The surprising link between Kalgoorlie, a famous photographer, and an English Regency gunsmith will be revealed at the Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie Boulder on Wednesday, May 8, from 5:30pm.
In the free public lecture, Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder regional manager, Zoe Scott, will explain how a gun donated to the then Museum of the Goldfields in 1974 has uncovered a larger-than-life story.
“As an old weapons enthusiast, I did some research into a golden gun in the Museum’s collection and discovered its use as the starting pistol for the World Athletic Championship Races in Kalgoorlie in 1906,” Ms Scott said.
“The World Athletics Championships were a great international sporting event in Kalgoorlie’s golden heyday, run between the Irish World Champion RD Day and Queenslander Arthur Postle known as ‘the Crimson Flash’.
“The gun was donated by the daughter of Doug Grey, the official race starter for the main races in 1906, and again for the rematch in 1907, but its story was never really explained or documented”
John Joseph Dwyer, the famous Goldfields photographer from the early 1900s, took the photos of the race, now housed in the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Not willing to give too much away, Ms Scott said the gun helped uncover intriguing connections between people, events, places, countries and periods of history.
“This simple object has proven to be the key to revealing the “story behind the story” of Kalgoorlie’s early history, when it was Australia’s most developed town and an epicentre for events and activities,” Ms Scott said.
‘What’s a nice gun like you doing in a place like this?’ will take place at the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Wednesday, May 8, from 5:30pm. Entry is by donation. For more information, phone the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder on 9021 8533.
Media contact:
Niki Comparti
Western Australian Museum
6552 7805, niki.comparti@museum.wa.gov.au
