YUNNDAGA AKA WOOLGAR
Latitude 29° 45′ S Longitude 121° 03′ E
Yunndaga is an abandoned goldfields townsite located 718 km east north east of Perth and 7 km south of Menzies. Gold was discovered in the area in the mid-1890s, and in 1898, a business and residence subdivision was laid out at what was then referred to as Woolgar. Business and residence subdivisions were very temporary and gave no secure tenure to the inhabitants. By 1904, there was a feel of permanency about Woolgar, and the mining warden advised it was time to gazette the place as a townsite. As there was already a place in Queensland with this name, an alternative name was required, and the mining warden suggested 3 names, one of which was Yundagar. The Department of Lands and Surveys then applied the spelling rules it had adopted for Aboriginal names, and the townsite of Yunndaga was gazetted in March 1904.
Staff of the Menzies Consolidated Gold Mine, 1916, Thomas Ellis, back row, far left. Centre back row is Arthur Beldon.
Woolgar Townsite 1929 – Image Donna Barber
Moya Sharp
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My mother Mabel Ellis grew up and was married in Yunndaga, I used to love listening to her stories about her life on the goldfields, my biggest regret is that I never thought to record them, , Never did I ever hear her mention the name Yunndaga , it was always Woolgar to their family, Mum passed away on May 6th 1983 aged 86.
Hi
I was just having a look at yunndaga history. my granmother was zillah marion ellis and came from yunndaga north of kalgoorlie and grew up in kal. she would have been born about the turn of the century or late 1890s. you havent by any chance come across the name.
Denis gilbert
denisgilbert@bigpond.com
Hi Dennis I have emailed you.