William Thomas became Mayor of Kapunda in 1893, retaining the privileged position until 1895.
Thomas was born in Glamorganshire, Wales in 1854, and at 8 years of age moved to Kapunda, South Australia with his parents, brothers John and Even and sister Anne.
In 1876 he married Emma Harvey at her parent’s house in Kapunda. Together they had one child, a daughter, Hilda Beatrice Thomas.
Upon leaving school, William found work as an apprentice with My H.B, Hawkes iron foundry, working as an apprentice moulder and iron founder. In the evenings he worked the Main Street of Kapunda, selling newspapers.
After Mr Hawke sold his business to a local man, Mr Rees, William left the foundry. His previous work selling newspapers had been very lucrative, and he was able to become an agent, getting younger lads to sell the newspapers on his behalf. Meanwhile, he set up a stationary and bookselling shop in the main street – perhaps Mr Thomas was Kapunda’s first newsagent!
In 1879, Thomas gained a position on Council, after being elected to the West Ward. He also took positions on the boards of the Kapunda Institute Committee, The Kapunda hospital and the Dutton Park Management Committee. Thomas was also a trustee board member of the local Druids lodge
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In 1893 he became the elected Mayor of Kapunda, a position he held from 1893 until 1895. In 1896 he was involved in a local scandal when Mr H.B. Barker accused him of stating that the Corporation of Kapunda has misappropriated several Government grants.
Thomas went on record denying he ever said anything of the sort, even going so far as to publish a statement in the Kapunda Herald on May 7th, 1896 that Mr Barker was incorrect and unfounded.
In September 1900, Emma passed away, and only a few weeks later, after 5 weeks of being bedridden, William joined her. They are both buried in the Clare Road Cemetery.
The Copper in the Kapunda Mines was first discovered by Francis Dutton in 1842. He began a partnership with Captain Bagot (Captain was a traditional Cornish term used for a manager) and together they purchased about 80 acres of land. They paid 1 pound per acre of land.
The pair set about taking samples from the numerous green rocks. The samples were then sent to England for testing, this would take almost two years before results would return to Australia. Upon the results reaching Australia, the business partners were astonished to find the copper was 22.5% pure, which at the time was the richest deposit found anywhere in the world.
The mine began small with Bagot employing labourers to dig the copper from the surface with shovels and picks. In their first year, they removed 600 tons of ore, valued at about 7000 pounds.
Around December 1844, Cornish miners began to arrive on-site, and tunnelling and underground mining began in earnest.
Francis Dutton decided to sell his 25% share in the mine in 1846, earning him the vast sum (at the time) of 16000 pounds, Captain Bagot now had the controlling 55% of the ownership of the mine.
In its beginnings, the mine would transport its ore via bullock dray to Port Adelaide, a journey of about 6 days, where it would be loaded onto ships and transported by vessels to Swansea in Wales. Loads were sent at 2 tonnes per load, by 1850, the mine was producing 100 tons of copper ore per month.
In the coming years the mine would expand significantly, and so would the town. Many jobs were created, and it seemed in this era that certain cultural backgrounds provided expertise in differing areas. The Welsh operating smelters, the Cornish, who were expert miners, and the Germans who began to cut down trees needed to power the furnaces of the smelters and began farms to feed the vast number of workers. Then there were the Irish who began as labourers, and to drive the Bullock teams to Port Adelaide – it was a cultural melting pot (lets also not forget a few Chinese men who started market gardens in Kapunda!)
Kapunda never had one distinct mine instead there were at least five or six distinct copper lodes in close proximity, which were mined from as many as ten separate shafts over time, these included: Wheal Bagot, Wheal Charlotte, Wheal Truscott, Wheal Lanyon, Wheal Harris, Wheal Major. There is no trace of any of them today, as they have all been obliterated by later workings of the mine (wheal being a Cornish mining term)
In 1849, Smelters made in Germany arrived in South Australia, reducing the need to ship ore overseas, however, the ships now brought back Coal from England for the smelters
In 1850, the mines had reached about 80 feet down and had started to go below the water table, a steam engine was brought in to pump the water out of the mine. At its deepest point, the mine reached about 480 feet or 150 metres.
