A collection of photographs documenting Australian life at the turn of the 20th century is now available on the Western Australian Museum’s website.

Five thousand images taken by Goldfields photographers John Joseph Dwyer and Thomas Faulkner Mackay have been digitised and are accessible to the public. 

The collection documents everyday life on the Goldfields: from the development of the mining industry, to landscapes, to the personal lives of locals through portraits.

WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Manager Zoe Scott said it is fascinating to see what life was like on the Goldfields through the lenses of Dwyer and Mackay spanning the 1890s to the 1920s.

“In 1896 the gold rush attracted Dwyer to the Goldfields and he opened his own photography studio on Hannan Street,” she said.

In 1917 Dwyer sold his studio to fellow photographer Mackay, who ran the studio until 1945.

“I am pleased everyone now has access to the Dwyer/Mackay collection, and can see a period of our history told through pictures.  A couple of standouts for me, particularly at this time of year, are the photos of Christmas mailbags loaded onto a cart and beer barrels outside Hannans Brewery buildings in preparation for Christmas celebrations,” Ms Scott said.

The digitisation of the Dwyer/McKay collection is the first phase of the WA Museum’s ongoing work to make its collections more accessible to the public. Other collections will be uploaded to the WA Museum website in future. 

The Dwyer/Mackay collection can be viewed here: http://museum.wa.gov.au/online-collections/dwyer-and-mackay

 

GM01271 Horse drawn cart with load of mailbags outside Kalgoorlie Post Office, 1903. Credit: WA Museum.

 

GM01319 Horse drawn wagons loaded with beer barrels outside Hannans Brewery buildings, 1910. Credit: WA Museum.

 

An interview with WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Manager Zoe Scott and photographs are available on request.

 

Media contact

Di Yarrall
A/Manager Communications and Media
Western Australian Museum
(08) 6552 7803 / 0409 928 688
di.yarrall@museum.wa.gov.au