The Countryman 16th Oct 1958 – ARTHUR BENNETT. Bill Faahan’s name creeps into most stories of early Coolgardie days. Bill ran the Club Hotel, he was the town’s mayor in its heyday, and he was known to every prospector east of Southern Cross. One of his many yardmen was a runaway sailor from a ship […]
The Atlas Chambers, Coolgardie
The site of the Atlas building in Bayley Street is now occupied by the old Ben Prior’s garage site and is used by the Coolgardie Restoration Club, and was described as ‘One of the most striking additions to the architectural features in Coolgardie in the late 1890’s.’ Built of brick with cement dressings, the front […]
Rampollini’s Piggery – Burra Rocks
At the bottom of the wall of the Burra Rocks Dam, a large galvanised two-inch pipe protrudes. It is known that Benny Rampolini, an ex woodliner, had a piggery here in the 1970’s and he had about six pigs. The pipe was to provide water for the piggery. A stone wall had been constructed that […]
The Publican and The Pig – Coolgardie 1905
‘The Sun’ – April 1905 Coolgardie Paddy Murphy ran a ‘Shypoo’ (sly grog) ranch unbeknownst to the authorities. His establishment was always identified by Paddy’s favorite pet pig. Paddy could not read or write, nor could his wife Bridget. Their system of accounting didn’t apply the rules of double entry it answered all practical accounting […]
First Mayor of Coolgardie – James Shaw
James Shaw was born in 1846 in Belfast, Ireland. His father was Hugh Shaw, an engineer, and his mother was Margaret. They married in Victoria. In 1864, at the age of 18, James Shaw sailed to Auckland, New Zealand, where he started a most successful contracting business. He also won a service medal for fighting […]