Kapunda. Tiled steps to the Art Nouveau entrance door of Eringa House. Once the home of Sir Sidney Kidman. Donated to the South Australian Education Department in 1921 for Kapunda High School which it still is.
Kapunda.
Six years after the founding of the colony, SA was producing almost no wheat and the government was near bankruptcy. Governor Gawler had run up huge debts that the SA Company and the British government were unwilling to pay. Governor Grey arrived to face these problems but the discovery of commercial quantities of copper at Kapunda saved the state. Captain Charles Bagot of Koonunga Station discovered the copper and conferred with Francis Dutton of Anlaby station who had also discovered copper. They kept the news secret whilst they applied for 80 acres of land to be surveyed which they then bought at auction. Thus the two purchased the Kapunda copper mine with Bagot owning 75% and Dutton 25%. The first samples were assayed and averaged 23% pure copper, an extremely high rate for any mine. Cornish miners were secured for the mining jobs and mining began in January of 1843. The first shipment of copper reached England in 1845 and the royalties from the sales revived the states flagging economy. Over the next thirty five years the mine delivered about £1,000,000 of wealth and the township of Kapunda grew quickly to become a major SA town. Dutton sold his share of the mine in 1846 for a huge sum (£16,000) which allowed him to invest in the even wealthier Burra copper mine. Bagot became the major shareholder but sold out to an English company within a couple of years although he maintained financial involvement with the mine until 1859. He returned to Adelaide and built Nurney House North Adelaide. His younger son Edward lived on in the district and established a stock agent and wool handling business when the railway reached Kapunda in 1860. This business eventually merged into Elder Smiths Goldsborough Mort. Edward Bagot was an important pastoralist with several stations in the far north of SA and a boiling down works at Thebarton.
William Oldham became the mine superintendant in 1848, as well as the Congregational minister, the town surveyor, the local post master and a local businessman. To many he is considered the “father” of Kapunda! From 1866 Captain Osborne succeeded William Oldham as the mine superintendent until the mine closed in 1878. At first copper was carted to Port Adelaide by bullock dray, a six day journey. It was then exported to Wales for smelting. Soon the Welsh joined the Cornish in Kapunda and smelting operations began in the town in 1849. Although the first mining was simple open cut mining undertaken by miners and tributers (who were paid according to how much ore they extracted), deep shafts were soon needed to reach the underground lodes of ore. The deepest shafts sunk were 150 m (490ft) and mining operations were complex. By 1861 the mine employed 340 men and boys. Just two years later mining operations were scaled down (Moonta Mine had begun by that time) and the mine reverted to open cut mining. Low grade ore was mined until 1878, the year after the Burra mine closed. In 1851 three hundred men, including woodcutters were employed in the smelting works. The town had taken its name from an Aboriginal word “cappie oonda” which means spring.
The original private township was called North Kapunda and it was laid out by the North Kapunda Mining Company in 1846. Before then miners squatted on land even if they built a hut or cottage on it. In 1849 the government belatedly surveyed a town which it called Victoria and then Kapunda. Look at a map of Kapunda today and you can see this government town delineated by South, North, and West terraces. This is the northern half of today’s Kapunda where the old primary school is located. Government facilities followed soon after this with the police station, now a private residence being erected in 1852. Later in 1866 the impressive Court House was built adjacent to the police station in the private township. The town prospered further once the railway arrived in 1860. It then became the terminus for the bullock drays carting copper ore from Burra. It was during the 1860s and 1870s that many of the fine buildings in the town were erected. At this time Kapunda was larger than Gawler and Glenelg. It was the first town in SA with gas street lighting from around 1870. Kapunda also had its own newspaper from 1864 when the Kapunda Herald was established. Andrew Thomson of Osborne House bought the paper later that year. The paper still operates today as the Barossa and Light Herald (from 1908) and is the largest circulating regional weekly newspaper. Thomson also ran the general store, which is now the information centre.
