Mrs Primrose WhytePrint Page

The fountain was erected in memory of Mrs Primrose Whyte who was taken by a shark in 1926. The fountain was completed in March 1927.

Kathleen Duncan Campbell Whyte (“Kitty”) MacCully was the daughter of Reverend Alexander MacCully , the Rector of St Jude’s in Brighton. She was the wife of Ernest Primrose (known as “Prim”) Whyte, the manager of Wirraminna Station north of Port Augusta, when she died on the 18th March 1926 aged 35.

Before her marriage, Kitty had regularly taught the children of Brighton to swim, being an adept swimmer who won the Grand Diploma of the Royal Life Saving Society in 1919. In that year she was officially thanked for having saved Miss Sybil Davies from drowning. Whilst on holiday in Brighton in 1926 she took her usual class of children and afterwards returned for a swim herself. She dived off the springboard, screamed suddenly throwing up her arms, and was dragged under the surface. A twelve foot long black shark had attacked and badly mutilated her. She died before reaching the hospital.

To perpetuate the memory of Mrs. Primrose Whyte who lost her life when a shark attacked her at Brighton last summer, a drinking fountain is being erected on Brighton Esplanade on the north side of the arch. The work which is in the hands of Mr. John Tillett, will be completed today.

The commitee has decided not to hold any unveiling ceremony, as it does not wish to recall the manner in which Mrs. Whyte met her death. It wants it to stand for what it is, a tribute to a noble woman.
News (Adelaide, SA), 16 March 1927.

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