The people of the Goldfields

The Goldfields of Western Australia was and still is made up of many people, from poets to politicians, from saints and sinners and everything in between. I hope to tell you the stories of some of these people either famous or infamous or just the ordinary folks. Sometime the most ordinary people do the most extraordinry things

Margaret Morgan – grave tales

05/03/2022 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Margaret Morgan nee McGree was born in Bowden, South Australia on 18th September 1867. She was the daughter of Patrick McGree and Elizabeth Dunne. She was the fifth child of Patrick and Elizabeth who had in total of 14 children. In 1892 Margaret she married James Morgan (possibly in Tasmania or SA) and they had […]

The Biggest Scamp in the Camp – by A G Hales

26/02/2022 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

The Biggest Scamp in the Camp by A G ‘Smiler’ Hales The rough log shanty was flooded with warm red light, the bark still clung to the unhewn cedar trunks out of which the hut was built, the floor, though scrupulously clean, was of clay and the table in the centre of the room was […]

Jarlach DUFFY – ‘A Dynasty’s Harsh Beginning’

26/02/2022 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

If you were to visit the Perth offices of Eyers Reed Ltd, 45 floors up from the city of Perth with views of the Swan River and Darling Ranges, it takes considerable effort that this modern share broking firm with a turnover of tens of millions had its beginning on the Goldfields of Western Australia. […]

James and Amelia Saunders – grave tales

26/02/2022 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

One of the many impressive memorials in the Kalgoorlie Cemetery is of the grave of James and Amelia SAUNDERS. Grave 5262 in the Anglican section. This is part of their story. James Archibald SAUNDERS was born in Malmsbury, Victoria, on 29 June 1873 to James and Catherine (nee Williams) Saunders. He married Amelia Elizabeth FLEXMORE […]

A Gentleman of the Road –

19/02/2022 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Four years after the establishment of the Department of Mines, it bore little resemblance to the tiny Mining Branch which had started operation within the Department of Lands and Surveys in Perth Western Australia. Mr. Patrick Pelly, a clerk with the Department, was remembered as ‘a reserved, courteous and obliging old fellow’, however, he was […]