Lifting the lid on history
Having completed a successful tour in South Australia, on 21 April 1868, Frederick William Auger Kohler, accompanied by his agent, Louis Peter, departed Adelaide for Fremantle. The brig ‘Emily Smith’ arrived a month later, on 19 May. Disembarking at Albany, Frederick, or, as he was professionally known, Professor Kohler, placed an advertisement in a newspaper announcing his imminent arrival.
In June 1838 a report reached Perth that the American whaling ship Harvest was lost during gale force winds somewhere between Perth and Leschenault (near Bunbury and Australind).
The report was vague and while The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal chose to print the news anyway, they did so with the proviso that it may be best to await more accurate information before completely declaring the ship sunk. People who were anxious to hear news of the ship had about a month’s wait before the story was revealed.
May it please Your Royal Highness, On behalf of the citizens of Perth, the capital city of the State of Western Australia, we, the Mayor and councillors, beg to tender to Your Royal Highness a loyal and hearty welcome.
And welcome him they did. The people of Perth lined the streets and cheered loudly as Prince Edward, standing in a car specially provided for him, acknowledged the thousands who came into town to see him.
The official schedule for his visit was jam-packed. The Prince was not only staying in Perth, he was spending 10 days in Western Australia and was visiting some of the country towns.
He was to travel to each destination by railway (the fastest way to travel in 1920) and, in order to ensure that the Prince travelled in the comfort he was accustomed to, a special carriage was constructed and fitted out accordingly.
Like all good bushmen, he knew how to spin a yarn. As he ambled into towns carrying a billy and his matilda (swag) he almost always sought out a man of the press.
Paddy Redmonds me name, and I am the oldest swagman in W.A.
With attention firmly turned towards him, Paddy would launch into a story about his life, his work and his love of the open road.
Many’s the time I could have made me pile had I but stuck where I was but, shure, the love of the road would set me feet a-jigging, whether I felt like it or no.
The Dusty Box 