Mount Magnet – Goldfields Town

Latitude : 28 04 S Longitude : 117 51 E  Western Australia

Mount Magnet is a townsite in the Murchison goldfields, 569 km north east of Perth and 126 km east of Yalgoo. Gold was discovered in the Mount Magnet area in July 1891 by the prospectors George Woodley and Tom Sampey. By late 1893 there was enough interest in the area for the government to consider declaring a townsite, and the survey was carried out in 1894 and the townsite gazetted in 1895. The railway to Mount Magnet was completed in August 1897, but it was not opened until July 1898. The railway closed in May 1978.

Mount Magnet is named after the nearby hill of the same name. The hill was named by the explorer Robert Austin in 1854, in consequence of the magnetic properties of the rocks on its summit. The Aboriginal name of the hill is Warramboo.           Source:- Landgate http://bit.ly/1I7b99K

I have just uploaded a corrected list of the Mount Magnet Cemetery burials. If anyone has relatives buried here please do check the entry to make sure all is correct.  Unfortunately, with the exception of one photograph, I do not yet have images of the headstones and monuments.  If anyone has any photographs they are willing to share I would love to hear from you.  This photograph was taken in 1985 and shows a long shot of the cemetery which I think will look much the same today.

The cemetery GPS coordinates, a map and a QR code can be found at:- Australian Cemetery Geolocations

Mount Magnet Cemetery 1985

This photograph of the Kent family taking tea was taken in 1897.  If you look closely you will see how much trouble the ladies have gone to in order to ‘keep up appearances’. I am sure even today we would struggle to put on such a show out in the bush with only a hessian and wattle home.

Kent Family 1897 Mount Magnet

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Moya Sharp

Owner at Outback Family History

My name is Moya Sharp, I live in Kalgoorlie Western Australia and have worked most of my adult life in the history/museum industry. I have been passionate about history for as long as I can remember and in particular the history of my adopted home the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Through my website I am committed to providing as many records and photographs free to any one who is interested in the family and local history of the region.

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