Leonard Clarke Webster photographs of Coolgardie, Western Australia; album of botanical specimens, ca. 1894-ca. 1902

PXE 1305

fonds

ca. 1894-ca. 1902

Graphic Materials, Photographs, Objects

905008

Approx. 120 loose photographs (mainly albumen) - 24 x 29.5 cm and smaller
1 album ( 112 albumen photographs) - 35.5 x 27.5 cm
100 copy prints - 16.5 x 21.5 cm
1 album (plant specimens) - 34 x 25.5 cm

Leonard Clarke Webster (1870-1942) commenced work as a pharmacist. By ca. 1900 he was living in the Kalgoorlie area, W.A. Between 1903 and 1938, he sold plant and reptile specimens to the British Museum and the Australian Museum. Later he qualified as a doctor (Edinburgh 1906) and practised medicine in Tasmania and New South Wales.

Coolgardie was founded in 1892, when gold was discovered in the area. This led to a gold rush began, with thousands flocking to the area. By 1898, Coolgardie was the third largest town in the colony, with a population of 15,000, and another 10,000 in the surrounding region. The town also supported a wide variety of businesses and services, including a railway[2], The gold began to run out in the early 1900s, and by World War I, the town was in serious decline.

Boxes 1-2
Photographs of the township of Coolgardie and surrounding district, hotels, banks, stores, gold mines, gold prospectors and miners, camps, the Gold Escort, Aboriginal Australians.

Box 3
Copy prints of Coolgardie views together with views of Webster's travels in Australia and overseas.

Box 4
Album of specimens of Western Australian plants collected on Coolgardie gold fields mostly from 1894 and around Perth and Albany, 1902.

Forms part of the Leonard Clarke Webster papers, ca. 1859-ca. 1941, at MLMSS 4606 (MLK 3901-MLK 3909) and MLMSS 4606/Item 1X

Access via appointment - Applies to Box 4 only

Out of copyright: Created before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Information transferred from pictures accessions register as part of the eRecords Project, 2010-2011

Torn and bent corners; albums' pages are brittle