The Ghost Town:- by Jules Reside
“Deserted now, no more your stirred
by those in quest of gold.
Now you’re but a memory blurred
of what you were of old.
Yet, though the camp in silence sleeps,
Except for songs of birds
There’s language in your silent heaps
More eloquent than words ……..
Tuckanarra:- Latitude 27° 07′ S Longitude 118° 05′ E
The abandoned goldfields townsite of Tuckanarra is located in the Murchison Goldfield, 692 km north north east of Perth and 41 km north north east of Cue on the Great Northern Highway. Gold was discovered here by Boyle and Moore early in 1897, and for a time the place was known as Boyle’s Find. In early 1898 the government proposed to erect a battery here, and the Tuckanarra Progress Committee requested a townsite be declared.
After some debate about the exact location of the townsite, lots were surveyed in late 1898 and the townsite gazetted in February 1899. Tuckanarra is an Aboriginal name, first recorded for a nearby hill in 1889. One expert in seeking to derive a meaning for the name has suggested that the meaning for the Aboriginal word “dtuka”is the coolaman or wooden dish and “gnurra”is camp or mia mia. Therefore the probable meaning of this name is “camp of the wooden dish”.
Tuckanarra residents returning from a football match in Cue, 1927 Model T Ford taken c 1930
Moya Sharp
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My mum lived there as a little girl. She was born in Meekatharra. 1936
Moya, do you think maybe that is the origin of tucker for food?
Could be !!!
I’m looking for any information on my great Uncle, Thomas Corbett de Lacy who died in Tuckanarra on the 6th Sept, 1902.
Apparently he was the saloon keeper in town, and died at only 37. I’m interested in any information you may be able to provide me with please Moya.
I have hit a brick wall when it comes to his parents, but apparently he was born in Victoria and had a twin brother named Ernest Edward who lived in Maylands. (My grandfather.)
Hi Didi. I am also trying to trace Ernest Edward De Lacy family for a friend of mine . I have also hit a mighty big brick wall on his parents ! Some ancestry.com trees have wrongly stated Thomas Corbet De Lacy senior died in Dunedin NZ. -a different TC De Lacy coincidently with same names.
I may bleed to apply for some death cert’s to find if any parentage or birth details supplied on cert but I am hoping you may be able to assist me. I am Rey happy to share my research with you anytime. Regards, Brad Colley of Kewdale.
Bradjc8@bigpond.com
Oh my goodness I am coming up against the same thing – just wondering how you went in furthering your research?
Hello Moya. I am trying to find in formation on Richard Edward Searle who lived in Tuckanarra from about 1903 to about 1920. He was a grocer there, his wife was Elizabeth and their children were Lillian Maude and Herbert Edward. I photo of the township would be great if one exists.
bob.searle56@bigpond.com
My Grandfather Arthur Russell took his family to Tuckanarra in the early 1930’s. He was a miner/prospector. They lived in a two room dwelling with hessian walls, a dirt floor and tin roof. They were evacuated south during WW2. My mum often talks about her carefree life there as a child.
Hi Julie. I was born in Meekatharra in 1934 but spent my first 8 or 9 years in Tuckanarra as my father Francis William Moloney ran the battery there. I can recall that a family of Russells lived just up the road from us and I used to go to school with some of them .Dad ran the battery there and used to crush the ore for the prospectors and in those days you had to sell the gold to the mint. I go prospecting up that way and I was in Tuckanarra only a couple of weeks ago. I live in Como now but have done a lot of prospecting since 1980 . I think the Russells had a large family and some of the girls names may have been Clair,Irene and Peg but it was along time ago Cheers Frank
Hi Frank.
My Mother is Claire Russell and she has spoken about your family in the past. Your name is familiar to me. How very nice to hear from you. I will mention you to her when I visit on Thursday. Margaret (probably Peg) was the eldest of the children and is still with us turning 90 this year. Auntie Irene, Uncle Trevor, Auntie Dorothy and Auntie Fay have all passed away. Georgina and Mum are the only Tuckanarra family members still remaining although there were two other girls born after they went south at the outbreak of WW2. My Grandfather Arthur Russell was killed in a cave-in at his workplace in Mandurah in 1946 which is ironic as he had plenty of experience down a mine shaft. Nana passed away in 1992. They had a very hard life in Tuckanarra but Mum has always said that in spite of the hardships they were amongst the best times of her life.
I gave her a book to record her memories and she has written about her life in Tuckanarra. She tells a story about one of the indigenous women in a fur coat Nana gave her, about walking across the tops of the shafts, the grocery train, my Grandfathers chickens and horses, the water tank at the station they kept themselves cool in and about a ghost. I believe that someone was found hanging in a tree long before they got there, I thing this is the ghost/spirit story.
I have photos of the house they lived in and a school photo as well. I think ther may be some others as well.
I’ve never been to Tuckanarra but as I’m now approaching the grey nomad age and retired it may be on the cards.
Once again, thank you for contacting me, it would be nice to compare memories.
Kind regards Julie
It is not quite a ghost town, the homestead is still occupied, and until September 2012 when my father Peter Henrickson died the property behind it was occupied for many years. My Dad built more onto the property but when he bought it there was only the two room shack with a tin roof. We own lot 69 of the townsite.