The Story of Paddy Hannan
As told by the man himself to J. W. Kirwin, M.L.C., President of the Legislative Council. (Adapted from the Western Argus, Kalgoorlie, 6th September, 1927)
Visitors to Kalgoorlie for the “Back to the Goldfields” fortnight will view with interest a pepper tree at the eastern end of Egan Street, near the Boulder railway line. The tree is protected by a small fence, on which there is a notification that it marks the spot where, in June, 1893, Paddy Hannan discovered gold. The discovery was the beginning of a goldfield that has produced to date some £100,000,000 worth of gold. It is a pity that a spot of such historic importance to Western Australia, and, in fact, to Australia, is not marked by some more lasting memorial than a pepper tree, the life of which is comparatively short. The tree was planted in the presence of Hannan on August 3, 1897 – four years and a couple of months after his discovery. The day before the planting I accompanied him when he pointed to the exact spot where the find was made. In the years that had intervened the appearance of the locality had, as he explained, considerably changed. Much of the country had been denuded of bush, streets had been cleared, and buildings erected, but he had the unerring instinct of a bushman. He surveyed the landscape carefully and deliberately walked about for a quarter of an hour, and seemed to have little or no difficulty in fixing the location of the find. Subsequently, we wandered through the gullies to the foot of Maritana Hill, and whilst viewing old camps and deserted alluvial workings, he talked of his great discovery – or rather, I asked questions that he answered. In appearance Hannan was under rather than over the average height, of medium build, with bright beady eyes, a long beard that was then turning grey, and a ruddy complexion that betokened a healthy and vigorous outdoor life. Like many of the prospectors who opened the goldfields, he was an Irishman. He was born in the parish of Quin, County Clare, about 1842, and came to Australia in 1863, and to Western Australia in 1889. In disposition, he was not of the jovial, riotous type, fairly common on the goldfields, and though not a total abstainer, yet was remarkably temperate. When Kalgoorlie was populous and prosperous, he occasionally returned to the scene of his prospecting success, and wherever he went he met those who were eager and even anxious to entertain him, but nothing could induce him to go beyond the limits of what temperance prescribes. On that point he was adamant, even under the strongest temptation to be otherwise. This may not have added to his popularity amongst a few of the gay reckless spirits of the early goldfields days.
Patrick ‘Paddy’ Hannan
He was not garrulous or a good conversationalist, though in some respects pleasant and genial. He was of a kindly disposition, quiet, and reserved, and particularly concerning himself he was not disposed to be communicative. His education was that of the ordinary Irish peasant boy, educated under the national school system, but he wrote a remarkably good hand, and letters that I have before me, penned shortly before his death, when he was an old man, are singular for their clearness of diction and calligraphy. Despite Hannan’s nationality, he was seemingly without imagination or a strong sense of humour. To him all that he went through was prosaic. The romantic side of gold seeking was never realised by him. He was not drawn to the bush by such poetic considerations as “…the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars.” (Ed. Here Kirwin is quoting Banjo Patterson’s poem ‘Clancy of the Overflow’) Nor was there anything that appealed to him in the goldfields as they were in the early nineties, with the glorious uncertainties that they presented and the tens of thousands of light-hearted, optimistic, adventurous young men that the discoveries of Bayley and Ford (Ed. Fly Flat, 1892 from which Coolgardie was born) attracted from all parts of the world. After the walk and talk with Hannan on the day he pointed out the scene of his find, we went to my office, where his story of the discovery as related by him was written down, and subsequently read to him and checked. There is nothing sensational about it, but at the present time it is worth re-telling. Following are its exact words: “I reached Coolgardie a few days after Bayley reported his discovery. I was at Parker’s Range, about 40 miles south of Southern Cross. There was not much mining going on. Fraser’s mine and the Central mine were the principal properties. “Early in June, 1893, news arrived at Coolgardie of a rich discovery at a place called Mount Youle, somewhere to the east or north-east, and parties left Coolgardie in search of the new find. A few days after the report of the discovery had been received, my mate, Thomas Flanagan (Ed. often spelled differently), and myself, left Coolgardie. We left on June 7, and would have gone earlier with the others, but we could not obtain horses, and so we were delayed two or three days. We were lucky enough to pick up some animals in the bush ten or twelve miles out of Coolgardie. The other parties were mostly travelling with teams, but only one or two of the prospecting groups had horses of their own. “My mate and I had previously made up our minds not to travel with the teams, but to form a separate party of our own. We would thus be left free to travel how and when we liked. We could also by this arrangement, if we chose, prospect any country during the journey.
