Hesperian Press

Bang-em-all. Bush life, and death, on the Gascoyne

Bangemall and the Thomas River Police Station

by Peter J Bridge, with Gail Dreezens

ISBN 978-0-85905-512-3, (2013, New), A4, Illustd., 260 pp, 710 grams

$50.00* + POST

Bangemall, a Gascoyne mining village, 290 km ENE of Carnarvon, near Mt Augustus, cut a swathe through WA history in the 1890s.

Lonely graves, lost gold mines, death by thirst, suicide and native attack. Cattle and gold, natives, cops and crooks, prospectors and gold, in an eye opening collection of details of a forgotten mining town and region. 

Bardie

The life and writings of E E Shillington

by Peter J. Bridge with Gail Dreezens

ISBN 0 85905 397 0, (2007 new), Soft Cover, A4, 52pp, saddle, 175 grams

$22.00* + POST

Shillington and his mates discovered Sandstone. An interesting writer who could have become an antipodean Bret Harte, but instead had the trams running on time

Barrowmen of the Westralian Goldfields

Peter J. Bridge

ISBN 978-0-85905-730-1, (New, 2018), A4, illustrated, 52pp, 160 grams

$25.00* + POST

In the goldrushes from the 1880s to the 1930s prospectors travelled far and wide with bush made barrows. Their fortitude and fame are one of the finest examples of the tenacity of our pioneer prospectors.

Bat On! Chaps

The Bob Parker Story

by Graham J. Brammer

ISBN 978-0-85905-617-5, (New, 2015), A4, 92 pages, illustrated, 270 grams.

$30.00* + POST

Bob Parker of Bundarra and Sydney, NSW, enlisted in the AIF in 1944 and served in BCOF, Japan. After discharge and the start of the Korean War he re-enlisted in the RAR. In the fortunes of war he became a Don-R rider.

Battle of Kapyong.

ISBN 978-0-85905-964-0, (R. 2022), A4, illustrated, 19 pages, 90 grams, $22.00*

A critical battle in Korea where Australians held the line.

The Battler

John Crawford Morrison

edited by P J Bridge, C Holyday & A Teague

ISBN 978-0-85905-456-0, (2008), A4, 49 pp, Soft Cover, 170 grams

$22.00* + POST

Morrison was one of the best goldfields short story writers. This is the collection of his verse and prose.

Battling for Gold

by John Marshall

ISBN 978-0-85905-613-7, (1903,2015), A4, 67pp, 240 grams.

$22.00* + POST

John Marshall, adventurer, journalist, public figure and Digger’s leader on the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie goldfield wrote of the early days on the fields in Battling For Gold.

It remains the best collection of goldfields’ stories ever published and relates details of McCann's nugget, the great Coolgardie fire, the Londonderry golden hole, the goldfield's riots, danger, diseases, death and gold, gold, gold.

These stirring incidents of goldfields life will live on forever in Australian history

The Beckoning West

by Eleanor Smith

ISBN 0 85905 251 6, (1998 reprint of 1966 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 256 pp, illustrated, 325grams

$30.00 + POST

The story of the Canning Stock Route's construction.

Eleanor Smith, who was a nurse before her marriage in 1930, travelled extensively in the outback.

She became fascinated with Trotman’s stories and spent day after day by his fireside listening and taking notes until his five expeditions fell into place and she was able to reproduce them 'in Trotman’s own words'. She has performed a remarkable feat of listening, organising and writing to enable Trotman to tell his story in the first person, in a rich, economical and always convincing style.

This edition includes 23 pages of illustrations.

Before Coolgardie I

Colonial mineral discoveries and mining, a listing to 17 September 1892

by Peter J Bridge

ISBN 978-0-85905-579-6, (2014, new), Softcover, A4, illustrated, 120pp, 350 g.

$30.00* + POST

A detailed listing and text of the discoveries from 1829 to Bayley and Ford. Essential reference for historians and prospectors. The culmination of decades of collecting data. 

Before Coolgardie II

The Prospectors of the Yilgarn

by Peter J Bridge

ISBN 978-0-85905-580-2, (2014, new), softcover, A4, illustrated, 158pp, 450g.

40.00* + POST

The definitive history of the rushes to Golden Valley and Southern Cross up to the discovery of Coolgardie.

Biographies and photos of the main prospectors involved. This book gives far more detail than any other on the subject, and uncovers much previously unknown material.

Before Coolgardie II INDEX $10

Before Gold
by Jim Cameron

ISBN 978-0-85905-982-4, (New, 2023), well illustrated, indexed, French flap soft cover, 321 pages, with a 1908 colour map, $60.00

Before Gold is the mining history of Northampton. The first mining field in WA, it was a flourishing copper and lead producer. Changes in markets led to an erratic life but rich veins remain. Jim Cameron is a retired lecturer on WA economic history, and Northampton born.

Winner of the 2023 Williams/Lee Steere Publication prize.

Several of the entries were strong contenders for the prize, however one book stood out – Jim Cameron's Before Gold: the Northampton Mineral District 1846-1880. Published by Hesperian Press.

