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

Sapper Alfred John WITHERS – Goldfields Hero

SAPPER ALFRED JOHN WITHERS 6851 –  2nd Tunnelling Company     Born 27th December 1888 at Nhill, Victoria, to John Alfred Withers and Esther Olive Florence (nee Floyd), Alf Withers enlisted on 6th June 1916 at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.  A miner by trade, he gave his place of residence as 242 Trafalgar Street, Trafalgar, WA, […]

The Great Unwashed Preserver of the Peace:

Constable JOLLY – Coolgardie, Western Australia 1909 Nick-named ‘The Great Unwashed Preserver of the Peace’ Constable Jolly blamed the scarcity of water for his economical use of it which in turn, caused some dissatisfaction among his fellow police officers who finally planned to lure him to Silverthorne’s dam and push him in. This drastic step […]

Soldiers of WW1 from the Yilgarn (Southern Cross) district of Western Australia.

                      This slim book was kindly given to me by Sandra Playle and features portraits of service men and women of the Yilgarn District (Southern Cross District of the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia) . In particular there are many excellent photographs of WW1 soldiers […]

The Corrick Family Entertainers:

BOULDER- TOWN HALL.  ‘THE CORRICK FAMILY” Saturday 14th August 1909. The Corrick Family  continued their Boulder season last night. There was a large attendance in the popular portion of the house. The items of the program consisted of orchestral selections and choruses by the full strength of the company and a fine hand bell performance, […]

Kunanalling School Honour Roll 1914 to 1918

The township of Kunanalling is situated on the 90 mile road about 20 miles north-west of Coolgardie. It was originally known as the 25 mile then later gazzetted as Kunanalling.  The once thriving town is now deserted and the only remains are those of the Premier Hotel.  The following names are those of the pupils […]