(C) Don Copley

GWALIA

HEMA Map reference 77/F11

28° 54' 41" S 121° 19' 45" E

Statistics

Caravan Park

Unknown

Services

See Leonora

Attractions

Heritage trail.

Buildings of note

Mine manager's residence, Head frame, State hotel, Mine office.

Calendar of events

Unknown

Description

John Forrest led an expedition through this area in June 1869 while he was searching for the lost Leichardt expedition. When Forrest returned to the area in 1899 in his capacity as state Premier, it had changed almost beyond comprehension. When John Forrest was guest of honour at a dinner in Gwalia the table decorations were said to be bars of pure gold.

The original Sons of Gwalia (Wales) mine saw its beginnings in 1896 when Glendinning, Carlson and White pegged a claim on what would become the main ore body. The prospecting party was financed by a man named Tommy Tobias who eventually sold the claim to George W. Hall for 5000 pounds. Hall recovered his investment in the first month of operation.

In 1897 Herbert Hoover (who later became the 31st American president) started his association with the mine as a mining engineer and he had a lot to do with its early development. He was transferred in 1898 but later returned and became a manager of operations in W.A. for Bewick Moreing & Co. The Sons of Gwalia was at one time the second largest gold mine in W.A.  and the largest outside the Golden Mile.

At its peak the population here was over 1000 and there was even a tramway constructed in the town linking it to the nearby settlement of Leonora. It started as a steam driven service in 1903 and was replaced by an electric tram in 1908. The service ran until 1921 and by 1923 the rails had been pulled out and no sign of the tramway now remains.

There was great rivalry between Leonora and Gwalia with Gwalia originally being the larger settlement. When the railway terminated at Leonora the fortunes of the towns were reversed and Gwalia began a slow but steady decline.

A state sponsored hotel was constructed in 1902 and at one time it was said to be so busy that an 18 gallon keg was opened every 20 minutes. The hotel lasted only as long as the mine and was forced to close in 1964.

In late 1930s the mine constructed a swimming pool that had a three fold purpose as additional water storage for the mine, water for fire fighting and as a public amenity for the town. At the time it was only the second public swimming pool in W.A.

The towns' long decline began in the 1920s when large numbers of workers were laid off from the mine but operations continued until 1963 when the mine closed down and the population dropped almost overnight from nearly 2000 to 40.By the time the mine closed over 21,600,000 ounces of gold had been extracted.

In 1972 the Gwalia Historical Gallery opened and a committee  formed to help preserve some of the areas gold mining history. The museum features a 30 metre Oregon timber head frame and the largest 1000 hp steam winding engine in Australia.

On Monday 4th September 2000 a Beechcraft King Air 200 chartered by The Sons Of Gwalia Mining Company, took off from Perth heading for Leonora on a routine flight taking 7 miners to work. The plane, apparently on auto-pilot, reached 32,000 feet but no contact could be made with it. Another plane was sent up to investigate but no sign of life could be seen on the Beechcraft. Eventually, somewhere over Queensland, the inevitable happened and the plane ran out of fuel. It appears that everyone on board lost consciousness not long after take off and all would have suffocated long before the plane crashed.

The men who lost their live in this tragedy were:

Roger Clarkson, 30, of Dunedin, New Zealand

Frederick Ellis Fineberg, 56, of Perth, Western Australia

Brett Hewitt, 31, of Auckland, New Zealand

Matthew John Luberda, 25, of Perth, Western Australia

Shaun Brian McKay, 24, of Perth, Western Australia

Kenneth Hugh Mosedale, 50, of Perth, Western Australia

Barry Leslie Woods, 46 of Werribee, Victoria
Justin Leigh Woods, 27, of Werribee, Victoria