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

Yalgoo : a book review and photographs

07/05/2019 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

The history of pastoral stations and mining in the Yalgoo district, east of Geraldton. Available from Hesperian Press. YALGOO – Latitude 28° 20′ S Longitude 116° 41′ E The townsite of Yalgoo is located in the Murchison region, 499 km north north east of Perth and 118 km east north east of Mullewa. Gold […]

When the Law Came to Niagara:

04/05/2019 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

Smith’s Weekly, 26 November 1927, by John Drayton How “Justice” was Served Out on the Goldfields. Niagara was one of the little towns worth a column in the W.A. Post Office Directory of 1899 following Bob Menzie’s strike in September 1894. The town’s life was short, but while it was alive, it ‘LIVED’. Menzie’s find […]

I J K Cohn – pioneer profile

04/05/2019 By Moya Sharp 7 Comments

Isidore James Knight COHEN JP, (he later changed the name to COHN), was born in Melbourne in 1843, the son of Victor Cohen (Born 1813 on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, England) and Annie Henrietta MAGNUS. From his early boyhood, he had been associated with gold mining. If there was ever a calling conducive […]

Jacky and Polly and Jimmy: a tragic tale

02/05/2019 By Moya Sharp 3 Comments

In the Christmas week of 1894, a prospector James Anderson, known as ‘New Zealand Jimmy’, finally had some success after a run of bad luck at Kurnalpi and Peake’s Find, by finding a nugget at Pig Flat at Coolgardie. It weighed in at 28 ozs for which he received £102 from the Union Bank. James […]

Yellowdine : Treasures in the Bush – book review

30/04/2019 By Moya Sharp 6 Comments

Yellowdine, Reen’s Soak, Bronti, Kellandi and Mt Palmer – by Delys Howlett This excellent book, published in 2007 by my good friend Delys Howlett, is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the district. Delys has a strong personal connection to this place she loves, as it is where she was brought […]