Kapunda's Hidden Secrets: Kapunda Museum

Kapunda's Hidden Secrets: Kapunda Museum

Located at 11 Hill Street, Kapunda,  The Kapunda Museum is recognised as one of the finest folk museums in Australia. The building was originally constructed as a Baptist Church in 1866.

The building Served as a Baptist Church until 1948 when services ended due to dwindling attendances, then became a technical school in 1949, up until the mid-1960s, when the building was sold to the local council, who then donated it to the Kapunda historical society. The former Church opened as a museum in 1971

 The museum contains a huge collection covering every facet of Kapunda's history and there is an extensive display of machinery, agricultural equipment, an old local Kapunda Ambulance, a Hearse and one of the finest collections of old record players, including wax cylinders.

The Museum also hosts a collection of items donated by the Tiller family, including Audrey Tillers entire bedroom suite, handmade clothing and a family, hand-stitched throw rug that is considered the oldest of its kind in Australia.
 In the Hawke Gallery, one can see foundry products from an era long gone, including a cross compound steam engine.

Bagots Fortune features an interactive display covering the Kapunda Copper Mines, which became the richest and purest copper ore deposit the world has seen...

 ...and if you do visit the Kapunda Museum, don’t forget to cross the road to the corner of Hill and Main Streets, to the visitor information centre and go downstairs to see another interactive display, or talk to the friendly staff about the many historical self-guided tours of the town...

Kapunda museum is open 7 days a week from 1pm to 4 pm and is located at 5 Hill Street

Video "Kapunda's Hidden Secrets: Kapunda Museum" © 2013 by Allen  Tiller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHv805RkTmw

Kapunda: Then and Now - 8 Beck Street

Kapunda: Then and Now - 8 Beck Street

The photo above was found in my Grandmother, Audrey Tiller's photos albums, it appears to be 8 Beck street Kapunda.

 The photo's only marking is "Bills House", with no indication of year, or who "Bill" might have been.

The photo below is from Google Maps in 2014.

probably the most notable differences between the top and bottom photo's are the addition of the car port, the lack of electricity meter box and wiring, TV Antennae, missing front fence, the plants on the furthest side of the building, and what appears to be screening on the balcony!

The Tragic Death of James Bernard Meggins

The Tragic Death of James Bernard Meggins

In 1868, Daniel Meggins (sometimes misspelled Megins), a farm hand at St John's, near Kapunda, married Margaret Haughey at St Johns Roman Catholic Church. The couple had ten children together, 4 girls and 6 boys:

Catherine Meggins (1870–1942)

James Bernard Meggins – (1871–1886)

John Daniel Meggins (1873–1948)

William Meggins (1876–1876)

William Thomas Meggins (1877–1939)

Mary Ann Bernard Megins1879–1973

Rosey Maud Meggins (1882–1885)

Walter Edward Meggins (1884–1885)

James Edward Meggins (1886–1974)

Gertrude Johanna Meggins (1890–1922)

When he was old enough, James, the eldest son of the couple, took a job carting hay in the local area. On December 2^nd, 1886, he was between Tarlee and Kapunda loading hay onto his cart when tragedy struck.

 A storm had brewed, and with it came lightning. One bolt of Lightning directly hit the cart at about 2pm, incinerating the cart, killing both of James’ horses, and James.

 Young James, just 15 years old, was later buried in St Johns Cemetery, near Kapunda.

 It is not known what became of the Meggins family, but 70 years later, Margaret Meggins name appears in the newspapers of the time. A large gathering of 500 people was at St Johns Cemetery to witness the blessing of the ceremony, and the dedication of a new gravestone for Father John Fallon, the first Parish Priest of the area.
 Mrs Meggins was 93 years old on her visit, and stated in the papers, that she remembers Father Fallon very well.

One has to wonder if while there, she wept over the grave of her oldest son, James.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018
Photographs by Allen Tiller © 2011

Bibliography

1886 'THUNDERSTORMS IN THE COUNTRY.', South Australian Register, 3 December, p. 5. , viewed 26 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45848707

1936 'Pilgrimage to Hallowed and Historic Ground', Southern Cross, 9 October, p. 15. , viewed 26 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167080745

Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Sir Wallace Bruce

Sir Wallace Bruce

Sir Wallace Bruce by Vandyck Studios

State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 4618

Born in Kapunda on the 3rd of August 1878, to parents, John and Harriet (nee Cowie), Wallace Bruce was destined for a life in business and politics.

Bruce was educated at Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, and went on to work at the Alliance Assurance Company Ltd for a decade before going on to open his own insurance business, Wallace Bruce and Co.

Sir Wallace Bruce as viewed
by The News caricaturist
Nov 1928

On the 11^th of October 1905, Wallace married Winifred Drummond Reid at the Congregational Church, North Adelaide. Together they had four daughters and one son.

 Bruce built a solid reputation and soon had clients right around Australia, as well as internationally. His business acumen and achievements saw him earn positions as Director on a number of companies, including the Adelaide Cement Co. Ltd, Clarkson Ltd, the British Automobile Finance Co. of South Australia, the South Australian Gas Co. and Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd.

 His position at Holden’s led him to travel to Los Angeles, California and to New York USA with his wife in 1935 as part of a business trip. This was followed by a voyage to the UK.

From 1925 until 1927, Wallace Bruce served as The Lord Mayor of Adelaide, this was following nine years of service as a City Councillor.

In 1927, Wallace Bruce was knighted on May 8^th, given the title of Knights Bachelor, which is considered the lowest form of knighthood, as although it bestows a title, it signifies that the awardee is not in an order of chivalry. However it is viewed, it is still a significant achievement!

Sir Wallace Bruce died on the 16^th of November 1944. He is buried at the North Road Cemetery

Researched and written by Allen Tiller

© 2018

Bibilography

1935 'SIR WALLACE BRUCE GOING ABROAD', The Advertiser, 21 November, p. 18. , viewed 26 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36198044

1944 'Death of Sir Wallace Bruce', News, 16 November, p. 1. , viewed 26 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129882119

1944 'Death of Sir Wallace Bruce', News, 16 November, p. 1. , viewed 26 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129882119

Eric Richards, 'Bruce, Sir Wallace (1878–1944)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bruce-sir-wallace-5402/text9151, published first in hardcopy 1979, accessed online 26 January 2018.

The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California; NAI Number: 4486355; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Rec