In the beginning

Wallaroo was first sighted by Captain Matthew Flinders when surveying Spencer Gulf in The Investigator. In 1802 he dropped anchor and named Point Riley a “cliffy projection” after an officer in the British Admiralty.

Prior to Captain Flinders’ visit, the area was inhabited by the indigenous tribe of the Narungga people who hunted game in the scrubland and fished on North Beach. They usually camped in the nearby sandhills where some of their campsites can still be seen today.

In July 1851, a lease of 104 square miles was taken up by Robert Miller and used for sheep grazing.

In 1857, Miller surrendered his lease to new leaseholder, Walter Watson Hughes. His sheep station known as Wadla Waru, or Wallawaroo, was considered too long for wool bales and was shortened to Wallaroo. His shepherds were asked to be on the lookout for signs of minerals and on December 17, 1859, James Boor found traces of copper in a wombat burrow at Wallaroo Mines.

In 1861, Patrick Ryan made a similar find at Moonta.

Wallaroo’s heyday

Wallaroo enjoyed its heyday during the 62-year copper boom on northern Yorke Peninsula from 1861-1923.

This was the period when employment was at its peak, population at record levels, the school overcrowded, church pews fully occupied every Sunday, and large attendances at all public functions.

Arrival of the Welsh people

Welsh couple in traditional costume, Henry and Mary Ann Davies, came to Wallaroo in 1864 and lived in Emu Street. Henry worked at the Copper smelters on the furnace. They emigrated from Swansea, Wales.

Consequently the town was predominantly Welsh and evidence of this fact can still be seen today — the square smelters stack, an occasional Welsh cottage, inscriptions on headstones and names of descendant families including: Davies, Prosser, Richards, Bates, Owen, Kenchington, Price, Rees, Jones, Evans, Phillips, and typically Welsh — Lwellyn Lwellyn and Thomas Thomas. Other Christian names included Olwyn, Gwynfer, Myfannwy and Leyshon.

In the early years there was a Wallaroo Welsh Rovers football team who delighted in beating the Cornish Wallaroo Mines Rovers and the various Moonta football teams.

The copper smelters

In 1860 the construction of two copper smelters began on the Wallaroo foreshore on land reclaimed from the sea; November 11, 1861, was red letter day for the history of Wallaroo, with the lighting of the first furnace.

The large Hughes stack, 120 feet high, was used for the first time and by January 1862, 12 furnaces and 11 smaller chimney-stacks were in use.

First manager of the smelters was Welshman, Captain Leyshon Jones.

The first shipment of 30 tonnes of fine copper was taken from the Wallaroo smelters by the SS Marion in February 1862.

By June 1873, there were 32 furnaces. Among the employees were English, Irish, Scottish, Afghans, French, Mullatoes, Africans, and of course Welsh.

Copper, gold, lead, silver and zinc were processed. In 1907 the smelters employed 700 men and boys but gave indirect employment to many more.

End of an era  

The year 1923 saw the end of a golden era for Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta, when a sharp decline in world copper prices coupled with industrial strife made it uneconomical to continue.

The smelters closed towards the end of 1923, having used all the copper stocks and a skeleton staff remained until demolition in 1926.

During its 62-year existence, 332,600 tonnes of copper was produced, valued at 20 million 365,000 pounds, plus quantities of other minerals.

Hundreds of families were forced to leave the town the smelter closure.

Wallaroo Welsh Church

The Lloyd Memorial Welsh Congregational Church (circa 1960).

Services were conducted by Mr Edward Preece with assistance from a number of new Welsh settlers.

Services were later transferred to a wooden building in Elizabeth Street, close to where the permanent church was built in 1866.

In the early years the services were conducted in Welsh, assisted by the Welsh Choir which was renowned for its excellent singing.

The first resident pastor was Reverend John Lloyd in 1869, who preached both Welsh and English languages for nearly 36 years.

The building was extended again in 1908 and could seat 300 people.

A Sunday School building was erected in 1915 and services continued at the church for the next 63 years. The final service was held on June 18, 1978, after which the church was mostly demolished.

The Sunday School building still stands today and is used as a private home.

Reverend John Lloyd

Born in Bangor, Wales in 1828, Reverend John Lloyd, was the longest-serving minister ever to preach the gospel at Wallaroo. In 1866 he arrived in Wallaroo with numerous other Welsh immigrants and was initially employed at the local smelting works.

He joined the Welsh Church and later became active in the Sunday School.

He was invited to occupy the pulpit of the Welsh Church in Elizabeth Street and later became a full-time pastor.

Reverend Lloyd assisted many people and conducted weeknight services in his native tongue. He became famous throughout South Australia and his services were in great demand.

In October 1904, he journeyed to Bordertown to conduct an anniversary service in the church. During the service he became very ill and he died at Bordertown on October 4, 1904.

His remains were brought back to Wallaroo where the largest funeral ever held in the town was conducted.

When enlargements to the church were made in 1908, the renamed Lloyd Memorial Welsh Congregational Church was re-opened by Rev. Lloyds widow.

Conclusion

Much of this information was found in the book Copper to Gold, written by Rex Wiltshire. This book can be purchased from the Wallaroo Heritage and Nautical Museum.

As part of the Copper 150 sesquicentenary celebrations, the Wallaroo National Trust will be conducting historical walks of Wallaroo, Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, October 10.

All walking tours depart from the Wallaroo Heritage and Nautical Museum, for enquiries phone 8823 3015.