People/prospector

William Ford (Coolgardie)

William Ford (Coolgardie) (1852–1932), prospector, from Australia. Linked to gold.

The lucky break

With Arthur Bayley credited with finding the quartz vein at Fly Flat, later Coolgardie.1,2

Legacy

Co-discoverer of Coolgardie.1,2

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 1873Alluvial gold found at Pilgrim's Rest3
  2. September 1892Bayley and Ford find gold at Coolgardie4
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Where next

People

Partner ofArthur BayleyThe pair credited with the Coolgardie discovery.1

Mines

DiscoveredCoolgardie goldfieldCredited with finding the vein at Fly Flat with Arthur Bayley.1

Sources

  1. Gold (Mining and Energy Western Australia exhibition) State Library of Western Australia
  2. William Ford (prospector) Wikidata
  3. Mpumalanga South African History Online
  4. The Rush for Gold (WA Goldfields) Western Australian Museum

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.