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

The Coolgardie Safe – a family story

19/10/2018 By Moya Sharp 7 Comments

Several members of the McCormick family were to emigrate from South Australia to Western Australia in the late 1890’s but the most well know of them, was Arthur Patrick McCormick who was the inventor of the ‘Coolgardie Safe’. The following photographs are connected to this family but are also valuable in their own right, as […]

G H Rainsford – pioneer profile

18/10/2018 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

George Henry Rainsford was a well-known figure around Kalgoorlie Boulder for over 30 years. He was a Councillor on the Boulder Council for 10yrs and then served for 6yrs as Mayor of that City. He was then appointed to the Kalgoorlie Council in 1932. As well as his Municipal duties he carried our a thriving […]

The Dimers and the Greens – a picnic at Norseman

17/10/2018 By Moya Sharp 7 Comments

I was recently sent this wonderful photograph from OFH reader Peter Green, it is from his family album. William Henry and Clara Elizabeth Green are in the front sulky. The child on Clara’s knee is Arnold Joseph Green born at Burbank’s in 1910, he has been identified by Uncle Arnold’s son. The story goes that […]

Burned in effigy – the McCann Hoax

14/10/2018 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Daily News (Perth, WA : 1882 – 1950), Monday 1 July 1895, page 5 COOLGARDIE NEWS. : THE ALLEGED FIND AT LAKE COWAN. RETURN OF MR McCANN AS DELEGATE. FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR THE FIND. EXCITED MEETING IN BAYLEY-STREET. CHARGE AGAINST THE PRESS. THE COURIER OFFICE STONED. MR McCANN SMUGGLED AWAY., NOW UNDER POLICE PROTECTION. FURTHER […]

Disgraceful Conduct at Bonnievale :

14/10/2018 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Coolgardie Miner 8 December 1898 DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT AT BONNIEVALE LETTER TO THE EDITOR Sir,—Will you allow me, through the medium of your valuable paper, to draw the Police Inspector’s attention to the state of affairs at Bonnievale? Almost every Sunday evening, a crowd of people gathers around the leading hotel, some of them in a […]