“On June 10, three days after leaving Coolgardie, we reached what is now known as Kalgoorlie. The other parties had gone on in the direction of the reported discovery, only to find later that the report had been false. Coolgardie was getting dull, and a large number of men had started from there for Mount Youle. There were a great many men travelling all over the country. Only Bayley’s claim was working at Coolgardie, and the alluvial had become exhausted just about the time I left. “Well, as I’ve said, when we came on June 10 to Mount Charlotte, my mate and I decided to stop and prospect the country round about, as we had found two colours of gold. On the 14th we shifted down to near the place I have just pointed out as where the first gold was found. We got good gold more or less from the north end of Mount Charlotte to down south of Maritana Hill.
A more lasting tribute to the legacy of Paddy Hannan
“There was another man, by the way – Dan Shea was his name (Ed. Also spelled O’Shea) – to whom we gave an equal share of our prospecting claim. “On June 17 I started for Coolgardie to apply for a reward claim. I got there on a Saturday night. The news of our find soon got abroad, and people began to set out for the scene. There was a good deal of excitement over my report, and there were 1,400 or 1,500 men dry-blowing in the locality, in about a week. In fact, most of the men who had got beyond Southern Cross were quickly on the field. “The water difficulty, which was usually great, was solved. Rain began to fall when I was on my way into Coolgardie, and continued for some time. The fall was fairly heavy, and, of course, exceedingly welcome. The downpour left plenty of water in the lake, and the supply lasted till the following November. “There were no surface indications that I noticed of the existence of reefs. I think Red Hill was the richest alluvial ground there. There were also some very rich claims between Cassidy’s Hill and Maritana Hill. Two or three hundred ounces were taken out of one claim. As time went on, whilst some of the diggers settled down, others were leaving every day as the alluvial got worked out. A great many went further back. Broad Arrow, Bardoc, White Feather, and the I.O.U. were found. “The first two applications for mining leases at Kalgoorlie – apart from alluvial claims – were those of Cassidy’s Hill and Maritana Hill. Jim Cassidy pegged out his lease first, and the Maritana was pegged out soon after. “Other discoveries took a great many people away from the locality, but there were continually new arrivals from the other side. The population in general began to increase. Before Christmas two hotels were opened.
“I left about January 20, 1894, for a holiday, as I had then been on the goldfields for some years, and had not seen the sea since my arrival in Western Australia, nearly five years previously. I was not at that time in the best of health, and a brief spell away from the fields I felt to be necessary. Life on the fields was of course, much more trying than some years later. It was only now and again we could get fresh meat.” Above are the bare facts of Hannan’s discovery thirty years ago in Kalgoorlie, as told by himself. It was apparently altogether an afterthought that made him think it worthwhile mentioning that when he left to make the application for the claim at Coolgardie they had only two quarts of water left, and, as he observed, “but for the rain I don’t know what we would have done.” There were other incidents of common knowledge that Hannan did not mention. For example, he brought to Coolgardie when he applied for a reward claim, a parcel of gold. Its exact value was unknown, with the result that it was widely exaggerated. Hannan’s application notice was put up at the tent which served as the Registrar’s office, at 9 o’clock in the evening, and during the night and next morning there was a stampede from Coolgardie of men towards the new find. It is said that scarcely fifty men were left in Coolgardie. Some of those who started lost their way, and were days later in reaching their destination. Others were inadequately equipped for the journey. The fall of rain to which Hannan refers, whilst solving the water problem, interfered with the operation of dry-blowing. The difficulty due to the moistness of the earth was, however, met by lighting fires and burning the stuff before it was treated.
