South Australia History
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Historical Background
- The land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of the colony of New South Wales. Early settlements were all on the eastern coast and only a few intrepid explorers ventured this far west.
- It took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward.
- On 15 August 1834, the British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834 (Foundation Act), which empowered His Majesty to erect and establish a province or provinces in southern Australia.
- Survey was required before settlement of the province, and William Light, as the leader of the 'First Expedition', was tasked with examining 1500 miles of the South Australian coastline and selecting the best site for the capital, and with then planning and surveying the site of the city into one-acre Town Sections and its surrounds into 134-acre Country Sections.
- The South Australian Company obtained permission to send Company ships to South Australia, in advance of the surveys and ahead of colonists. The company's settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was temporarily made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, until the official site of the capital was selected where the City of Adelaide is currently located. The first immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay (near the present day Glenelg) in November 1836.
- South Australia is the only Australian state to have never received British convicts. Although South Australia was constituted such that convicts could never be transported to the Province, some emancipated or escaped convicts or expirees made their own way there, both prior to 1836, or later, and may have constituted 1–2% of the early population.
- The plan for the province was that it would be an experiment in reform, addressing the problems perceived in British society. There was to be religious freedom and no established religion. Sales of land to colonists created an Emigration Fund to pay the costs of transferring a poor young labouring population to South Australia. [1]
Overview
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.
The state's origins are unique in Australia as a freely-settled, planned British province, rather than as a convict settlement. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the state was proclaimed at The Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh.
The first city/town to be established was Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, established in 1836. The guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The aim was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties and religious tolerance
European settlement in South Australia
In 1833 the South Australian Association was established and began to lobby the government for the establishment of a colony in South Australia, with Crown appointed governance. This succeeded in the passing on August 15 of the South Australia Act, 1834, which gave provision for the settlement, for the sale of lands, for funding of the venture, in addition to detailing the governance by commissioners.
on May 5, 1835 eleven commissioners were appointed to control sales of land and the administration of revenue. Colonel Robert Torrens was appointed as chairman and Rowland Hill was appointed secretary. On January 21, 1836 Captain John Hindmarsh was appointed the first Governor of South Australia.
Sales of land had proved difficult, and it was remained to the South Australian Company which was formed on 15 October 1835, to purchase the remaining portion of the thirty five thousand pounds worth of land that was required for settlement to proceed.
First Settlers in South Australia
Four ships chartered by the South Australia Company set sail for South Australia in early 1836. On February 22, days after the Letters Patent had been adopted, the ship John Pirie set sail with 24 passengers on board. The ship Duke of York under the command of Captain Robert Clark Morgan (1798-1864) set sail with 42 passengers on February 24.
On March 30 the ship Lady Mary Pelham departed London with 29 passengers. The fourth ship was the Emma which left London with 22 passengers on April 21. All four ships of the South Australia Company arrived at Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island. The Duke of York on 27 July, Lady Mary Pelham on 30 July, John Pirie on 16 August and the Emma on 5 October.
A settlement was started at Kingscote, but this soon was abandoned for a settlement on the mainland.
John Hindmarsh - First Governor
Rear Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh (1785 to 1860) was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838
Hindmarsh arrived in South Australia in 28 December 1836, with a fleet of ships carrying the first British settlers for the colony. The ships in the fleet included the Cygnet (carrying Colonel William Light's surveyors), Africaine, Tam O'Shanter, Rapid, and HMS Buffalo (carrying Hindmarsh). Initially they landed on Kangaroo Island, and sent out the team of surveyors led by Light to find a suitable place for the capital city of the new colony. Hindmarsh wanted it at Port Lincoln , instead of at the present site which had been selected by Light. Light eventually chose the site of Adelaide, and the fleet moved up the Gulf of Saint Vincent to Holdfast Bay, now known as Glenelg, South Australia. The proclamation creating the colony was read on 28 December 1836 under the Old Gum Tree.
There was some question as to the respective powers of the governor and the resident commissioner, James Hurtle Fisher, and the two came into open conflict. Feeling ran high and when Hindmarsh went so far as to suspend Robert Gouger and other public officers, the commissioners brought the matter before the secretary of state for the colonies. Hindmarsh was then recalled to London in 1838. In 1840 he was made as Lieutenant-Governor of Heligoland. Hindmarsh was knighted by Queen Victoria on 7 August 1851, attained the rank of rear-admiral in 1856 and retired in 1856 to the seaside town of Hove, England
Places named after John Hindmarsh
- The Adelaide suburb of Hindmarsh was originally laid out as a speculative subdivision, the Village of Hindmarsh, on land owned by him. It was for many years the centre of a Local Government Area called the Town of Hindmarsh, which has now been amalgamated into the City of Charles Sturt.
