“The only man who ever made Coolgardie blossom like a rose”
Something rarely mentioned about the Eastern Goldfields is – how did people get fresh veggies?
It’s hard to imagine life without fresh or frozen greens at dinner nowadays, but just imagine how it was in the 1890s. The conditions were very hot, the rainfall was unreliable. Those of you who have ever grown your own vegetables will know how quickly they can wilt and die on very hot days. Throw in a scarcity of water and growing your own becomes a labour of survival.
Water was carted into communities by camels bearing barrels of water from the closest place that it could be found – often from 500 km away in Northam, but this was obviously extremely expensive.
Water Condensers
Desalination plants were quickly built by enterprising people. Salt water was taken from nearby lakes, put into corrugated iron tanks and using local timber boiled and condensed. The condensed water was still very poor quality and needed to be further boiled to make it drinkable. This water was liquid gold at the price of 9p per gallon. It was even more expensive than beer!1 Eventually the Government built condensers but water was still not plentiful.
Image copyright WA Museum 2
Into this hot and harsh environment comes Old John Hunter, who we only learn about from his death. His obituary in 1927 reads:
Old John Hunter, who for over thirty-five years tilled a small plot of land on Fly Flat, Coolgardie, died a matter of four months ago, and old Coolgardieites who knew the old vegetable gardener of the Flat will be pleased to know that the old chap, who did so much to make a living at Coolgardie a good deal more tolerable than it might otherwise have been was given a last farewell by the old hands. John Hunter was an old sailor, probably leaving the sea to join in the gold rushes of the early nineties. He excavated a few small dams on the flat, improvised pumps and a primitive irrigation system and soon turned his little plot of erstwhile dusty alluvial diggings into a veritable oasis. He varied his gardening with dryblowing, received a pension, and lived quietly and snugly in a camp that exhibited many signs of his handiwork. His demise takes away a very old landmark whose going will be regretted. 3
Another writer said of John:
He created a veritable oasis in the desert and even produced mushrooms to tickle the palates of the epicurean goldfielders, whilst ordinary vegetables he grew in profusion and with rare skill. A type everybody will miss and remember. 4
Old John Hunter was born circa 1836. He must have been a remarkable man to have been tilling his garden since 1892. He was 91 when he died.
Sources
- Shire of Coolgardie Liquid Gold in Coolgardie, 10 August 2023. Accessed 3 April 2025. https://www.coolgardie.wa.gov.au/news/liquid-gold-in-coolgardie/20477 ↩︎
- Western Australian Museum, 2025. Condensing. Retrieved 19 May 2025 from https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/wa-goldfields/water-arid-land/condensing ↩︎
- PERSONALIA (1927, May 6). The Leader (Perth, WA : 1923 – 1928), p. 2. Retrieved May 19, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article256985122 ↩︎
- PEEPS at PEOPLE (1927, May 8). Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 – 1954), p. 14. Retrieved May 19, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58318621 ↩︎
People of Western Australia's Ghost Towns 