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This easy-to-find and locate cache is located on the grounds of one of Kimberley’s landmark institutions, the McGregor Museum. Officially founded on the 24th September 1907, the museum recently proudly celebrated its centenary. The museum is open daily with car access and parking from Atlas Road, Herlear. The cache is only accessible at the following times: Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 17:00 and public holidays (except Good Friday and Christmas Day) 10:00 to 17:00.
This traditional cache contains all the typical cache items. Take a nostalgic wander through Kimberley’s natural and cultural history museum. There is a small admission fee.
A bit of history about the site you will be visiting: The first director of the Museum (from 1908-1947) was Miss Maria Wilman who had studied Geology, Mineralogy and Chemistry at Cambridge University. She was also interested in Botany and Archaeology and published major works on these two subjects. Since her appointment the Museum has gone from strength to strength under a number of directors and has made important contributions to the ecological and historical knowledge of the Northern Cape.
The museum staff and collections were originally housed in Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum in Chapel Street. Mrs McGregor, the widow of a previous mayor of Kimberley, Alexander McGregor, donated the funds necessary to establish the Museum. However, as the museum and its collections grew, a new location was sort and finally the staff and collections moved to its current site in 1973. This building, called the Kimberley Sanatorium, was built at the instigation of CJ Rhodes. It was designed by DW Greatbatch, built by Church and McLauchlin and completed in 1897. During the Siege of Kimberley Rhodes occupied a suite of rooms and it is believed he received General French and Major Haig in the drawing room (currently the shop) when they brought news of the Relief. The Sanatorium was more a hotel than a hospital and in 1908 the name was changed to Hotel Belgrave. Relics of this era are on display in the ballroom, the upper gallery and a reconstruction of bedroom no. 5 upstairs. In 1933 the hotel was no longer viable and the building was leased to the Sisters of the Holy Family and became the Convent School. In 1963 the nuns built a chapel, presently the Hall of Religions, where there are displays of the religions of the world.
The permanent displays have been revamped and modernised to reflect the changes of our times.
Exhibits of the natural history of the Northern Cape may be seen in the EnviroZone. The Ancestors
Gallery depicts human history from 3 million years ago. More modern history of the Northern Cape can be seen in the Frontier Gallery and the Siege Gallery. The history of the Kimberley Regiment is on display upstairs. Geology, Anthropology and Convent displays are planned and temporary exhibitions will be placed in the ballroom and armoury. The McGregor Shop offers a wide variety of gifts, crafts, books and light refreshments.
Next to the McGregor Museum, and just a short walk through the Alex Hall Memorial Garden, is the Duggan-Cronin Gallery (car entrance from Egerton Road). Open Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, but on weekends and public holidays by appointment only. This is a photographic museum displaying the photographs of Alfred Duggan-Cronin, Aubrey Elliot, Jean Morris and Alice Mertens. Their photographs of the indigenous peoples of southern Africa, taken between 1919 and 1980, show aspects of traditional life and dress now largely vanished. This building, originally known as “The Lodge”, was built in 1889 for John Blades Currey, the manager of the London and South African Exploration Company. It became the property of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. in 1899 and was used as a home for William Pickering, the Secretary and later Director of De Beers, and subsequently as a guest house. In 1938 the company donated the building to the Kimberley
City Council to house the Duggan-Cronin Collection. Alfred Duggan-Cronin was the first curator. Today the
McGregor Museum is responsible for the maintenance of this collection. AM Duggan-Cronin arrived in Kimberley in 1897. He worked in the De Beers compounds, where he began to build up a photographic record of the different tribes working on the mines. Encouraged by Maria Wilman, he undertook expeditions to the main tribal areas, where he photographed the people before the Western influence drastically changed their traditional ways of life. The Duggan-Cronin collection consists of negatives and prints, as well as artefacts of material culture of the tribes, including beadwork, costumes, pottery, iron tools and wood carvings. A selection of his photographs have been included in publications such as The Bushmen Tribes of Southern Africa and The Bantu Tribes of South Africa.
Other satellite institutions affiliated to the McGregor Museum (and well worth visiting) include:
• Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, Chapel Street, Kimberley CBD (open by appointment and guided tours only)
• Dunluce, 10 Lodge Road, Belgravia (200m from the McGregor Museum, open by appointment and guided tours only)
• Rudd House, 4 Loch Road, Belgravia (800m from the McGregor Museum, open by appointment and guided tours only)
• Magersfontein Battlefield and the Bagpipe Lodge Guesthouse, about 31,5km from Kimberley on the Modder River road past the airport (N8)
• Pioneers of Aviation, about 4km off the N8 on General van der Spuy Drive
• Wildebeest Kuil, about 16 km on the R31 to Barkly West
• Wonderwerk Cave, 40km from Daniëlskuil on the main road to Kuruman
If you are interested in tours for either adults or school groups to the museum or one of its satellites (details below) telephone +27 (0)53 839 2700. Groups are limited to a maximum of 30 people.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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