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| Issue 54: News |
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Page 20 of 24 Museum to trace St Just miners Staff at Geevor Tin Mine are working with the Moonta Mining Museum, 100 miles northwest of Adelaide in South Australia, exploring the migration of miners from Cornwall. Staff at the museum are interested in family history and keen to track families who left St Just and the surrounding area to work in Australia during the late 1800s. Traces of copper were found at what was to become Moonta in 1861 and the discovery led to a rapid influx of skilled workers from Cornwall who, with their cutting-edge skills and technology, accelerated the development of deep mining in the area. Cornish families settled in familiar village patterns around the mines, and retained their traditions and religious beliefs. During the prosperous years of the late 1800s, Moonta had a population of 12,000 and is today recognised as a significant part of the area alternately known as Little Cornwall. The sharing of family histories and images of the Mining Landscape at both Geevor and Moonta will be presented in an exhibition, to be known as the Cousin Jack Project, opening at Geevor later in the year. |
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