{"id":1611,"date":"2020-04-10T14:19:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-10T03:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1611"},"modified":"2020-04-10T16:08:39","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T05:38:39","slug":"bernard-winifred-mccaffrey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1611","title":{"rendered":"Bernard & Winifred McCaffrey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Text and Images: Elisabeth Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESPECTED HEAD TEACHER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard A. McCaffrey was Head Teacher of the Mylor School\nfrom 1901 till 1918. Initially the appointment of this Catholic Irishman was\nsaid to have been met with opposition within the largely Methodist community,\nbut he was found to be a good teacher and soon won the respect and affection of\nthe local people. He instilled in his pupils a tolerance for one another,\nencouraged reading and insisted on absolute proficiency in recitation of the\nmultiplication tables up to 16 x 16 as the backbone of their education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was given the honour of being Master of Ceremonies at the\nunveiling of the Mylor Honour Roll at the Australia Day Fair on Mylor Oval in\nOctober 1916.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernard and his wife Winifred were the parents of eight\nchildren. They walked to Sunday Mass at Stirling East \u2013 a journey of six miles\neach way \u2013 and the children repeated the walk to attend Confirmation classes at\nthe church. Gifted with a good voice, Bernard sang locally and also in the\nchurch choir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the time came for the family to move in 1918, a\nfarewell function was arranged by the school families and Bernard and Winifred\nwere presented with a pair of Morris chairs as an expression of their gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sourced from \u201cOn Fertile Soil\u201d a history of the Stirling\nCatholic Parish (1987) and \u201cThe Light In the Valley\u201d, a history of the Mylor\nPrimary School by Jan Polkinghorne (1994)                <\/p>\n\n\n\n

INFANT\u2019S GRAVE RESTORED<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winifred Mc Caffrey<\/strong>, wife of Mylor School Head\nTeacher Bernard A. McCaffrey and mother of eight children, said more than once\nthat it would not matter how many children you had, you never got over the\ndeath of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, on 28th<\/sup> September 1906 her sixth child,\nHarry Desmond, died aged just six weeks. His was to be the first grave in the\nthen newly established Stirling Catholic Cemetery in Strathalbyn Road. The\ninfant was buried there on 9th<\/sup> January 1907. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Twelve years later, after 17 years in Mylor, the McCaffrey\nfamily moved to Campbelltown. Over the years the grave suffered from the\nravages of time and ultimately the plot no longer even resembled a grave. Only\nthe official burial register indicated that this was Harry\u2019s place of burial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2003 the grave was restored and properly marked with a\nmarble plinth and plaque, thanks to members of the Adelaide Hills Catholic\nParish and the Mt Lofty Districts Historical Society, the Mayor at that time Mr\nBill Cooksley, a grant from the Adelaide Hills Council\u2019s Memorial Fund and\nfinancial and material support from a number of individuals and businesses –\nrarely solicited but gladly given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Winifred had paid into a funeral fund for so many years, she\nonce remarked that she expected a red carpet and brass band when she died, so\ngranddaughter Christine Beaumont of Mt Barker once recalled. Whether her\nexpectations were ultimately met is not known but one imagines that she would\nhave been very pleased with the ceremony that restored dignity to her infant\u2019s\ngrave, with red camellias, music from cello and flute and song, green ribbons\nfor the family\u2019s Irish roots and tea tree to symbolise the Adelaide Hills.\nMembers of the McCaffrey family were in the gathering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Written by Elisabeth Anderson, who discovered this plot in\nthe course of some historical research and then initiated and co-ordinated its\nrestoration).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FOOT NOTE<\/strong>: As a consequence of this event a number of women voiced their grief over the loss of their own infants in the past and lamented the fact that their places of burial had remained unknown to them. As a result, a baby memorial was established by the Hills Christian Churches in the nearby Memorial Garden to bring them some healing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Do you have stories or memories of Bernard or Winifred and their time in the Adelaide Hills? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contact us at mldhsgateways@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au<\/a> or drop into the History Centre at the Coventry Library, 63 Mount Barker Road, Stirling.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text and Images: Elisabeth Anderson RESPECTED HEAD TEACHER Bernard A. McCaffrey was Head Teacher of the Mylor School from 1901 till 1918. Initially the appointment of this Catholic Irishman was said to have been met with opposition within the largely Methodist community, but he was found to be a good teacher and soon won the … Continue reading “Bernard & Winifred McCaffrey”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaNLq6-pZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1264,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1264","url_meta":{"origin":1611,"position":0},"title":"Mylor Primary School","date":"August 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Ann Herraman. Image: Peter Holderness. Mylor Primary School \u2013 a local school with a flowering gate. 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