As often happened in the early days, the first site considered for a cemetery ground became unsuitable usually because of things such as proximity to the living areas or water supply or perhaps the ground was too hard to dig. This happened at Wiluna, and after less than five years of use and 20 burials, […]
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
A Playground of Death – grave tales
15/02/2025 By 3 Comments
After living in Kalgoorlie-Boulder for many years, and talking to lots of people about what they did as youngsters and what games they played. I was told, that although playing on the slime dumps and near mine shafts was ‘strictly forbidden’, just about everyone did it. If their parents had know what they got up […]
The Men of the Chaffers –
15/02/2025 By 1 Comment
About 24 years ago the buildings and plant of the Chaffers Mine on the Golden Mile were sold off and the mine was officially closed. As a part of these proceedings, KCGM held a big open day with stalls and displays and tours around the remaining buildings and into the Super Pit. Amongst the items […]
The Krakouer Boys – a family saga
08/02/2025 By 6 Comments
There is a wonderful and interesting link to the Krakouer family with the finding of what is now Coolgardie. Twenty-eight years before either Bailey or Ford had sighted gold at what was later to become Coolgardie, Theodore Isidore Krakouer, a Russian Jew, had been sent out as a convict number 232 from Portsmouth, England. He […]
The Billy Can – a swagmans friend
08/02/2025 By Leave a Comment
The Quart-Pot and Billy-Can No utensil is so generally used in the bush as the billy-can; none is more widely distributed, none better known in Australia. It is cheap, light, useful, and a burden to no man. It goes with every traveller, it figures in comedy and tragedy and has been the repository of the […]
