Sly Grog Shanties, which were unlicensed hotels, often selling poor quality alcohol, sprang up where ever people settled and the police were hard-pressed to keep a check on the offenders. The record from the Mt Morgans Courier details just such a case that would have annoyed the local constabulary. I wondered if this term of […]
Uncle Jack – a tree to remember him
I was recently contacted by Jeannine Nolan who has very kindly allowed me to tell the story of her Great Uncle Jack. She came to get in touch through a story I did last year about John Hindhaugh. There may be a family connection as Emily Marion Hindhaugh married Ezra Chappel, Jack’s uncle. Sadly Emily […]
When Death Creeps In –
West Australian – Perth WA – 6 January 1934, page 4 WHEN DEATH CREEPS IN A Tale of a Mine. By Ion L. Idriss, author of ‘Flynn of the Inland It is nasty, facing death down below, whether under sea or land. Sam Ure worked doggedly though uneasily, for the ground was creaking, a subterranean […]
The Breakaway Brewery:
The Black Range Brewery, or the Breakaway Brewery as it was also known, began trading in August of 1907 with the proprietor as Joseph Vincent Kearney, an Irishman born in 1873 at Ballymoon, Co Carlow Ireland. The manager was Michael ‘Mick’ Dempsey. It was located on the Maninga Marley Road, 4.8 kilometers from Sandstone. What […]
Barrambie : put the’wild’ in the wild west !!!
Barrambie, is located 116 kilometres south east of Meekatharra and 75 kilometres north west of Sandstone. Of all the small satellite towns surrounding Sandstone, Barrambie was the one that has had, right up to the present time, the most constant stream of prospectors and miners working the shows in that vicinity. In June of 1905 […]