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Negative - Cue, Western Australia, Apr 1897
Reg. No: MM 004457
- Description Of Content:
- A large group of people, some with horses and carriages. This may have been a demonstration seeking the extension of rail service to cue.
- Acquisition Information:
- Copied from Claire Beecher, 1987
- Acknowledgement:
- The Biggest Family Album of Australia, Museum Victoria
| Discipline: | Technology |
More information
| Tagged with: | donkeys, horsedrawn vehicles, political protests, rail vehicles, railway workers |
| Themes this item is part of: | Images & Image Making Collection, Transport Collection, The Biggest Family Album in Australia Collection |
| Primary Classification: | POLITICS & PUBLIC PROTEST |
| Secondary Classification: | Parliamentary Politics |
| Tertiary Classification: | protest rallies |
| Inscriptions: | Printed across bottom of photograph: RAILWAY DEMONSTRATION CUE APRIL 20 1897 |
| People Depicted: | Fell, W. |
| Format: | Negative: Black & White; 35 mm |
| Place & Date Depicted: | Cue, Western Australia, Australia, 20 Apr 1897 |
Themes
This item is part of the following themes:
Comments
On closer inspection of the photo, the year is 1897 - not 1891. Cue was not established until 1893 or later. Also, the rail carriages in the picture meant the railway was already in Cue.
This photo is most likely the official opening of the Mullewa to Cue railway by Sir John Forrest (perhaps the sharply dressed man standing above the crowd in background).
The History of West Australia by Bert Kimberly, Chap 21 states:
"In 1897 the iron rails were laid over old tracks of prospectors. The eastern goldfields began to be cut out in every direction, and the stillness of the desert is now awakened by the shriek of the steam engine. Railway connection is extending from Kalgoorlie to Kanowna and from Kalgoorlie to Menzies. By such energy and determined enterprise the goldfields will be thoroughly tested. The railway from Mullewa to Cue was opened to traffic by Sir John Forrest on 20th April, 1897, and the whole system is being extended as the year progresses."
Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_West_Australia/Chapter_21