Hesperian Press

A Prospector's Life

by John Meiklejohn

ISBN 978-0-85905-642-7, (New, 2016), A4, indexed, 52 pages, 165 grams

$22.00* + POST

The newly discovered memoirs of this well-known prospector fill out his articles that were published as Gold Getting Days in 2005. A serendipitous internet search by his grand-daughter discovered Hesperian and so the book came about. A lively read of an adventurous life before WWI. New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Boer War, Madagascar, Klondyke, and London.

A Simple Life

"Anything But"

by Ron Pass

ISBN 978-0-85905-656-4, A4, 250 pages, illustrated, indexed, 680 grams

$50.00* + POST

Available direct from the author at:-

Ron Pass, 35 Lakefront Circle, The Vines, WA 6069

Telephone: 08 9297 4411 Mobile:0428 964 968

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

This engaging memoir recalls the people and places of old Geraldton, the Murchison, Gascoyne and much more of Western Australia.

Written by Ron Pass – all-round horseman and athlete, stockman, yard builder, bush poet and fireman.

The Adventures of Louis De Rougemont

by himself

ISBN 978-0-85905-648-9, (1898 R 2016), A4, heavily illustrated, Facsimile, 180 pages, 502 grams

$40.00* + POST

Unleashed onto the unsuspecting world in London, 1898, the tale is of an adventurer wrecked in the Australian north and surviving the wilds with its cannibals and creatures. It confused the establishment for many decades with its faction. For the last century those fortunate enough to have read the book have laughed at how the dons of science fought with the equally preposterous tales of cynical Australian bushmen. He removed Ananias from his position of leading liar forever. His stories however still live on among the knowing and continue to strike strange chords among those attuned to old ways.

And now... The Governor's Wife

by Diane Pope and Jenny Davis

ISBN 978-0-85905-646-5, (New, 2016), 195 x 235, illustrated, 56 pages, 230 grams

$30.00* + POST

Available from the author direct.
For all sales and other queries please contact Diane Pope, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and see www.endersleafarm.com

Three Swan River Colony Governor's wives share their stories in this play. Ellen Mangles Stirling (1830-1839) and George Fletcher Moore sing the song 'Western Australia for me' that he composed for the first ball in the colony in 1831. Mary Essex Hampton (1862-1868) tries to justify the actions of both her husband and son in their treatment of the convicts. Lady Frederick Broome (1882-1889) reminisces about the many books and articles she published describing the early colonial life in Western Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They all argue emphatically about the treatment of aboriginals during their time in Western Australia.

Born to Command – not to take orders

The Brooks Family of Balbinia station
Pioneers of Israelite Bay, Western Australia

by John Simpson

ISBN 978-0-85905-647-2, (New, 2017), A4, illustrated, indexed, 146 pp, 420grams

$40.00* + POST

The saga of the Brooks family on their isolated station on the edge of the Nullarbor shows the great spirit of settlers in opening hard new land. John Paul Brooks, his sister Sarah, and mother Emily, spent most of their life in physical isolation but kept up international correspondence and cooperation with botanists and geographers.  This is an important biography of a family that shows success is not always the reward for hard work. Only a few of those who ventured created long lasting establishments. Not giving up in the face of great adversity is an achievement which must be honoured, recorded and disseminated as an example for others who may feel overwhelmed by their situations.

The Cold-Footed Mob

A History of the 5th Australian Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company

by Tom Goode

ISBN 978-0-85905-653-3, (New, 2016), A4, 100 pages, illustrated, indexed, 280 grams

$30.00* + POST

One hundred years ago over two hundred and fifty railwaymen from across the state left Australia for the Western Front. Many were over age and some of doubtful fitness but they went because they felt they were needed.

Crocodiles and Cocktails

by Simon King

ISBN 978-0-85905-660-1, (2017, New), A4, 157 pages, illustrated, 450 grams

$40.00* + POST

Simon King is a geosciences career professional who was raised in the 1950s and 1960s in the semi-rural community of Langwarrin almost 45 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, Australia, where his family was one of the first to settle in the district. He subsequently undertook his tertiary education at the Ballarat School of Mines and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Victoria to pursue a career in exploration and mining, perhaps to follow in his father's footsteps who was once a mineral prospector in the early 20th century.