Paddy Hannan and party at the pepper tree planting ceremony in 1897
Many stories differing from that related by Hannan have been current amongst old goldfielders. By some it was said that it was not Hannan that first discovered gold near Mount Charlotte. Hannan was then over 50 years of age, but both Flanagan and Shea were older men. Because he was the youngest of the three, he was asked by the others to make the journey to Coolgardie to apply for a reward claim. As he made the first report the find became associated with him, and was known as “Hannan’s”. One old and highly respected resident of the goldfields, who was intimately acquainted with all three men about the time of the find, positively asserted to me that Flanagan was the first to find gold, and that he found it when looking for a horse. Flanagan, like Hannan, came from Clare. Soon after, Flanagan died in Melbourne.
Other old residents say that the three men, when proceeding with a much larger party to Mount Youle, found gold near Mount Charlotte, but carefully concealed the fact of the discovery in order that they might be able to make the most of it. It was asserted that they stayed behind on the plea that they lost a horse. The members of the main party continued their journey unsuspectingly, and when, many days later, they discovered that the Mount Youle find was but a wild goose chase, they were amazed to see the neighbourhood of Mount Charlotte a hive of dry-blowers, most of whom were finding gold.
Hannan’s account differs somewhat from the story of the find as published in W. B. Kimberley’s “History of Western Australia”, which was issued in 1897. This account states: “A few of the men who set forth for Mount Youle camped at Mount Charlotte, and among them were ‘Pat’ Hannan and ‘Tom’ Flanagan. There was feed but no water at this spot, which was at once named Dry Camp, and as the horses could not proceed without a drink, the men remained there for two days searching for native wells or rock soaks. It is said that Hannan returned for water to what had become known as the Nine Mile Rocks, and that in his absence, Flanagan found gold in the neighbourhood. After Hannan arrived from the Nine Mile Rocks, Flanagan induced him to remain and prospect more fully. The two men searched the surface for alluvial for about a week after the other teams, which practically walked over gold scattered on the ground, had resumed their journey to Mount Youle. In three days Hannan and Flanagan picked up about 100oz, but the exact weight is not recorded, for the discoverers did not whisper their secret to every passer-by.” All the accounts given above differ materially from that given by Dan O’Shea, who was a partner of Hannan and Flanagan, and who came to my office in Kalgoorlie not long after the version given by Hannan was published. O’Shea was then very old. Tall, thin, erect, with snow-white hair and beard, and piercing eyes, he was a picturesque figure. He was indignant at the kudos given to Hannan. He claimed that it was he, and not Hannan, who first discovered gold, but his memory seemed to be failing, and he could not give a very coherent account of what actually took place. All that he was insistent upon was that it was he who picked up the first gold. O’Shea died many years ago.
Personally, I believe that Hannan, who had a good memory, was accurate in what he said. As to which of the three first found gold is really immaterial. As already explained, Hannan was not over popular amongst some early day prospectors, and there were perhaps amongst them those who were jealous of the reputation he acquired. Hannan and his mates made comparatively little money out of the find. Hannan never had much wealth, and during his later years he lived in Victoria on a small annuity – £150 – from the Western Australian State Government. I last saw Hannan in Melbourne in 1925. He never married, and was living with his sister, Mrs Lynch, in a cottage in Fallon Street, Brunswick. He was happy and contented, told me he had everything he could wish for in reason, talked with interest and even animation, of his prospecting experiences in Western Australia, inquired about the then state of Kalgoorlie and the goldfield, and asked to be remembered to all old friends in this State. He was then 83 years of age, his beard was snow white and he showed traces of a recent severe illness. Some weeks later he died.
Editor’s Note: While in Bendigo, in November 1899, Thomas Flanagan, 67, contracted influenza and died after a twoweek illness. He was buried in the White Hills cemetery. Dan O’Shea, 71, contracted a chill through persisting in his prospecting habit of sleeping on the floor. Living in Fremantle at the time, he tried to get admitted to the Fremantle Hospital but was refused on the grounds that he was not sufficiently ill. He then made his way to Perth, his condition worsened and he passed away in the Perth Hospital on 8th September, 1908.