George Boules

George Boules Jr., son of John “Jack” Boules and Ellen “Nell” Boules (nee Brown), was born 12 October 1913 into one of Lightning Ridge’s early mining families. His grandfather, George Boules Sr., had worked on Llanillo Station by the mid 1870s, and his father Jack discovered the Butterfly Stone.

Known as “Georgie,” Boules broke his leg as a child in 1918, as recorded in the Walgett Spectator. By the late 1940s, he had become one of the only professional opal cutters in Lightning Ridge, using petrol-powered equipment and cutting stones for buyers such as George Cowan.

George was also involved in early experiments with dry puddling, working alongside Arthur Molyneux and John Molyneux between 1950 and 1953.

In 1939, George married Joyce Muriel Eichorn of Uralla in a well attended ceremony. The couple later settled in Lightning Ridge, where they raised their children. Their home was the old original post office building. In his later years, George mined with Arthur Molyneux and Bert Cooper, continuing a decades-long presence on the field.

George Boules died in 1963 and was buried at Lightning Ridge Cemetery.

• George Boules @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: Lightning Ridge - The Home of the Black Opal: Unique to the World, Gan Bruce, 1983, p. 31; Walgett Spectator, 14 February 1918, 21 February 1918.