Tom McMillan and the Wobblies – by David McMillan

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As we commemorate the ANZAC battles of a century ago, it is not generally appreciated today that Australia was bitterly divided over its commitment to the war effort.  The Labor Prime Minister, Hughes, had promised Britain another 80,000 men but was unable to get the necessary legislation through the Labor-controlled senate; two thirds of the […]

Hurrah for Old Coolgardie! – a verse

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The Gold Seekers halted at Southern Cross, Western Australia in 1888 and from there the ‘break through’ into the desert was one of the hardest tasks in the history of Australian prospecting. The optimism and courage of the diggers are reflected in ‘Hurrah for Old Coolgardie’! Hurrah! for old Coolgardie, All true men brave and […]

Killed by Lightning – Rody Schwan

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Kalgoorlie Western Argus 20 September 1904, page 12 KILLED BY LIGHTNING – R SCHWAN, PROSPECTOR – LAVERTON Sept. 14, 1904 News has just reached Laverton that a well-known prospector, ” Rody Schwan, was killed by lightning yesterday afternoon at the Daisy Belle, a prospecting show about 12 miles west of Duketon. The weather during the […]

An Old Timer Remembers

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OLD-TIMER’S LETTER  –   Employee in First Post Office in Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie Miner 17 May 1950, page 2 Mr. Lionel  J. Dudley, an old-timer, sent an interesting account of some of his experiences in the early days of the goldfields to Mr. J. D. Teahan, Mayor of Boulder. Once an employee in the first post […]

East-West Telegraph Line -Eucla

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Outback Family History Reader, Gary Cowans, recently sent in the following wonderful photographs from his PMG collection. They are reproduced with his permission. To build the East-West telegraph Line supplies were dropped off at the nearby Eucla Jetty. Then the Post and Telegraph crews began the job of scaling the nearby sand-hills before following the […]