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 Murder of Michael Naughton –

The Sun – Kalgoorlie – 22 February 1920 A MURCHISON MYSTERY UNRAVELED BY INSPECTOR MANN By the time Inspector Mann was 10 years, in the C.I.D. he was recognised as one of the ablest detectives in Australia. His only rival In WA was the late Detective Sergeant Kavanagh, but he was in charge of the […]

The Story of the Murchison-part 1

As told by the nephew of the Late J C Peterkin, also called J C Peterkin, in Perth, in March 1946. About the years 1889-1890, Gilles MacPherson and J C Peterkin met in Perth. Both were old Kimberley and Queensland prospectors, they had known each other for a long time but had never actually worked […]

Cue Cemetery and Help Arrives

Next week will be published the finished first draft (is it ever finished?) of the Cue Cemetery Burial Register. For the last 18 months John Pritchard and I have been working on an upgrade of the Cue Cemetery records. Not being happy with just a name and a date, John proceeded to try find out […]

The Probable Fate of James Thomas Whyte

Another page from the ‘Book of the Bush’ Truth Perth -13 November 1915, page 4 TALE OF THE WILDS THE PROSPECTOR THAT NEVER RETURNED. Probable Fate of James Thomas Whyte The result of a par in our last week’s mining budget has been the cause of considerable inquiry as to the fate of a prospector […]

Messs Boylen and Anthill -pioneer profile

Western Mail 9 December 1899, page 166 MESSRS BOYLEN AND ANTILL Leading Share Brokers. Messrs. Boylen and Antill are the oldest established, and probably the most widely known, Kalgoorlie broking firms. They started operations early in 1896, and emerged from the spirited, but short-lived, boom of that year unscathed and prosperous. Later on, they weathered […]