Sydney Harbour Bridge, 90 years – a Bridge story and a former MSC, Adrian McCunn

Peter Hendriks writes: The 90^th birthday of the Sydney Harbour Bridge last Saturday has reminded me that one of the unexpected but special aspects of this role is when I am contacted from relatives of former MSC who are doing family research. There are some very moving stories that are revealed. It was because of such a request that I became aware of a tragic incident on the Harbour Bridge that occurred only six months after it opened.

I received an email from the family of Adrian McCunn who spent some years as an msc. When Adrian was only a baby his father, who was a Police Constable, was one of the first two pedestrians to be killed on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He and his partner were on duty checking for any vehicles with defective lights. On this night, sadly, a motorist failed to see the policemen when they signalled him to stop. The accident occurred on Friday 6^th August 1932.  The funerals were held on Monday 8^th August and the newspapers reported that one hundred thousand people or more with bared heads, viewed the long and impressive funeral cortege as it proceeded from Mrs Kirby’s Funeral Parlour to Rookwood cemetery.

In 1952 Adrian left St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill to join the School at St Mary’s Towers. He then proceeded to the Novitiate, made his first profession, went to the Croydon monastery for studies, but in 1957 discerned this wasn’t where he was called. Adrian obtained a job with the Department of Customs and Excise. He married had four children and several grandchildren. He died in 2017 aged 86 years.