Our Newsletter

The Newsletter is compiled twice a year and contains information of interest to those with Hill End connections. All issues, including the latest one and an index are available on our Newsletter page.  We welcome contributions for inclusion in this newsletter regarding your families from the areas. Please contact us if you have material that you wish to share with other researchers or those with an interest in the area.

Books

Golden Diggers Hill End & Tambaroora District’s contribution to the First World War.

Helen Wood & Lorraine Purcell 2015

This book tells the story of Hill End during the First World War period. It also includes brief biographies and in some cases, photographs of the 174 servicemen & women whose names are recorded on the Hill End War Memorial.  For more than 5 years Helen Wood has painstakingly researched the names and events surrounding the lives of these people who were born, grew up, went to school or who lived in the district in the decades surrounding the war.

Click here for a list of names on the War Memorial Plaque.
Copies of this book are available at our bookshop.

Golden Journeys – Visits to the Western Goldfields of New South Wales 1852- 59
Beatrice Brooks & Lorraine Purcell 2013

GOLD…just the word is enough to conjure up dreams and imaginary experiences in the most dispassionate of readers.

By absorbing these contemporary reports on the early gold discoveries and following the day-to-day travels of three journalists of the mid 1850s, the reader is

exposed to the everyday living and working conditions of the earliest miners on the Western Goldfields of New South Wales, covering the area from Ophir, along the Turon, the Meroo, the Macquarie and the Cudgegong rivers.

Included in this volume of approximately 300 pages is a large fold out map, printed in colour on both sides showing 2 very early versions of the goldfields in the 1850s. (Out of Print)

The Miners’ Friend, Ludwig Hugo (Louis) Beyers
Lorraine Purcell, 2010

This 44-page book was produced to mark the centenary of the death in 1910, of one of Hill End’s most respected sons, Louis Beyers.

Whilst much has been written about his partner, Holtermann, Beyers seemed to have slipped through the net and hopefully this publication will go some way to redress this situation. It has been compiled from a number of sources and included some new material which has recently come to light, including Louis’ own words in an interview, on how he became bankrupt. (Out of Print)

Hill End Heroines & Tambaroora Treasures
Daphne Shead & Lorraine Purcell 2010

Daphne has written a wonderful account of the confrontations and joys of outback life. She traces the journeys made by the women who followed their menfolk to the new goldfields in central west NSW and presents a montage of anecdotes about the conditions and challenges that they had to cope with.

Members of the Gathering Group have contributed stories of over fifty women ancestors. Some are short and others are lengthy, but all tell the story of everyday women who helped open up these new areas. They were the bonds that held the fabric of the family unit together against all the odds in the true Australian spirit. Contact details for all contributors are included. It includes a comprehensive index of all names in the publication. (Out of Print)

Hill End Histories & Tambaroora Tales
Members of the Hill End & Tambaroora Gathering Group & Lorraine Purcell 2009

These stories were submitted for the short story competition held in April 2008. We received a wide range of contributions. Some have recounted their ancestors’ anecdote with lots of facts put into story format and others have used their imaginations and research to weave their tales into fascinating yarns, and by using just a little bit of “faction” bring their families “to life”. Throughout all the stories there is a wonderful thread of what life in Hill End & Tambaroora must have been like “way back then”.

This work was richly illustrated with photos from private collections as well as relevant items from the Holtermann Collection and other sources. (Out of Print)

The Hill End & Tambaroora Pioneer Register
Betty & Bill Maris & Lorraine Purcell & members of the Hill End & Tambaroora Gathering Group 2006

The Pioneer Register is an essential resource for those researching their family history in the area

So many Australian have their roots in this area, which was once the largest inland centre in NSW. By the end of 1872 the town boasted 8000 residents, a mile of shops and 27 hotels. Multiculturalism was at its height. Gold knew no racial boundaries and there was a mix of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, American, Swiss, German, Polish, Greek and Chinese to name a few. These nationalities are all represented in the 600 families whose details have been submitted by more than 250 descendants. Now available on CD.