Once the mine closed in 1878 the town focused on its agricultural hinterland and Sir Sidney Kidman played a major role in developing the town. He regularly held horse and cattle auctions behind the North Kapunda Hotel in the main street and by the time of his death in 1935 he owned or had a financial interest in 68 large properties which covered over 100,000 square miles ( 64 million acres or 259,000 square kms ) of Australia. Victoria is only 227,000 square kms! Kidman donated his home to the education department in 1921 for it to become Kapunda High School- one of the first high schools outside of Adelaide. In 1876 a local Scot, Alexander Greenshields built a mansion for £4,000 which he called Lanark after his birthplace in Scotland. He was a wealthy Kapunda draper and store owner. Sir Sidney Kidman bought the house around 1897 and renamed it Eringa. A major fire destroyed the roof of Eringa in 1902 and the Art Nouveau style Marseille tile roof replaced the original roof. The western wing was also added at this time and if you get to go inside you can see the delightful Art Nouveau ceiling motifs and the leadlight windows featuring bull rushes. When Sidney and his wife Bel moved to Adelaide they purchased a house at 76 Northgate Street Unley Park which they also named Eringa. Sir Sidney Kidman died here in 1935 and was buried nearby in the Mitcham cemetery. The Kidman Empire was inherited by his son Walter and other family members. Sir Sidney Kidman was mourned by people around the world and the almost illiterate 13 year who set about to create a pastoral empire on his own died an extremely wealthy man. Kidman was knighted partly for his generosity and bequests to the Inland Mission, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and other charities. During World War One he had also donated hundreds of horses, produce, especially beef and other materials to the Australian war effort including two fighter airplanes. As a generous employer it was not surprising that his employees put on a rodeo party for his 75th birthday in 1932 in the Adelaide Parklands. 60,000 people attended! Kidman was meant to be as comfortable talking to British royalty as to his stockmen. Although the Kidman properties are only half what they used to be in size they are for sale for round $350 million in 2015.
Kapunda. Tiled steps to the Art Nouveau entrance door of Eringa House. Once the home of Sir Sidney Kidman. Donated to the South Australian Education Department in 1921 for Kapunda High School which it still is.
Kapunda.
Six years after the founding of the colony, SA was producing almost no wheat and the government was near bankruptcy. Governor Gawler had run up huge debts that the SA Company and the British government were unwilling to pay. Governor Grey arrived to face these problems but the discovery of commercial quantities of copper at Kapunda saved the state. Captain Charles Bagot of Koonunga Station discovered the copper and conferred with Francis Dutton of Anlaby station who had also discovered copper. They kept the news secret whilst they applied for 80 acres of land to be surveyed which they then bought at auction. Thus the two purchased the Kapunda copper mine with Bagot owning 75% and Dutton 25%. The first samples were assayed and averaged 23% pure copper, an extremely high rate for any mine. Cornish miners were secured for the mining jobs and mining began in January of 1843. The first shipment of copper reached England in 1845 and the royalties from the sales revived the states flagging economy. Over the next thirty five years the mine delivered about £1,000,000 of wealth and the township of Kapunda grew quickly to become a major SA town. Dutton sold his share of the mine in 1846 for a huge sum (£16,000) which allowed him to invest in the even wealthier Burra copper mine. Bagot became the major shareholder but sold out to an English company within a couple of years although he maintained financial involvement with the mine until 1859. He returned to Adelaide and built Nurney House North Adelaide. His younger son Edward lived on in the district and established a stock agent and wool handling business when the railway reached Kapunda in 1860. This business eventually merged into Elder Smiths Goldsborough Mort. Edward Bagot was an important pastoralist with several stations in the far north of SA and a boiling down works at Thebarton.