This well-researched, excellently referenced book demonstrates a high standard of scholarship and the use of a wide range of sources. It is the first work to explore the birth of the WA mining industry and the first major work to cover the period between convicts and gold – so it fills a large gap in Western Australian historical writing. Employing the skills of both geographer and historian Cameron's story is never one-dimensional as it ranges far and wide, including market prices for ore in London and Wales, transport and shipping difficulties, colonial government policies and many other aspects as well. Jim Cameron's engaging and informative narrative is supported by maps, tables and graphs and he is so familiar with his material that it feels as though he knows the people he writes about! The book is also fully indexed – a feature greatly valued by busy researchers. Before Gold is a landmark publication and a worthy winner.

Ben Bowyang

by The Herald

ISBN 0 85905 430 6, (2008 Reprint 1936, 1938), A4, Soft Cover, 53pp, illustrated, 175 grams

$22.00* + POST

A reprint of the rare and classic comic of the bush character, Ben Bowyang and his mates, Kanga, Wilson, Hogan, Lil, and the Parson.

Ben O'Dowd - Hero of Kapyong 

by Rory Steele

ISBN 978-0-85905-752-3, [New, 2019], 160 x 240, French flaps, section sewn, illustrated, 197 pages, 500 grams, $50.00*

In their most important engagement in the Korean War, Australian troops were cut off from other battalions and surrounded by units of China's People's Liberation Army. Earlier, as members of a United Nations force responding to the invasion of South Korea by the North, they had fought their way up the peninsula. China then intervened and turned the tide with a series of massive offensives; in late April its forces were poised to break through the UN line and descend on the South Korean capital. Defending a hillside above the Kapyong Valley four hundred men of the Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, confronted a determined enemy ten times their number who came at them in wave after wave. Fighting went on for a night and the following day until the order came to the senior officer on the ground to withdraw. Major Ben O'Dowd led the four rifle companies under fire to safety without suffering a single loss. His heroism was never properly recognised. The Chinese onslaught was checked at Kapyong and the war went into stalemate.

O'Dowd, taken into state care at the age of four, left school at fourteen and fended for himself during the Depression. A miner at Kalgoorlie, he enlisted as a private in 1939 and was sent to the Middle East where he was wounded. Later in New Guinea he was decorated for bravery and commissioned in the field as an officer. From 1945 to 1950 he was stationed with occupation forces in Japan. After Korea he served with the British in the Malayan Emergency and became deputy commander at Australia's jungle training centre in Queensland. For ten years after retiring from the Army Ben O'Dowd played a major role in building up the nascent Victorian State Emergency Services into a major institution.

The Best of times

Michael Gugeri

ISBN 978-0-85905-689-2, (New 2018), A4, 193 pages, illustrated, indexed, 750 grams

$50.00* + POST

Michael’s first book, God Before Gugeri, is popular among all who know the Derby family. This new book continues the stories of Kimberley life and people with an emphasis on his family. His unconventional tales are a favourite among all who have lived in the Kimberley.

Between Beach and Bush. Remember Old North Beach, Trigg and Watermans Bay.

By Chris Holyday

ISBN 978-0-85905-838-4, (New, 2020), A4, colour sections, well-illustrated, 142 pages, 620 grams, $40.00*

The book is a virtual trip back in time to the coastal suburbs of North Beach, Trigg and Watermans Bay of old, and is lavishly illustrated. It provides the first comprehensive history of these coastal suburbs. Attractively presented and including numerous photos, many never before published, this limited print book will undoubtedly become a sought-after collectors’ item.  It describes, in great detail, the first homes built by non-Aboriginal people in the coastal districts, the pioneering Hamersley empire along the coast, the first shops opened, an early shipwreck, convict visitors, early developments by the Perth Road Board (predecessor of the City of Stirling), building of the first jetty, the first land subdivisions, derivation of the street names of the district, early transport, the first surf lifesaving club,  the story behind Mettam’s Pool and many tragic drownings at Trigg Island, as well as many other interesting events and people that helped build these suburbs over 100 years from 1869. 

Beyond Boundary Fences

by G.J.C. McDonald

ISBN 0 85905 207 9, (1996 new), Soft Cover, 264pp, illustrated, 340grams

$30.00 + POST

George McDonald was an Inspector of Police in Kalgoorlie during the 1890s.

In Beyond Boundary Fences he relates stories of the early Murchison goldfield's characters, Aboriginals, bushmen and outlaws.

Beyond Boundary Fences INDEX $10

Beyond the Stirling Tree

by Harold T. Loton

ISBN 978-0-85905-545-1, (New 2012), A4, 97pp, illust., 340grams

$30.00* + POST

Please do not order from Hesperian Press available from author only

New updated third edition. A brief history of the Australian Loton Families from the early 1800s to 2012 and some hidden history of the Swan River settlement.

Only available from Harold Loton, Unit 72, St Louis Estate, 14 Albeert Street. Claremont, 6010.

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bibliography of books, articles, and pamphlets dealing with Western Australia, issued since its discovery in 1616

by Francis G Steere

ISBN 978-0-85905-500-0, (1923, reprint 2011), 186pp, A4, 515 grams

$45.00* + POST

This important and interesting bibliography, compiled by the then Parliamentary Librarian, contains many references no longer easily accessible through the library catalogues due to the iniquitous policy of not indexing journal articles. An essential reference for bibliophiles, librarians and historians. The original in exceptionally rare.