- The Division of Hindmarsh federal electorate takes in the area near the proclamation site.
- Hindmarsh Island is near the town of Goolwa, close to the Murray Mouth.
- The Hindmarsh River flows into Encounter Bay south of Adelaide.
- Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide is an open space public park within the City of Adelaide.
- Hindmarsh Drive runs through the districts of Weston Creek and South Canberra in Canberra, Australia
New Colony of South Australia
In the year 1829 a society, called the National Colonization Society, was formed, for the purpose of explaining to the public the plan of colonization on which the new province of South Australia is to be founded. The members of the Society were few, but they were ardent and assiduous: they encountered contempt, prejudice, and scorn; but they went on regardless of such opposition, and published to the world a statement of their plan...
In 1830 the plan of the South Australian Land Company was laid before the public. ... it contemplated making provision for the governments of the province, and purchasing a large tract of land of the Government at the price of 5s. per acre.
After some correspondence, in November, 1833, I proposed the formation of the South Australian Association, and was were fortunate enough to secure for it the powerful assistance of Mr. Grote, Mr. Clay, Mr. Ward, and those other gentlemen whose names are so familiar to you as forming the committee of that Association, through whose influence the Bill was brought into Parliament, and carried triumphantly, which has become the charter of South Australia. (Extracts from Robert Gouger's toast September 1835)
After making certain changes to their initial proposal, which was a republic, a Draft of an Act of Parliament was presented to Mr. Lefevre as a private communication by Robert Gouger on the 17th April 1834.
The following was point No. 11
AN ACT to authorize His Majesty to frame Laws and appoint Officers for South Australia, and to appoint Comissioners for managing the Colonization of the said Province with respect to Waste Lands and Emigration; and for raising Funds for the Purposes of Colonial Government.
This Act also specified the boundaries of the proposed Province, the system of local executive government, the appointment of the Board of Commissioners, the land and emigration scheme to be adopted, and the following unique self-government clause.
A Convict-free State
The Industrial Revolution in England resulted in large numbers of people unemployed and living in poverty. This in turn led to a huge increase in the crime rate as people became more desperate to survive.
In the late 1700s there were more than two hundred crimes in England carrying the death penalty. Overcrowding in prisons became such a problem that the government had to use left over hulks from the Napoleonic War as floating prisons.
A number of these hulks were placed on the River Thames but others were anchored in Portsmouth and Plymouth harbours. In total, the government used nine different vessels.
When these became overcrowded, Government officials saw transportation as the answer to the problem.
Someone convicted of a capital punishment and whose death sentence was commuted would usually receive fourteen years transportation. Those convicted of a non-capital offence were usually sentenced to seven years. Initially, convicts were transported to America or the West Indies, but as a result of the American Revolution, an alternative destination was necessary.
South Australia was ultimately established through private enterprise by the South Australian Company and was the only state not to receive convicts.
Timeline
1830s
1836: South Australia proclaimed by Governor John Hindmarsh on December 28 at the Old Gum Tree, Glenelg.
1836: Site for Adelaide chosen by Colonel William Light beside the River Torrens.
1837: Colonel Light completes survey of Adelaide city centre and designs the city's grid layout. Allotments of 1 acre (0.40 ha) are made.
1837: First regional town, Gawler, is founded north of Adelaide.
1837: Adelaide's first hospital opens on North Terrace.
1838: The first Australian police force is formed in Adelaide, the South Australia Police.
1838: Overlanders Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney arrive in Adelaide from New South Wales with 300 head of cattle.
1838: First German immigrants arrive and settle in Adelaide and surrounds.
1839: Colonel Light dies at Thebarton and is interred in Light Square beneath a memorial. He is the only person buried within "the square mile".
1839: The first road in South Australia, Port Road, is opened.
1839: Edward John Eyre begins his explorations of the Flinders Ranges and beyond.
1840s
1840: The first portion of Government House is completed, becoming the first in Australia.
1840: Royal Adelaide Show held for the first time.
1840: The Corporation of Adelaide is founded as the first municipal authority in Australia.
1840: All 26 survivors of the shipwreck Maria are murdered by Aboriginals in mysterious circumstances along the Coorong.
1841: Construction of Adelaide Gaol begins.
1841: Adelaide Hospital (later Royal) opened.
1842: Copper is discovered at Kapunda.
1843: The first Legislative Council building opens on North Terrace.
1844: The colonial Government takes control of the Corporation of Adelaide.
1845: Copper is discovered at Burra.
1845: Port Pirie founded on the upper Spencer Gulf.
1846: John Ainsworth Horrocks dies while exploring land to the northwest of Lake Torrens.
