Places/roebourne.html
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Roebourne
Battye 1913:
Roebourne is situated on the Harding River, some eight or nine miles inland from Cossack, which serves as the port to the town and is connected with it by a tramline for the conveyance of passengers and freight. Roebourne is named after Captain J. S. Roe, RN, the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and is the chief town in the north province. Formerly it was the distributing centre for the Pilbara goldfields, but lost most of that trade when the railway was constructed from Port Hedland to Marble Bar. Its importance now rests on the fact that it is the centre of trade for a large portion of the pastoral country of the north-west. For many years it has been known that minerals such as gold, copper, and lead are to be found in the-immediate neighbourhood of Roebourne, but nothing appreciable has been done in the-way of developing the reefs and ore deposits, so that it is still a matter of uncertainty whether payable metal could be secured. Being the centre of the district, many of the public officials have their offices in the town, while the Court of Quarter Sessions is also held, the resident magistrate being chairman of the court. The town is well laid out, with wide streets and substantial public buildings, and has a population of 250 people, about thirty of whom are Japanese or other aliens.
About 50 miles east of Roebourne is the Whim Creek mining district, where the Whim Well and Mons Cupri copper mines are situated. An outlet for this district has been made at Balia Balia on the coast, some 13 miles away. An anchorage, sheltered by Depuch Island, has been secured, and a small township is in existence. On a large rock on Depuch Island there is an inscription showing that HMS Beagle called there in 1840, and traces still exist of the visit of French navigators still earlier in the century. The island is practically destitute of vegetation, but must have some attraction for the natives, as rude carvings of animals and birds are found on the rock surfaces.
References and Links
Battye, J.S. 1912-13, The Cyclopedia of Western Australia, Cyclopedia Co., Perth., from whence the above.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 14 October, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/places/roebourne.html (it was last updated on 17 April, 2024). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.