Dan Gill of the Murchison

JOSEPH GILL born c1845 Lancashire & wife RACHEL nee Proud, arrived from County Down, Ireland on 3 May 1880, on board the “Clyde” with their 8 young children, including a daughter born on the journey and 13 year old son, Dan. Joseph was a coal miner living in County Durham in England in 1871 and first settled in NSW….

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W Watkins, Shamrock Cordial Factory, Boulder

William George Watkins, aka George William and William Watkins was born in 1873 in Victoria. He came to WA in the gold rush era, about 1895 and was connected to I J K Cohn of Coolgardie. His first cordial factory was at Bulong. This town was gazetted in November 1895 and was formerly named the I O U after…

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Shelley & Slater of Boulder

Francis Peter Shelley was born c1860 in South Australia to parents William & Elizabeth Sheehy. His parents arrived in Adelaide c1857 from London with their eldest son John Augustus Moree (Sheehy) Shelley. Sometime during the late 1850’s, the family changed their surname from the Irish, Sheehy to the English version of Shelley. Another son known as J.A.M. Shelley was…

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Seebeck, Long & Oliver of Kanowna & Broad Arrow

Johann Heinrich Seebeck was a German immigrant who made his way to Australia in the mid 1800’s. His Prussian born wife Johanna Charlotte Schmidt arrived in Adelaide as an infant in 1850. Three of their seven children came to Western Australia c1894 to the Coolgardie goldfields.  Eldest son John Valentine Seebeck was born at Chewton, Victoria in 1864. He…

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Robinson & Higgins, Grand Bottling Works, Coolgardie

GEORGE ROBINSON & THOMAS HIGGINS were both living in Coolgardie in 1897.  In May 1897 Robinson was living in premises in Forrest Street and applied for a beer bottling license and this was refused. His rented premises belonged to William Stobbart, at Town Lot 416 and in August he applied for a gallon license for this building on the…

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Robert Mackey & Co.Ltd Kalgoorlie

Robert Mackey was born in Devonport, Devonshire, England c1846. He was the youngest child of Richard Mackey and his wife Mary nee Willcocks. His father was a licenced victualler but by 1871 he gave his occupation as Aerated Water Manufacturer & was joined by 24 year old Robert at the town of Tavistock, producing cool drinks for the neighbourhood….

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