Peter Dennis KAVANAGH – Police Officer

Peter Dennis Kavanagh joined the Police Force when he was twenty one. How he crushed the gold stealing industry on the Golden Mile has now gone down in history. He was tutored by that wonderfully astute Excise Inspector – John Mitchell Christie. He was a born detective, keen and shrewd, with boundless energy. He was also […]

George GAYFORD, Prospector – grave tales

This is a photograph of George Gayford, a prospector, taken about 1935 in Wilina. He died the same year as this photo was taken. He is buried in the Wiluna Cemetery  I have always thought this image captures the hard life of the prospector in the early days. How tough must he have been to […]

Mount Magnet – Goldfields Town

Latitude : 28 04 S Longitude : 117 51 E  Western Australia Mount Magnet is a townsite in the Murchison goldfields, 569 km north east of Perth and 126 km east of Yalgoo. Gold was discovered in the Mount Magnet area in July 1891 by the prospectors George Woodley and Tom Sampey. By late 1893 […]

YUNNDAGA – Ghost Town

  A New town has been added to the main site. Yunndaga. A small town about 7 kms South of Menzies.  This photograph is of the staff of the Menzies Consolidated Gold Mine 1916, taken when the town was called Woolgar.   www.outbackfamilyhistory.com.au YUNNDAGA From:- Landgate  http://bit.ly/1a1zrnQ Latitude 29° 45′ S Longitude 121° 03′ E […]

The Great Unwashed Preserver of the Peace:

Constable JOLLY – Coolgardie, Western Australia 1909 Nick-named ‘The Great Unwashed Preserver of the Peace’ Constable Jolly blamed the scarcity of water for his economical use of it which in turn, caused some dissatisfaction among his fellow police officers who finally planned to lure him to Silverthorne’s dam and push him in. This drastic step […]