A REMARKABLE piece of local farming history is now in the possession of the Millicent National Trust Museum.
An elegant silver-plated cup was won by Nangula farmer John McCallum at the 1878 Millicent Show for his success in the single ploughing event.
His great-grandson Cliff Gurney has owned the family heirloom for the past three decades and said it was fitting for it to be permanently display in Millicent.
“We are grateful for any memorabilia from the early days of Millicent that can be displayed in the local history area of the museum” National Trust committee member Colleen Hammat said.
“This piece will sit alongside other Millicent A. H. & P. Society trophies currently on display.”
Now living in retirement in Adelaide after a long career as a teacher, Mr Gurney remembers seeing it in his boyhood in Millicent when it was displayed at his grandmother’s home.
“Around 30 years ago, I saw the cup at the Beachport National Trust Museum and my name was on a card with it,” Mr Gurney said.
“I do not know how it got there but the museum people allowed me to take it.
“I understand that my great grandfather also won the same event at the Millicent Show the previous year but I do not know where that prize is.”
His distant McCallum cousins still farm land at Nangula and Mr Gurney retains a strong attachment to the Millicent district.
After working in various occupations after leaving school, Mr Gurney enrolled as a mature-age student at the age of 22 at a teachers college in Adelaide.
That was 46 years ago.
One of Mr Gurney’s vivid memories of his Millicent boyhood was camping out with one of his grandfathers who was a drover of sheep.
Their base was the Millicent landmark known as Walker’s Tin Hut and that rudimentary structure stands to this day.
