Media: BOOK - paperback, 132 pages
Author: R. Paterson
Year: (1993) 2010
ISBN: 095956571X
Other: b&w photos, maps, sketches, appendix, index
Publisher: Gould Genealogy

South Australia was first settled in 1836 as a free colony, but the Yorke Peninsula, being without permanent water, held no attraction for the early graziers of the state. It is not until 1851 that a lease of 104 square miles was taken out in Kadina area for sheep grazing. The lease, named Wallawaroo (later Wallaroo), was transferred to Captain Walter Watson Hughes of Watervale Station in 1857; it was he who noticed the green flames in his shepherds' fires, who was then instructed to search for any green stones in his day's work ... a small mound of green copper carbonate was found at the entrance of a rat hole.

Captain Hughes immediately arranged for four Cornish miners to come over from the copper mining community of Burra Burra, and test the site now known as Wallaroo Mines. Following the success of the test shaft, a mining lease was pegged and a private company formed to work the find. News of the discovery spread and miners flocked to the field. From the beginnings, the Wallaroo and Moonta Mines developed. Nearly £21,000,000 worth of copper was produced over 63 worked years of the mines, which closed in 1923.

The impact of Walter Watson Hughes (1803-87) on the mining history of South Australia and in particular the district history of Northern Yorke Peninsula was considerable. The towns of Kadina, Moonta, and Wallaroo owe their existence to this Scotsman, and his business expertise.

This book is a collection of essays relating to the history of the Kadina, Moonta, Wallaroo region of South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
From Australia's Little Cornwall: An Introduction to Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo and its Cornish and Welsh Settlers
Yorke Peninsula and its Staples of Wool, Wheat and Copper: Dealing with the Period 1845-70 in the Upper Area of the Peninsula
The Economic History of the Wheat Industry in County Daly (1908-88): An Investigation of Wheat Farming in the Bute/Willamulka District
The Swansea of the South: The Smelting Industry of Wallaroo
The Fires Go Out in Wallaroo: Description of the Days Following the Close of the Mines and Run Down of the Smelters in Wallaroo
On the Waterfront: Shipping Services, Prostitution, the Waterside Workers and their Union Activities
We Met on the Jetty: The Social History, including Sunday School Picnics, Fishing and Sporting Activities of Wallaroo
The Character, Traditions and Folklore of the Cornish: Folktales, Superstitions and Language of the Cornish both in Cornwall ad in Australia
A Social History of the Era: The Churches, Lodges, Pastimes, Sporting Activities of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo
Cemetery Survey – Moonta Cemetery: A Survey of the Oldest Section of the Moonta Cemetery with Information on Monumental Masons, Headstones and Deaths in the Mines
The Cornish
Methodist Tradition of Northern Yorke Peninsula: The Methodist Churches of Northern Yorke Peninsula, including Early History and Archival Features
How to Identify the Cornish Component in Genealogy: Have you a Cousin Jack or Jenny in Your Family Tree?
Tracing a Miner in Cornwall: Visiting a Miner in Cornwall: Visiting Cornwall to Seek Out a Cornwall Miner and his Family
Celebrating the Cornish Heritage: The Kernewek Lowender, its Foundation, Experiences and Successes
Endnotes
Appendix 1. Areas Sown to Wheat and Barley in County Daly
Appendix 2. Prices Paid for Wheat in South Australia 1908-38
Appendix 3. Average Rainfall for the Lower North Agricultural Areas
Appendix 4. Hectares Sown in County Daly to Various Wheat Varieties
Appendix 5. Popular Cornish Christian Names, Societies that may help with Cornish Genealogy
Appendix 6. A Cornish South Australian Bibliography
Index