Crosscut's War - The life and times of a Gallipoli soldier

Thomas Henry "Crosscut" Wilson

by Chris Holyday

ISBN 978-0-85905-652-6, (New, 2016), A4, 79 pages, illustrated, indexed, 240 grams

$30.00* + POST

Thomas Henry (Crosscut) Wilson was a mate of Henry Lawson. He came West in the 1890s in quest of gold but instead struck a very rich vein of literary success along the inky way.

The Drover’s Cook and other verses

by Tom Quilty

ISBN 978-0-85905-640-3, (1958 R 2016), 124 pages, soft cover, 140 grams.

$25.00* + POST

Tom Quilty was a well-known Kimberley cattleman who became famous for his verse and especially for his descriptive poem, “The Drover’s Cook – weighed fifteen stone, He had one bloodshot eye, He had no laces on his boots, No buttons on his fly.”

The royalties for this book go to the Kimberley RFDS. This small reprint of a now rare book is done to satisfy the curious readers of the new Red Dog: True Blue by Louis de Bernieres in which the author quotes verse from The Drover’s Cook.

GWF

THE LETTERS OF A NATIVE WELFARE OFFICER

1959-1961 Pilbara And Kimberley

Edited By Nan Broad

ISBN 978-0-85905-673-1 (New, 2017), 278 pages, A4, Illustrated, 700 grams

$50.00* + POST

For the indigenous population of the North West of Western Australia the early 1960s held great promise and inevitable disappointment. Social welfare systems went into practice and some of the class barriers started to crumble. Against this progression the entrenched colonial superiority of the pastoralists continued them to dictate employment methods. In this see-sawing milieu Bill Courtney takes up an appointment as Native Welfare Officer in Port Hedland and later in Halls Creek. His first brief is to remove Don McLeod, instigator of Simdan, the mineral prospecting company in Pilbara which has gone broke. He then takes over as the sole officer in Halls Creek, servicing East Kimberley. Courtney's erudite correspondence to a friend during these periods contains it all - his reactions to every aspect of the uniquely individual lifestyle practised by the 'white fellas' and, both funny and sad, the reactions of the 'black fellas.'

Havens of Refuge

by W. S. Davidson

ISBN 978-0-85905-641-0, (1978 R 2016), Soft Cover, 202 pages, Illustrated, 290 grams

$30.00* + POST

"There is at the present time a considerable redistribution of populations taking place in the world, with the consequent redistribution of disease from endemic to non-endemic areas and to susceptible populations.

Havens of Refuge is the history of the incursion of inhabitants from S.E. Asia into the north of Western Australia in pearling days, and the subsequent development of leprosy in the indigenous susceptible population. The book does not deal with clinical details, but with the history of events relative to the introduction of leprosy, its spread and the efforts to contain it, based on and largely told in the words of contemporary observers and administrators, and it illustrates the fallacies of contemporary thought, now in danger of being repeated.

John Morrell

Northam and Beyond

by Michael J. Duggan

ISBN 978-0-85905-651-9, (new, 2016), A4, 534 pages, illustrated, indexed, French flap cover,2.20 kg

$110.00* + POST

The history of the Northam Morrell family from England to Western Australia.

Kimberley Days and Yesterdays

45 years in the Great Nor-West of Western Australia

by Charles Edward Flinders

ISBN 978-0-85905-064-5, (New, 2016), A4, well illustrated, indexed, 122 pages, 355 grams

$30.00* + POST

Charles Flinders was a co-lateral descendant of Matthew Flinders. His time in the Kimberley-North West during their Roaring Days are told in his memoirs. People, incidents and tales of the characters that built the nation are a joy to read.

Managing a Million Square Miles

by Ron Hutchinson

ISBN 978-0-85905-650-2, (New, 2016), 240 x 160, well illustrated, indexed, 357 pages, 850 grams

$50.00 + POST

With a history spanning 187 years, the authority now called Landgate, has seen momentous changes. From the days of survey expeditions, to world-leading innovations in online mapping and the delivery of land information, Ron Hutchinson has given us a fascinating and insightful history of Western Australia's first government department.