The Place for Local and Family History
on the Western Australian Goldfields

Norseman > Norseman


Norseman  Western Australia

Latitude : 32 12 S Longitude : 121 47 E

The goldmining town of Norseman is located in the eastern goldfields, 724 km east of Perth and 206 km north of Esperance. Gold was discovered here in July 1894 by Lawrence Sinclair and his horse "Norseman" The gold find was named "Norsemans Find" and most records state that Sinclair named it after his horse, although Sinclair was himself of Norse descent from the Shetland Islands.

By January 1895 there were over 200 miners working the goldfields here, and the Mining Warden, Arthur Hicks, requested declare a townsite. The local progress association soon added pressure for a townsite, and lots were surveyed in April 1895. A number of names were proposed for the townsite, but local usage of Norseman resulted in the Minister for Lands selecting this name. The townsite was gazetted in May 1895. The Aboriginal name of the area is Jimberlana.

Reccomended Reading:

"Elsewhere Fine" by Karl Dimer
history of the Dimer Family, Nullarbor Station
and Norseman. 
Lots of pictures and indexed
Self Published 1989
ISBN 09588657 9 5
Out of Print

Gold Fever 120 Years of Norseman by Claire Weir
Available from The Eastern Goldfields Historical Soc.


Norseman 'Our First Teb Years 1894-1904
Out of Print


Return to Norseman

Next Record Norseman Cemetery A - M


Outback Family History Blog
WA Virtual Miners Memorial
Moya Sharp - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) For Services to Community History

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