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

Matron Emily Hart by Marion Ward:

13/02/2021 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Thanks to Marion Ward for researching this amazing woman. She’s a real heroine of the bush. This history was researched to hopefully provide the provenance of a collection of jewelry, which was donated to a suburban historical society. I was Keeper of Records at the society and decided to undertake the task of research as […]

How Green was my Face-

13/02/2021 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

How Green was my Face refers to the first showcase in the use of ANFO (Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil) for blasting in Kalgoorlie by ICI. It was at an open cut on the Percy Lease – not far from the Goldfields High School. The blast was overly successful and flying rock landed on the […]

The Fight for the Ida H:

13/02/2021 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

With thanks to Gary Cowans: Truth 16 February 1930, page 6 THE FIGHT FOR IDA H Who discovered the Ida H gold mine, twenty miles from Mount Margaret, in the State of West Australia? Who got the half million sterling extracted from it? Whence was its name derived? Ask those question of old Dick (Richard) […]

Francis ‘Frank’ Cornelius Scott – grave tales

13/02/2021 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Kalgoorlie Western Argus 12 July 1904, page 24 THE LATE MR. FRAN SCOTT. “I first met the late Mr. Frank Scott.” says a gentleman who knew him for 20 years, in Burrowa, New South Wales, where he was in business as a professional accountant, and I also represented his father, a flour mill proprietor, doing […]

Paynesville – ghost town

06/02/2021 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Paynesville is located 77 km east of Mount Magnet, Western Australia Gold was discovered in this area in early 1898 by Tom Payne and Arthur Waldeck, and by April 1898 the place had been inspected by a surveyor and a plan of subdivision prepared. It was at first referred to as ‘Paynton’, and ‘East Mount […]