William Oats
OATS, William, MLA MLC JP (1838-1911)
Captain William Oats was a pivotal figure in developing the Yilgarn and Kalgoorlie goldfields. He was also a member of the WA Parliament.
William was born on October 27, 1838, at St Just in Penwith, Cornwall, England, the second son of Richard Oats and his wife Jane Oats (nee Wallis). His father died in August 1842 necessitating William seek work when he was aged 14.
William began working in the Wheal (Huel) Owles tin and copper mines as aa surface boy, in 1853. By 1869, he was mine manager. He studied chemistry and mining engineering, in the evenings, at the St Just Technical School. He also studied engineering later through the South Kensington School of Engineering (which subsequently became Imperial College London).
William married first, Mary Elizabeth Trevelick, at St Just in Penwith, January 7, 1869. Their daughter, Bertha Mary Oats was born in 1872, in Cornwall. Later, in Western Australia, Bertha married John M Finnerty when he was the Yilgarn warden in 1891. William’s first wife died in 1885.
George Lansell, on a visit to England encouraged William to consider a career in Australia. George Lansell was known as the Quartz king of Bendigo. William emigrated to Victoria, in 1884 and worked at a gold mine in Bendigo.
William is regularly referred to as “Captain” reflecting his status in the mining industry and Cornish origins.
From 1885 to 1888, he was the Manager of a tin mine at Euriowie, 75 kilometres north of Broken Hill, New South Wales. In April 1888, he resigned and took up the role of Mine Manager of the Caloola King and Sunny South tin mines at Euriowie for an Adelaide consortium.
On November 27, 1886, he married secondly Eliza Godolphin Merritt, at Cambourne, Cornwall, England. Their children were Jane (Jennie) Godolphin Oats b 1888, Newstead (Victoria), Nancy Ellis Oats b 1889, Goodwood (SA), William Fraser Oats, b 1891, Southern Cross, Charlotte Godolphin Ivy Oats b 1894, Southern Cross and Winifred Marie Oats b 1897.
In late 1889, he came to Western Australia, with his family, as Mining Manager for Frasers South Gold Mining Company NL, Southern Cross. He arrived at the mine on November 18, 1889, having travelled by the first coach from York to Southern Cross. He brought five experienced miners with him to establish a water condenser, accommodation and develop the mine. In June 1890, he was also appointed Manager of Frasers Gold Mine Southern Cross which was the Yilgarn’s largest gold producer. He was the first to smelt gold on the Yilgarn goldfields and his company was the first gold mining company in Western Australia to pay a dividend.
He became the Chairman of the Yilgarn Roads Board in 1893, was made a Justice of the Peace on July 13, 1894 and was elected the first Mayor of Southern Cross in 1895. He held the mayoral role until 1896. In 1895, he was a founding trustee of the Kalgoorlie Mechanics Institute that later became the Kalgoorlie Miner’s Institute. Also in 1895, he was a founding Director of the Kalgoorlie Gold Mining and Prospecting Syndicate, General Manager of Brookman Brothers Boulder Gold Mining Company, General Manager Hannan’s Oroya Gold Mining Company and Manager of Associated Gold Mines.
In 1896, he became the first President of the Kalgoorlie Chamber of Mines.
In 1897 he was Consulting Engineer for 90 Mile (Goongarrie) Consolidated Gold Mines Ltd.
William moved to Perth in 1896. From May 1897 to May 1904 he was the Member for the Legislative Assembly for Yilgarn. This was followed by being elected as a Member of the Legislative Council for Southern Province from May 1904 to May 1910.
William moved into commercial activity being a founding Director of the Citizens Cooperative Meat Company in 1902. He was also a partner in J H Pellew and Company, Drapers, Kalgoorlie, until 1906. He further operated Economic Stores Perth at a site on the corner of Hay and William Street. This was operated in partnership with Edward Blythe until October 1906 when William continued operations on his own.
William died on April 25, 1911, at his home in Mounts Bay Road, Perth, aged 72. His second wife, Eliza, had died in February 1911. He was survived by his five daughters and a son.
William was described as “The Father of the Yilgarn” in the publication They Wished Upon a Star and had a key role in developing the Kalgoorlie goldfields. He was renowned for making mining and treatment of low grade gold ore profitable.
References:
English Census 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881.
Adelaide Observer, 7.4.1888, p. 37.
Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth), 16.4.1890, p. 2.
Western Mail, 21.7.1894, p. 25.
Kalgoorlie Miner, 30.9.1895, p. 3.
Coolgardie Miner, 5.10.1895, p. 3.
WA Record, 15.12.1900, p. 48.
The Southern Cross Times, 20.4.1901, p. 1.
West Australian, 10.7.1902, p. 3.
Sunday Times, 4.11.1906, p. 3.
Kalgoorlie Miner, 7.11.1906, p. 1.
The Daily News, 25.4.1911, p. 4.
Kalgoorlie Miner, 24.4.1939, p. 3.
Kalgoorlie Miner, 12.7.1941, p. 8.
P T McMahon, They Wished Upon a Star, Service Printing Company Ltd WA, 1972.
David Black and Geoffrey Bolton, Biographical Register of the Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Volume1, 1870-1930, Offices of the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Perth, 1990.
Denis A Cumming and Richard G Hartley, Westralian Founders of Twentieth Century Mining, Richard G Hartley publisher, 2014.
Compiled by Chris Fitzhardinge April 13, 2026