In 1852, the Goldrush in Victoria began, this had a huge effect on Kapunda and its surrounds, many men left to try their luck at finding a quick fortune. For almost three years the production rate at Kapunda dropped to a minimal amount, however by 1857, production was at full speed again producing upwards of 4104 tonnes of ore
A sign in the Bagot mining Museum in Kapunda states that in 1861 the mine employed
43 miners - mostly Cornish
106 pitmen
23 children - mostly Cornish
82 labourers - mainly Irish
13 boys - mainly Irish
36 smelters and furnacemen - mainly Welsh
The mine at this time was employing 302 men and 36 boys
The Kapunda mines importance declined with the discovery of copper at Burra, with a lode four times greater than Kapunda, but even Burra couldn’t compete with Moonta, which had a lode almost 4 times greater than Burra's!
By 1863 the majority of the high-grade ore had been mined out, the mine was now a low-grade ore mine – soon it became an open cut mine.
The mine closed in 1878 and all the equipment was sold.
However, it did reopen again and continued until 1912 on a smaller scale. During this time 12,800 tonnes of copper ore were mined
Now, in 2018 the Copper mine stands as a tourist attraction at Kapunda’s Southern End, dominated by the large stone chimney that was used to provide air for the engine boilers below. The mine is the favourite place of artists who love the deep green hues of the water that fills the open cut mine and now features restored mining buildings and fantastic artistic sculptures.
Time Line:
1842 Copper ore discovered
1844 Mine opened
1845 Horse whim installed
Mine Square Cottages built
1846 Dutton sold his share
Captain John Richards appointed
1848 Draft engine purchased
1849 Draft engine at work
Smelter built
1851 Buhl engine installed
The mine closed by the Victorian gold rush
1855 Mine re-opened
1859 Captain Bagot retired
1860 Kapunda Mining Company formed in London
Subsidence in workings
Railway reached Kapunda
1861 Draft Engine re-located
1862 East Kapunda mines opened
1863 Mines operated at a loss
1865 Scottish company took over mines
1867 Henderson Plant in production
Captain Osborne appointed
Open cut extraction
1877 Crash in copper price
1879 Mines closed
1880 Hillside mine opened
1912 Tributers finished up
1938 Matthews Gravel Quarry on Block 19 opened
1949 Matthews Gravel Quarry on Block 19 closed
1962 Council acquired Block 24
1972 Council acquired Block 21
Plaque placed on smokestack
Charlotte open cut used as Council dump
1986 Jubilee 150 signage erected
1987 Site entered in SA Heritage Register
2008 Preparation of Conservation Management Plan for the site
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
Charles Albert Tremaine as a teenager - year unknown.
Charles Albert Hazel born on the 9th of November 1887 at Hawkers Creek, Kapunda.
He married his second cousin. Violet Jane Hazel on the 3rd of February 1917 at the Pirie Street Methodist Church, Adelaide. Together had five children;
Mabel Dulcie in 1917
Madge Lorraine in 1918
Elysa Edith Harriet in 1921
Florence Edna May in 1922
Ross Charles in 1923
L to R (Florence) Edna, Elysa, Albert, Madge, and Ross Hazel (Mabel not in photo) at Port Parham
photo by Audrey Tiller circa 1931
Unfortunately, Violet passed away in 1924 leaving Albert to look after the children. At first, they lived in Port Parham, but at some point moved further south to St Kilda, where Albert took over the local shop near the beach.
Audrey Tiller (nee Tremaine), Alberts niece, went to stay with the small family for a number of months to help out with chores. In her letters (held by her Grandson, Allen Tiller), Audrey tells of sewing clothing for the children as well as cooking for them.
Audrey was an avid photographer, and because of her photographic inclinations, we have the photos on this page to share with you.
Albert Hazels St Kilda Beach shop (year unknown)
Photo by Audrey Tiller
Allen Tiller is a great-grandson of a sister (Florence May Tremaine - nee Hazel) of Charles Albert Hazel
Albert died at Prospect on the 4th of Oct 1939. Albert is buried in the Kapunda General Cemetery.
The grave of Jane and Albert Hazel - Kapunda General Cemetery
Photo by Allen Tiller
