Last updated: Sunday 23 December 2001

 

Publication mid-2002

 

What was at Tibooburra will be published during 2002. We expect it to be about 92 pages, soft cover, B&W and colour photographs, a town map and location maps.

"What was at Tibooburra" is based upon research which has been ongoing since 1983.  Although it will be presented from an archaeological perspective, it will differ in many respects from our earlier publication about Milparinka. One reason is that Tibooburra is a living town, in which changes take place every year. Since the formation of Sturt National Park the pace of change has accelerated. However, there is still sufficient of the old Tibooburra to make interesting reading, and we have a very large accumulation of historical information about the town, things which happened there, and where. 

Tibooburra was quite different to Milparinka - Milparinka was a bit rowdy, Tibooburra was very rowdy. But that rowdiness was more in the form of a protest against authority than anything particularly nasty - except in a few cases. Of particular interest are a couple of things which were reported in the local newspaper, and we will address them in detail.

We will also include discussion of the Tibooburra Cottage Hospital, the public school, the Tibooburra brewery, and the cordial factory. We will also write about Fred Corthwaite's store, and the other stores in town. And we will write about the Chinese, the Afghans and the diggers. Because Tibooburra was a gold-rush town more than anything else, we will include quite a lot of mining history, and perhaps some maps of the goldfields as they were in the 1890s.

As with our original publication ("What was at Milparinka") this book will be intended for use as either a guidebook to the ruins in the town, or as a reference. The plan of the town will be as it was in 1890, and we will provide a bibliography.

"What was at Tibooburra" will be another handbook for exploration, not an exhaustive historical or archaeological resource. Although it will be of use to persons undertaking genealogical research, it is unlikely to include all the names which have been associated with Tibooburra.

If genealogical research is being completed, we suggest a copy of the book would be useful for background information about the town, but that it is very possible we have other more detailed information available. If you place an advance order, let us know what information you seek. If we have something more than is in the book, we will enclose a transcript or an extract from our database when sending the book to you. And of course, we might just be able to incorporate some specific information if there is enough interest.