The Truth Perth – 14 April 1906, page 4
ROLL UP AT KURNALPI
by the EMINENT EXPLORER
As I entered the precincts of the camp at Kurnalpi the dishes were rattling with a venomous din that would have caused a new chum to look around with a view to keeping clear of where the bees were swarming. The rattling, however, was a sign for a roll up, which was to assemble the diggers to deal with any matter in a public manner. A mandate, which though not issued by legal responsible tribunal, no digger ever disobeyed. Joining the stream of men hurrying to a central point, I found a large concourse of more than a hundred assembled outside Lindsey’s store.
The roll up had been called for the purpose of dealing with a dishonest digger named Winterbottom, who received a fair trial such as would have been given in a court of law. He stood in an empty wagon with the members of the tribunal standing around with the accuser in their midst. The president, Billy Minter, an erstwhile professional Pugalist and then a lucky digger and discoverer of the gully named after him, addressed the crowd. He set forth the accusation against the prisoner.
It appeared that Winterbottom and his mate had been working with a rocker in one of the gullies, but with apparent poor results. So poor indeed that the mate, who was young and somewhat green, had been unable to pay his store account, it had been running for some three months. The storekeeper had demanded settlement from the man, who replied that he could not pay as he did not have the wherewithal. The storekeeper commented on this as very strange, as he and his mate seemed as good as gold, and the latter, the accused, having not only paid his account in gold but had sent through him, the storekeeper, a quantity of the precious metal to be placed to his credit in a Victorian bank. The young man assured the storekeeper that he had nothing; the storekeeper’s books were referred to, and it was made evident that Winterbottom had been keeping back the gold mostly in slugs and sending it away for his sole benefit.
The quantity accounted for was about 100 ounces
There were no police stationed at Kurnalpi at the time in 1896, and in this matter, it would not have been of concern if there had been. A complaint was lodged with the ‘Diggers Committee’ and the man Winterbottom summerly arrested. It transpired that he had always worked on the face in the mine, and the mate worked the rocking machine. Winterbottom’s eyes were keen as was his method of secretion. He was able to secure all the gold before the wash went through the machine. Kurnalpi prospectors will remember it was a sluggy field on which the bulk of the alluvial gold was won by specking.
The prisoner had no defence, he was an oldish man, a pitiable object as he stood bareheaded with sloping shoulders, bent head and shrinking body, he was the embodiment of dejected guilt before the manly and determined fellows surrounding him. The case against him was clear, and the court retired to confer. Then arose a demonstration against the prisoner which, if his hair were not already grey, would have turned so. One man advanced to the wagon, brandishing a rifle and yelling at the top of his voice
‘shoot the cow’, shoot the ‘crimson cur’,
The cry being taken up by many others, another digger climbed up onto the store building to a beam used for hoisting from wagons and ran a rope through the block and put a noose in the dangling end. “That’s it, hang him, hang the blanky waster” was the general cry. In the midst of the uproar, the president mounted the cart and called for order. Instantly, there was a dead silence, a solemn hush. The court ordered that the thief should make restitution to his mate by signing all papers necessary to obtain the value of the stolen gold from the bank in Victoria and to pay all costs. He was to be deprived of his share in the claim and forfeit it to his mate. He was also to make a ‘voluntary’ hospital contribution of 10% on all the claims output.
After signing the papers, the accused would be retained in custody until the morning and then banished from the diggings. Waving an arm to the crowd, the president said, “I’ve noticed one or two men working themselves into a passion; these had better be kept cool, there is going to be no violence, the man is old and the father of family, the penalty is just and is the decision of the committee which speaks with the authority of the diggers. I warn you to abide by it. If the prisoner refuses to obey your ruling, we will give him 24 hours to clear out. After that, you can do what you like with him!”
This was a death sentence, and the crowd dispersed. The accused was led away by two miners, the papers were signed, and the next day, he was escorted to Coolgardie with the instructions
to keep on going west, fast!
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- The House of Death: Kalgoorlie’s Strange Suicide Pact - 05/09/2026
- The Mystery Mine: Murder or Suicide? - 05/09/2026
- Across the Generations: The Gaffney Family Story - 05/09/2026
Leave a Reply