STEPHEN (ISTVÁN) GOETZL
| Town/City | Perth |
|---|---|
| First name | STEPHEN (ISTVÁN) |
| Last name | GOETZL |
| Country of Origin | HUNGARY |
| Date of Birth | 1856 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1888 |
| Submitted by | Attila Urmenyhazi |
Story
Following his schooling in Hungary, István (Stephen) studied in Vienna and back in Hungary in the school of mining engineering of Szelmeczbánya in Upper Hungary ( now in Slovakia) , and became the manager of a copper and silver mine.
Arriving in Sydney in 1888, Goetzel went first to Queensland, then to Tasmania, and in 1892 he sailed to Western Australia. He travelled by camel over the Murchison goldfields. Then, commissioned by the Western Australian government, Goetzel undertook two expeditions. On his first in the Esperance-Bayley’s Reward area, he predicted in his Report the auriferous potential of the Red Kangaroo Hill and Norseman areas.
On his second expedition, Goetzel covered the Bayley’s Reward-Menzies area.
In 1895 he left government service to practice privately as a mining engineer.
His 1897 essay titled ‘The Interior Gold Regions of Western Australia’ was published in W.B. Kimberle\’s ‘History of Western Australia’.
His pioneer work was in fact a substantial early contribution to Western Australia’s developing mining wealth. Goetzel represents the type of immigrant radically different from the others of his time.