Add your comments
Hello. If you wish to make any comments about this website whether they be observations or questions etc. please feel free to fill out the guestbook below. I love to receive your comments and always endeavour to reply with a day or two.
12 entries.
Hi Fran, great web site and I see you have updated it recently. Are you planning to do a biography of Roderick McRae? Various McRae's seem to be threaded through a lot of the history of the Pilbara, a McRae was closely involved in the Flying Foam massacre.
Thank you very much for creating and maintaining this web site.
Thank you very much for creating and maintaining this web site.
Hi Fran,
Firstly I hope you receive this as I'm not sure how old your website is. Thank you for the interesting read and wow what a conspiracy. The reason I am contacting you as I came across the picture of the Burns family and being Aboriginal descent, I have been told that Thomas White Burns is my great great grandfather my great grandmother's name is Sylvia Burns (my mum's paternal grandmother) my family and I were over the moon when we had found a picture of him and his family as we are doing a family tree. I would also like to ask how did you go about getting a list of the police officers who served in Roebourne during this time (1890-1900) as we have been told that my mother's maternal grandmother's father was a police Sargent back in those days. Any information you can help for my research would be greatly appreciated. My family has strong ties to Roebourne/Whim creek area. A good story for you to look into as well is the death of my maternal great grandfather Keith McKay who owned Mundabullanga station in the early 1900's. Meant to be a conspiracy and cover up about the way he died in a plane crash in Port Hedland.
Thank you so much.
Firstly I hope you receive this as I'm not sure how old your website is. Thank you for the interesting read and wow what a conspiracy. The reason I am contacting you as I came across the picture of the Burns family and being Aboriginal descent, I have been told that Thomas White Burns is my great great grandfather my great grandmother's name is Sylvia Burns (my mum's paternal grandmother) my family and I were over the moon when we had found a picture of him and his family as we are doing a family tree. I would also like to ask how did you go about getting a list of the police officers who served in Roebourne during this time (1890-1900) as we have been told that my mother's maternal grandmother's father was a police Sargent back in those days. Any information you can help for my research would be greatly appreciated. My family has strong ties to Roebourne/Whim creek area. A good story for you to look into as well is the death of my maternal great grandfather Keith McKay who owned Mundabullanga station in the early 1900's. Meant to be a conspiracy and cover up about the way he died in a plane crash in Port Hedland.
Thank you so much.
I was enthralled with your story of the Roebourne Bank murders.
I have been researching the history of Hamersley Station ( with varying amounts of success ) and have been sidetracked by researching several of the families who lived in Roebourne and on various Pilbara stations.
I have been very interested in the Hall, McRae , Padbury and Straker lives
Your research is very comprehensive and your account of a little known event in our rich WA History is a well written and fascinating account of an amazing area of WA.
I look forward to further updates.
I have been researching the history of Hamersley Station ( with varying amounts of success ) and have been sidetracked by researching several of the families who lived in Roebourne and on various Pilbara stations.
I have been very interested in the Hall, McRae , Padbury and Straker lives
Your research is very comprehensive and your account of a little known event in our rich WA History is a well written and fascinating account of an amazing area of WA.
I look forward to further updates.
This is so interesting, Fran. I can't wait to sit down and read through it all.
I hope you get to the bottom of this mystery one day. Maybe it will be made into a movie! smile
I hope you get to the bottom of this mystery one day. Maybe it will be made into a movie! smile
Hi Fran I do have a photo of the two Pontt brothers which I will send to you soon. (I need some help from one of my sons first as I am new to the technology of computers. I may also send more information on the brothers later -
Ineed to review what I have and type it up first .
The Pontts did originate from Germany but these two were bornin South Australia Augustus was born on 22June 1858 in Angus Park/ Tanunda, Barossa Valley , S.A.His birth name was Heinrich Marno August Pontt and he was known as Gus in his later years
William was born on 3 September 1856 at Schreiberau ,(south of Tanunda) Barossa Valley. S.A. is birth name was Friedrich Wilhelm Pontt and he was later known as William Henry Pontt or to the family as Willie.
Ineed to review what I have and type it up first .
The Pontts did originate from Germany but these two were bornin South Australia Augustus was born on 22June 1858 in Angus Park/ Tanunda, Barossa Valley , S.A.His birth name was Heinrich Marno August Pontt and he was known as Gus in his later years
William was born on 3 September 1856 at Schreiberau ,(south of Tanunda) Barossa Valley. S.A. is birth name was Friedrich Wilhelm Pontt and he was later known as William Henry Pontt or to the family as Willie.
I found your research on Roebourne Bank Murders extremely interesting. William and Augustus Pontt were my great uncles and I was interested to read of their presence and involvement in this case. Other than the fact that they were both involved in gold prospecting in W.A.my knowledge of the two Pontt brothers is fairly sketchy. I will be interested to read their biographies when you have prepared them. Regards Joan
I just spent 5 days in Karratha and visited a deserted Roebourne for a few hours on the final day of 2010. I stopped by the old cemetery and took photos of the 19th century graves completely unaware of this story of the bank murders. As I read this fascinating piece of history on this website for the first time this evening, I looked back on the photos of the headstones I took, and discovered all these remarkable personal histories that collided one day in January 1885. Your research is a treasure. Thank you so very much for putting up your website and sharing it with us.
Just a note to say what a great read. I am a journalist and know how much work, just in writing, has gone into this apart from the staggering amount of research. Many thanks for your great work. Makes everything come alive. And makes you appreciate the region for its amazing history. Not all just mining!
Hi Fran, greatly enjoy sharing your research. I am interested in my great great grandmother's older brother Alexander Nicholson, a prospector who apparently committed suicide in the Roebourne Hotel in 1898. I suspect he was murdered so this story is of great interest. There seemed to have been an extraordinary number of "suicides" in Roebourne around that time, at least it is clear Thomas and Henry were murdered!
The historical details you have uncovered are fascinating, and I do thank you for your efforts and the sketches and photographs are wonderful. I look forward to future updates on the website.
The historical details you have uncovered are fascinating, and I do thank you for your efforts and the sketches and photographs are wonderful. I look forward to future updates on the website.
Rumour has it - a McRae who died overseas.