1847: St Peter's College established.
1848: Pulteney Grammar School established
1850s
1850: The forerunner to Harris Scarfe, G. P. Harris and J. C. Lanyon, opened on Hindley Street.
1852: The Corporation of Adelaide is reconstituted. First transport of gold overland arrived in Adelaide.
1854: The township of Port Augusta at the head of Spencer Gulf is surveyed.
1854: The township of Gambierton, later Mount Gambier is founded in the South East.
1856: The South Australian Institute, from which the State Library, State Museum and Art Gallery
derived, is founded.
1856: First telegraph line and steam railway between Adelaide and Port Adelaide opened.
1856: South Australia becomes one of the first places in the world to enact the Secret Ballot.
1857: Adelaide Botanic Gardens opened at today's site in the Parklands at the corner of North and East Terraces.
1858: Melbourne-Adelaide telegraph line opened.
1858: The first edition of The Advertiser newspaper is published.
1859: A jetty of more the 350 metres in length is constructed at Glenelg.
1859: Shipwreck of SS Admella off Carpenter Rocks in the South East. 89 dead. Worst maritime disaster to this day.
1860s
1860: Thorndon Park Reservoir supplied water through new reticulation system.
1861: East Terrace markets opened.
1861: Copper discovered at Moonta, on the Yorke Peninsula.
1863: First gas supplied to city.
1862: John McDouall Stuart successfully crosses the continent from north to south on his sixth attempt.
1865: Bank of Adelaide founded.
1866: The Italianate Adelaide Town Hall opened.
1866: First oil exploration in Australia at Alfred Flat near Salt Creek, along the Coorong.
1867: Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, made first royal visit to Adelaide.
1869: The City Market (later Central) opened on Grote Street.
1869: Prince Alfred College established.
1870s
1870: Port Adelaide Football Club established.
1872: The General Post Office opened. Adelaide became first Australian capital linked to Imperial London with completion of the Overland Telegraph.
1873: First cricket match played at Adelaide Oval.
1874: The Adelaide Oval is officially opened.
1874: The University of Adelaide founded.
1875: Adelaide Steamship Company founded.
1876: Adelaide Children's Hospital founded.
1877: The Adelaide Bridge across the Torrens completed.
1877: Copper mines at Burra and Kapunda close.
1878: First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in the city.
1879: Foundation stone of the University of Adelaide laid.
1880s
1880: Telephone introduced in South Australia.
1880: Fort Glanville opens.
1880: Reformatory Hulk Fitzjames commissioned and moored off Largs Bay.
1881: The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor.
1881: Torrens Lake created following the construction of weir.
1881: Coopers Brewery is established.
1881: Drought ruins thousands of farmers on marginal land in the Mid North and Goyder's Line is recognised as the limit to agricultural settlement.
1882: First water-borne sewerage service in Australia commenced.
1882: The City Baths opened on King William Road.
1883: Adelaide Zoological Gardens opened.
1884: Adelaide Trades and Labor Council inaugurated.
1884: Fort Largs opens.
1885: The Adelaide Arcade opens.
1885: Flinders Column erected at the Mount Lofty Summit.
1887: Express train services between Adelaide and Melbourne commence.
1887: Stock Exchange of Adelaide forms.
1889: School of Mines and Industries opens on North Terrace.
1889: Lead smelters built at Port Pirie.
1890s
1892: First public statue, Venus (Venere Di Canova), unveiled on North Terrace.
1891: The Central Australia Railway reaches Oodnadatta in the far north.
1891 Four United Labor Party candidates are elected to Parliament, the first endorsed Labor members in Australia.
1892: First public statue, Venus (Venere Di Canova), unveiled on North Terrace.
1894: Parliament passes the Constitutional Amendment Act and South Australia becomes the first colony in Australia and the fourth place in the world to grant adult women the right to vote and the first in the world to grant them the right to stand as Members of Parliament. The right to vote includes Aboriginal women.
1896: Moving pictures shown for first time in South Australia at Theatre Royal on Hindley Street.
1896 Women vote in a general election for the first time in Australia and the second time anywhere in the world.
1896: Happy Valley Reservoir opened.
1897: Constitutional Convention on Federation held in Adelaide.
1899: South Australian contingent leaves Adelaide for the Second Boer War.
1899: State Referendum on Federation: South Australia votes Yes (70.2%).
1899 Governor Hallam Tennyson commenced duties, and BHP began mining at Iron Knob.
1900s
1900 Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passed by British parliament.
1900 Workmen's Compensation Act.
1901 Federation of all Australian colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.
1901 Population (excl aborigines) 358,346 (census).
- ↑ "South Australia", in Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Australia, accessed 14 April 2022.