The Dusty Box

Tag: Stories

  • Bubonic Plague in Geraldton

    Bubonic Plague in Geraldton

    The sudden deaths of two people who were said to have been perfectly healthy sent rumours swirling. Bubonic plague was reported in Perth and Fremantle in January and February 1906. Had “the much-feared disease” made its way to the port town? The Geraldton Express was the first to ask the question.

  • The Captain’s Boots

    The Captain’s Boots

    For about fifteen years Phillip Duffield worked as the ‘landing waiter’ for customs in Geraldton. His job was to monitor all the people who arrived at the port and ensure that they were not bringing contraband to the town. Phillip took his job seriously. Such was his “surprising sagacity in diagnosing contraband and his incorruptible…

  • A Lonely Death

    A Lonely Death

    While searching for timber about two miles north of the Darlot Road and opposite the 19-mile well, Edward ‘Old Ned’ Ashbury and his mate, Mr Scott, stumbled across the skeletal remains of a man. They returned to Lawlers and, on 5 May 1901, Edward reported what they had found to Sergeant George Pilkington.

  • The Oriental Bank Robbery

    The Oriental Bank Robbery

    The discovery of a robbery at the Oriental Bank in Melbourne spurred the Acting Manager, George Hamilton Traill, into action. A public notice was immediately placed with three Melbourne newspapers and went to print on 30 January 1867. They cautioned the public against transacting with any of the bills, which were specially endorsed to the…

  • Albany’s Gold

    Albany’s Gold

    On 5 February 1867, an Albany correspondent for The Inquirer and Commercial News wrote a letter with information many people in Western Australia had been waiting to hear for some time. Gold has been found by a man named Butcher, a short distance from the town. It is in dust, and the Resident Magistrate has…

  • The Mysterious Mr Brown

    The Mysterious Mr Brown

    At 12:40 am on 1 December 1928, a man aged in his 20s was found lying unconscious on a street in Perth. He had severe injuries to his head and was taken to Perth Hospital for treatment. Several days later a trepanning operation was performed and, while it was successful, it may have caused him…

  • Robbery at Day Dawn

    Robbery at Day Dawn

    Finally, after a busy day on Monday, 19 November 1906, the afternoon was quiet at the Day Dawn branch of the Western Australian Bank. The manager, Charles Jago, was the only person on the premises and was starting to close up when a man walked through the door at about 3 pm. He handed over…

  • The Ghost of Francis Street

    The Ghost of Francis Street

    Have you seen the ghost! is the latest query under the verandah. Dark rumors have been for some time circulated, of a mysterious apparition which at uncanny hours, haunts the solitudes of Francis street. According to the Victorian Express, in 1882 numerous Geraldtonians had indeed seen the spectre, dressed in black and walking along Francis…

  • Bushed – Australia’s Horror

    Bushed – Australia’s Horror

    On 21 January 1896 it was reported that the remains of a man were found lying alongside the overland telegraph line, about five miles from Coorow. Police Constable Simpson of Geraldton was sent to investigate and near the body he found a swag and a bible held open with two sticks. He could not find…

  • A Short-Lived Telephone Box

    A Short-Lived Telephone Box

    In mid-April 1912, the Postmaster General’s Department erected a telephone box close to the centre of the St Georges Terrace, Adelaide Terrace and Victoria Avenue intersection in Perth.