Gus Thorn – pioneer profile

AUGUSTUS THORN by Lyn Beard The death of Augustus Thorn does not appear to have been registered and the burial did not show up on any of the usual resources for graves. The only record of his death in 1932 seems to be this small article in The Goldfields Observer of 17 July 1932.   […]

Michael Henry McAppion – grave tales

MCAPPION Michael Henry — was aged 29yrs when he died on the 26 Aug 1920, at the Leonora Hospital. His occupation was given as a Labourer. The cause of death was Morbus Cordis, Chronic Nephritis & Heart Failure. He was the second son of Robert Michael ‘Mick’ MCAPPION (Labourer) and Caroline nee PALMER. He was born […]

Mr Schumann – a man of enterprise

Margaret Hartley’s ancestors had a long and varied history in the Murchison district of Western Australia. She has very kindly sent me the following photographs and details of her Schumann family. The Schumann family outside their house at Day Dawn about 1907 GULLEWA  GOLDFIELD The WA Record 27th Feb1897

The Resolution:

The Resolution. A strong and stalwart man was he, And he sat in the shearing shed And shore, on the distant Boolooree, Where the best of sheep are bred. He sang in a voice that was full and deep, And his shear blades merrily rang, And he snipped and snipped at his bleating sheep; And […]

A Woodline Childhood by Ron Matthews

From the late 1890s until the early 1950s because all heavy machinery was steam-driven, vast quantities of wood were required to fuel the boilers, coal was too expensive. Consequently, Wood Lines were born. The last surviving company was “The Western Australian Goldfields Firewood Supply Limited” which ceased operations in 1964. From early 1946 until the […]