at a meeting at the Exchange Hotel in Kalgoorlie on 3 May 1895.  No other Goldfields football club, at least any east of Coolgardie, can come up with a foundation date earlier than this. The Hannans District Football Association officially started in 1896 with Boulder winning the association’s inaugural premiership.  Hannans won their first and only premiership the following year on 5^th September 1897, and it is this achievement that the modern-day Kalgoorlie City Football Club officially recognises as the club’s “moment of arrival”.  Hannans folded in 1899, and was superseded by the Kalgoorlie Football Club in 1900, and later re-named the Kalgoorlie City Football Club.

With the premiership that Hannans won in 1897 came an ornate silver cup, which is thought to be the oldest surviving trophy in Goldfield’s football.  Not only is it a significant relic of the past, it now serves as a beacon of endeavour for current-day Kalgoorlie City Football Club players and club supporters.

1897 Hannans District Football Association’s premiership cup

Western Argus  11 May 1895, page 3

While many of you have enjoyed several verses from the pen of John Terrell on the Outback Family History Blog, many of you will also be familiar with his books on the sporting history of the Goldfields. He recently sent me the following story which I’m sure you will find most interesting. You may think, as I did myself, that his nickname of ‘Carbine’ may have been from the town of Carbine near Coolgardie, however, it is from the famous racehorse called Carbine which won the 1890 Melbourne Cup carrying 24kg more than the runner-up.

James Carbine Gullan

While he may have been around the Hannans Football Club just for a short time, James “Carbine” Gullan will be remembered as a giant among Western Australian gold rush footballers. A native of Ballarat who also played Australian Rules football for Carlton in 1893, Gullan arrived at Coolgardie in 1894, playing for the local team Rovers.

He later moved to Kalgoorlie and was appointed captain of the Hannans Football Club during its inaugural premiership year in 1897. Gullan played most of Hannans’ matches that season, but, strangely, and probably due to work commitments in mining, he was absent on the grand final day on Sunday 5 September 1897. However, his two brothers Bob and Jerry played in his absence.

Gullan later represented the White Feather Football Club at Kanowna in 1898 when he won the club’s fairest and best medal, which one newspaper described as a splendid specimen of the goldsmith’s art. He subsequently moved to the coast playing for East Fremantle from 1902 to 1904 where he was revered as their champion ruckman.

Tragically, Gullan died on 13 June 1904 after he accidentally poisoned himself.  A Daily News report of the era said: “One of the cleverest and most popular footballers in Western Australia died after accidentally swallowing a poison he mistook for castor oil.”  After complaining of feeling unwell, he thought a dose of castor oil would do him some good. In a room he shared with two other men in Norfolk Street, Fremantle, were several bottles of different mixtures, one of them containing boiler fluid, which was occasionally used by athletes and others as a cure for corns.

The Mail Fremantle 14 June 1904, page 3

Gullan was heard to remark “that’s funny oil” and a few minutes later it was discovered that he had ingested the boiler fluid by mistake. About 4 a.m. the next morning one of his roommates was awakened by a groaning Mr Gullan, and he immediately called a doctor. Dr White attended, but Mr Gullan was pronounced dead a short time later. He was aged only 29yrs.

The Spectator y 16 July 1903, page 14

Described as “a tower of strength to his club, Gullan was a powerful man of magnificent proportions and wonderful stamina, who never tired on the field; he was always seen at his best in the final stages of a closely-contested game when an exciting finish was being fought out”. Another tribute stated:

“He was a good fellow all round, and just previous to his death he performed a meritorious act of charity towards a widow who had been left in poor circumstances.”

A memorial fund, organised by the East Fremantle Football Club, was established to pay for the late Mr Gullan’s funeral and erect a large tombstone in his honour at Fremantle Cemetery.

Memorial in the Fremantle Cemetery for James Carbine – Western Mail 22 February 1908, page 26

The above photograph appears in the Western Mail on the 22nd Feb 1908 page 26. In the accompanying artilc e it lists those in attendance should you be interested. James is buried in the Anglican section of the Fremantle cemetery. Should anyone be able to I would very much like to see a photograph of his grave today if it still exists. I have looked on ‘Find a Grave’ with no luck but I have added his photo to his entry in that site. The following is a link to the details of the grave location should you be able to help: James Gullan 

The East Fremantle Football Club is the holder of the Grant of burial for this plot which expired in 2006. As the grants run out after 25 years it must have been renewed several times by the club which is wonderful.

The following is a list of publications by John Terrill. Should you wish to purchase a copy of any of these books do let me know and I will pass your details on to John.

Books written and co-written by John Terrell

1993    GOLDFIELDS SPORT, a century of Heroes, Heroines and Happenings

1996    GRAVEL RASH, 100 years of Goldfield’s football (in association with Les Everett)

1998    KANGAS, Times and Tales of the Kalgoorlie City Football Club

2002    NORTH KAL—A GOLDEN CENTURY (The history of the North Kalgoorlie Primary School, which was primarily written by Tess Thomson, and to which I contributed both as a writer and producer of the book itself.

2009    BUSH CRICKET, the story of country cricket on Western Australia’s goldfields

2017    GOLDEN THREADS, Poetry from Western Australia’s gold rush era

2018    The Goldfields TOP 40 sporting stars

2019    CHASING THE SUN DOWN UNDER, commemorating the 190^th anniversary of the Nullarbor links golf course

2019    ZIMPEL, the extraordinary journey of a migrant family

2020    TREVOR SEABORN, the winner of the first swimming race to Rottnest and a State champion road cyclist

2021    MUM’S METTERS STOVE, verse from the WA Goldfields and beyond (It is basically a private memoir of my experiences living on the Goldfields and observations about Western Australia. (written but yet to be released.)

Current (Works in Progress)

2022    I’m now working on a book to commemorate the 125^th anniversary of the Kalgoorlie City Football Club (for release in 2023)

2023    (coming) A CENTURY OF CHAMPIONS, the Goldfields’ all-time top 100 sportsmen and sportswomen.