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Arthur Bayley
Following extensive renovation and expansion, the Western Australian Museum reopened on Saturday 21 November to week-long celebrations and a new name: WA Museum Boola Bardip.
Visitors can discover the value of gold across various exhibits that include details on life during the 19th century gold rushes, links between the gold industry and our wider communities, mining processes, and how gold influenced social change.
In 1892, Coolgardie grew into a booming town after prospectors Arthur Bayley and William Ford discovered a rich find of gold nuggets at Fly Flat. Prospectors, gold diggers, mining companies and speculators then followed the gold rush during the roaring nineties in Western Australia.
“Fly Flat” doesn’t sound like a prestigious or auspicious name for a place that started a gold rush boom. But on the outskirts of Coolgardie in Western Australia, the flat country with sparse gum trees was rich with alluvial gold, and changed the fortunes of a nation.
In 1892, two prospectors, Arthur Bayley and William Ford found over five hundred ounces of gold at Fly Flat. At today’s gold price, the horde would be valued at over half a million dollars.