William Oldham became the mine superintendant in 1848, as well as the Congregational minister, the town surveyor, the local post master and a local businessman. To many he is considered the “father” of Kapunda! From 1866 Captain Osborne succeeded William Oldham as the mine superintendent until the mine closed in 1878. At first copper was carted to Port Adelaide by bullock dray, a six day journey. It was then exported to Wales for smelting. Soon the Welsh joined the Cornish in Kapunda and smelting operations began in the town in 1849. Although the first mining was simple open cut mining undertaken by miners and tributers (who were paid according to how much ore they extracted), deep shafts were soon needed to reach the underground lodes of ore. The deepest shafts sunk were 150 m (490ft) and mining operations were complex. By 1861 the mine employed 340 men and boys. Just two years later mining operations were scaled down (Moonta Mine had begun by that time) and the mine reverted to open cut mining. Low grade ore was mined until 1878, the year after the Burra mine closed. In 1851 three hundred men, including woodcutters were employed in the smelting works. The town had taken its name from an Aboriginal word “cappie oonda” which means spring.
The original private township was called North Kapunda and it was laid out by the North Kapunda Mining Company in 1846. Before then miners squatted on land even if they built a hut or cottage on it. In 1849 the government belatedly surveyed a town which it called Victoria and then Kapunda. Look at a map of Kapunda today and you can see this government town delineated by South, North, and West terraces. This is the northern half of today’s Kapunda where the old primary school is located. Government facilities followed soon after this with the police station, now a private residence being erected in 1852. Later in 1866 the impressive Court House was built adjacent to the police station in the private township. The town prospered further once the railway arrived in 1860. It then became the terminus for the bullock drays carting copper ore from Burra. It was during the 1860s and 1870s that many of the fine buildings in the town were erected. At this time Kapunda was larger than Gawler and Glenelg. It was the first town in SA with gas street lighting from around 1870. Kapunda also had its own newspaper from 1864 when the Kapunda Herald was established. Andrew Thomson of Osborne House bought the paper later that year. The paper still operates today as the Barossa and Light Herald (from 1908) and is the largest circulating regional weekly newspaper. Thomson also ran the general store, which is now the information centre.
Once the mine closed in 1878 the town focused on its agricultural hinterland and Sir Sidney Kidman played a major role in developing the town. He regularly held horse and cattle auctions behind the North Kapunda Hotel in the main street and by the time of his death in 1935 he owned or had a financial interest in 68 large properties which covered over 100,000 square miles ( 64 million acres or 259,000 square kms ) of Australia. Victoria is only 227,000 square kms! Kidman donated his home to the education department in 1921 for it to become Kapunda High School- one of the first high schools outside of Adelaide. In 1876 a local Scot, Alexander Greenshields built a mansion for £4,000 which he called Lanark after his birthplace in Scotland. He was a wealthy Kapunda draper and store owner. Sir Sidney Kidman bought the house around 1897 and renamed it Eringa. A major fire destroyed the roof of Eringa in 1902 and the Art Nouveau style Marseille tile roof replaced the original roof. The western wing was also added at this time and if you get to go inside you can see the delightful Art Nouveau ceiling motifs and the leadlight windows featuring bull rushes. When Sidney and his wife Bel moved to Adelaide they purchased a house at 76 Northgate Street Unley Park which they also named Eringa. Sir Sidney Kidman died here in 1935 and was buried nearby in the Mitcham cemetery. The Kidman Empire was inherited by his son Walter and other family members. Sir Sidney Kidman was mourned by people around the world and the almost illiterate 13 year who set about to create a pastoral empire on his own died an extremely wealthy man. Kidman was knighted partly for his generosity and bequests to the Inland Mission, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and other charities. During World War One he had also donated hundreds of horses, produce, especially beef and other materials to the Australian war effort including two fighter airplanes. As a generous employer it was not surprising that his employees put on a rodeo party for his 75th birthday in 1932 in the Adelaide Parklands. 60,000 people attended! Kidman was meant to be as comfortable talking to British royalty as to his stockmen. Although the Kidman properties are only half what they used to be in size they are for sale for round $350 million in 2015.