Silverton Gaol Museum
The Silverton Gaol Museum houses a comprehensive display of memorabilia from Broken Hill, Silverton and the surrounding area ranging from Bibles dating back to 1862 to war memorabilia.
The gaol’s original medical room has been converted into a museum displaying tools of the health profession – and comes with an authentic hospital smell. One of the real curiosities is the coroner’s bath where bodies were preserved awaiting the arrival of the Sydney coroner, which at times could take up to three months.
A collection of early era scales and kitchen equipment shares space with old world lamps and gramophones. Elsewhere, the histories of institutions such as the Salvation Army, Fire Brigade, Silverton Tramway Company, schools, scouts and girl guides are on display. Even the stories behind the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows have a home.
Of course the mining heritage is extensive, including the bill of sale by which James Poole tragically exchanged his share in the new Broken Hill mine for a handful of steers. The expansive display of mining equipment shares its outdoor location with the famous Sturt Desert Pea, which is regenerating in the former gaol exercise yards. Elsewhere within the museum a broad explanation of the area’s flora and fauna can be found.
Aboriginal artefacts, drawings and implements such as grinding stones and axe heads are also on show, progressing through to historical pastoral equipment used in a bygone era.
Recreational pursuits from women’s football to picture theatres are also covered – including a 1916 Epidiascope – along with various other ancient projectors.
An entire room is dedicated to music, where the 1928 Broken Hill Orchestra and the more recent Cameron Pipe Band are chronicled, together with documents and photographs detailing the illustrious career of June Gough – better known as world-renowned opera and operetta star June Bronhill, OBE.
Born in Broken Hill on June 26, 1929, June Bronhill enjoyed a very successful career as a soprano and joining the Sadler’s Wells Company in London in 1954. She delighted Australian audiences as Hannah Glevarri in the 1955 production of The Merry Widow which ran for some six years and was also a stand out as Maria in The Sound of Music in the 1960s.