Historical information

This grinder is attached to the Sundial stationary engine by a leather belt. The grinder would have been used to grind grain for flour and by adjustment for animal and poultry feed. The hopper is constructed of wood but the grinding mechanism below is marked J. Buncle, Iron Works, N. Melbourne.

John Buncle (1822 – 1889) was born in Edinburgh and completed an apprenticeship in engineering and piano making. He worked with firms designing steam engines and locomotives and in 1846 was working in the Vulcan foundry when he married Mary Ann Binns, the daughter of his employer. They had eleven children of whom eight survived infancy.

The family arrived in Melbourne in 1852 at the height of the gold rush and he was immediately employed at Langlands foundry. Melbourne had an acute shortage of skilled tradesmen so after six months he started his own business using his various talents. As the gold rush subsided, he settled in to engineering and contracting and among other things, supplied the iron work for the Johnston Street bridge over the Yarra River. Gradually he turned to the design and manufacture of agricultural machinery and tools with which his name is chiefly associated. With his iron works in North Melbourne he was held in high esteem by his contemporaries, becoming the President of the Chamber of Manufacturers and serving two terms as Mayor of the Municipality of Hotham. He wrote Experiences of a Victorian Manufacturer with amusing anecdotes of conditions in early Melbourne.

The company became J.Buncle & Son and finally in 1952, John Buncle-Commando Ltd. It finally went into liquidation in February 1957.

Physical description

Yellow wooden hopper on black grinder with blue parts mounted on green stand. Attached by belt drive to Sundial engine