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

First Mayor of Coolgardie – James Shaw

24/04/2015 By Moya Sharp 2 Comments

James Shaw was born in 1846 in Belfast, Ireland. His father was Hugh Shaw, an engineer, and his mother was Margaret. They married in Victoria. In 1864, at the age of 18, James Shaw sailed to Auckland, New Zealand, where he started a most successful contracting business. He also won a service medal for fighting […]

The Mincham Family of Bonnie Vale

21/04/2015 By Moya Sharp 3 Comments

This photograph, which is one of many Goldfields photographs belonging to the ‘Mincham Family Photos’ collection and shows Eliza Mincham seated outside her home (left) with a friend and their children (and dog). Eliza was to have four children, all born at Bonnievale before she and her husband, Charles Stephen Mincham, left in 1907 and […]

Dan Shea – Discovered Gold With Paddy Hannan

10/04/2015 By Moya Sharp 5 Comments

Memorial headstone in memory of prospector Dan Shea, who discovered gold with Paddy Hannan in Kalgoorlie. Dan Shea was born in County Cork, Ireland, and emigrated in 1868 to prospect on the goldfields of Australia and New Zealand. He teamed up with Paddy Hannan and Tom Flanagan, and the three prospectors worked together to prospect […]

Spargo’s Reward Gold Mine – Roll of Honour

08/04/2015 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Place: Coolgardie, Western Australia, 6429 Orientation: 39 km SW of Kalgoorlie Location: RSL Sub-Branch, Cnr Bayley Street and Ford Street, Coolgardie, Western Australia Position: 30 57 29S 121 10 13 The polished wooden board remembers employees of Spargo’s Reward Gold Mine who served in World War II. The mine was about 50 km south of […]

Peter Dennis KAVANAGH – a ledgend in his time

07/04/2015 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

Peter Dennis Kavanagh joined the Police Force when he was twenty-one. How he crushed the gold-stealing industry on the Golden Mile has now gone down in history. He was tutored by that wonderfully astute Excise Inspector – John Mitchell Christie. He was a born detective, keen and shrewd, with boundless energy. He was also a […]