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The Billy Can – a swagmans friend

08/02/2025 By Moya Sharp 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 […]

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Filed Under: People, Poets Corner, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Goldfields History, Western Australia

The McCann Hoax – burned in effigy

08/02/2025 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

Daily News 1 July 1895, page 5 COOLGARDIE NEWS: THE ALLEGED FIND AT LAKE COWAN. RETURN OF MR McCANN AS DELEGATE. FRUITLESS SEARCH FOR THE FIND. EXCITED MEETING IN BAYLEY-STREET – CHARGE AGAINST THE PRESS – THE COURIER OFFICE STONED.MR McCANN SMUGGLED AWAY – NOW UNDER POLICE PROTECTION – FURTHER TROUBLE EXPECTED COOLGARDIE, July 1 […]

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Filed Under: People, Places, Ripping Yarns & Tragic Tales Tagged With: Australian History, Coolgardie, Goldfields History, Western Australia

Red Flannel Joe –

08/02/2025 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

Western Mail – Perth – 28 February 1935, page 9 He is known as ‘Red Flannel Joe‘ throughout the district. He is old and somewhat pompous and lives in a tin hut in what was once the main street of this little nor-west town of Peak Hill. It’s almost deserted now, and Joe’s structure is […]

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Filed Under: People Tagged With: Australian History, Goldfields History, Peak Hill, Western Australia

Billy ‘Cyclone’ Aitken – a man of many parts

01/02/2025 By Moya Sharp 1 Comment

William ‘Billy’ Gaskell Aitken was Mayor of Coolgardie in 1906 and a councillor in the town prior to this. After his term of office, he was presented with an elaborate engraved and coloured citation to commemorate his service. It said:                               […]

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Filed Under: People, Places Tagged With: Australian History, Cemeteries, Coolgardie, Goldfields History, Western Australia

Mount Jackson Cemetery – grave tales

01/02/2025 By Moya Sharp Leave a Comment

MOUNT JACKSON CEMETERY 1896-1914 = 9 burials Coordinates: -30.20141, 119.11102 110 km from Southern Cross Mount Jackson was named by the explorer Gregory in 1846. A settlement developed in the Mt Jackson area after gold was found there in 1894. There were two hotels are the height of the gold rush period. Mt Jackson Station and homestead […]

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Filed Under: Grave Tales, People, Places, Towns and Places Tagged With: Australian History, Cemeteries, Goldfields History, Mt Jackson, Western Australia, Yilgarn

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