Gladstone Gaol
8 August 1881 Gladstone Gaol On 8 August 1881, two months to the day after it had been opened, Gladstone Gaol received its first female prisoners. Some time before 1879 Charles Mann, MP for the district, was asked by the residents what he could do for the town. He asked them if they would like a gaol and two years later Gladstone Gaol, said by one writer to have a gloomy solidity, was opened. Mr Pollett from the Redruth Gaol at Burra was appointed head keeper and the gaol had accommodation for 60 male and female prisoners. It appears that it rarely had a full complement and the only ‘lifer’ was a cat called Lady Jane Grey. The gaol was closed in 1939 but was used in the early part of World War Two as an internment camp for German and Italian nationals regarded as a security risk. Later in the war a military detention barracks for soldiers absent without leave. In June 1953 the gaol re-opened as a medium security prison and was finally closed in December 1975 because the facilities were regarded as outdated. In 1979 the gaol was again used, this time for the making of the film Stir . Mail , 3 August 1952, Newspaper Cuttings Book Volume 3, p.51.
St Peters Cathedral
9 August 1862 St Peter’s Cathedral Land on the corner of King William Road and Pennington terrace was purchased for £1052 10s on 9 August 1862 as the site for Adelaide’s Anglican cathedral. This was after disputation over the Cathedral acre in Victoria Square, which was originally granted by Governor Gawler and confirmed by Governor Robe in 1848, was held to be not a legal entitlement by the Supreme Court because the judges found that the Square was ‘for the use and recreation of the public of the City of Adelaide’. The foundation stone for the cathedral was laid on St Peter’s Day, 29 June 1869, by Bishop Short in the presence of more than 1000 people. The first section of the cathedral, the Sanctuary, choir, transepts and the first bay of the nave were consecrated on 1 January 1878, although the first service was held in the unfinished building on 2 June 1876. The original architect, William Butterfield, intended that the Neo-Gothic church should be built in brick, but stone from tea Tree Gully and Murray Bridge was substituted. Further work was carried out in the 1890s with donations from, among others, Sir Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith, both Presbyterians. The towers and spires, soaring to 168 feet, were dedicated on 7 December 1902. The eight bells in the western tower, dedicated on 29 June 1947, are the finest and heaviest ring of eight bells in the southern hemisphere. T.T. Reed, A History of the Cathedral Church of St Peter , Adelaide, 1969
Edmund Bowman
14 August 1866 Edmund Bowman Edmund Bowman, one of the pioneer settlers in the mid-north of South Australia, died on 14 August 1866. Edmund and three of his brothers, John, Thomas and William, came to South Australia from Tasmania after spending some nine years there. Edmund paved the way for the others by visiting the colony but met with disaster when the ship he was on, the Parsea, was wrecked on Troubridge Shoal and he lost everything he owned. He had to return to Tasmania, but was back a year later and sent for the whole family to come. At first they ran their sheep north of Islington and built a house at Enfield. In 1844 or ’45 the brothers took up country near Burra, but thinking it a little bare, moved to the head of the Wakefield River. They had runs in Werocate and Crystal Brook and did much of the work associated with their flocks themselves. Edmund later bough Martindale, near Clare, from the Brownes who had built a house in English manor style. On 14 August 1866 Edmund was tragically drowned when he fell from a rough bridge into a creek, presumably knocking his head on something which rendered him unconscious. He was only 48 and left a family of six. Rodney Cockburn, Pastoral Pioneers of South Australia , Volume 1, Lynton Publications, 1974, pp. 20-1.
South Australia Act
15 August 1834 South Australia Act The South Australia Act was passed in the United Kingdom parliament on 15 August 1834. The statute permitted the Crown to establish one or more colonies in the south-west corner of what was then New South Wales. The government set up a supervising agency, the South Australian Colonisation Commission, which embarked on promoting the new venture. The Crown issued Letters Patent creating the new colony on 19 February 1836 – this marked the foundation of South Australia as a political entity. The South Australian Company, formed by George Fife Angas, played a major part in the early settlement of the province. In late February 1836 the first emigrant vessels, belonging to the South Australian Company, the John Pirie and the Duke of York set sail. They were bound for Kangaroo Island where the Company proposed to establish a settlement and engage in whaling activities. The surveying expedition on the Cygnet sailed at the end of March and Colonel Light in the Rapid left at the beginning of May – their task was to survey the coast and find a suitable place for the main settlement and future capital. Captain Hindmarsh, the appointed Governor, sailed on the Buffalo at the end of July and arrived at Holdfast Bay on 28 December. Although this date is celebrated as Proclamation Day, Governor Hindmarsh made an announcement about law, not a proclamation; this stated that the government of the province had been established, obedience to the law would be enforced and the Aborigines would be protected by the law. Brian Dickey, Peter Howell, (eds), South Australia’s Foundation , Wakefield Press, 1986, pp. 8, 43. R.M. Gibbs, A History of South Australia , Balara Books, 1969, pp. 30, 34.
John Mckinlay
16 August 1861 John McKinlay John McKinlay, who was appointed leader of a party to look for the ill-fated Burke and Wills, set out from Adelaide on 16 August 1861 with a team of bullocks, pack horses, 100 sheep and four camels. They were also to look at the country between Eyre’s Creek and Central Mount Stuart and the western shore of Lake Eyre. At Cooper’s Creek an Aborigine showed them the grave of Gray and they later learned the fate of Burke and Wills, whose remains were found by the Howitt Expedition. McKinlay carried on across the stony desert, but this year much of the country was flooded and it was only with great difficulty that the party managed to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria. There they faced further problems as the vessel which was supposed to meet them had not arrived. The situation was critical as they only had a little food left, but after another two months of hard travelling they reached a station in the Burdekin Valley, 70 miles from Port Denison (now Bowen Qld). On his return to Adelaide McKinlay was presented with £1000 by the Governor Sir Dominic Daly. McKinlay was the second to cross the continent from south to north, after Stuart, and never lost a man. George Loyau, The Representative Men of South Australia , Howell, Adelaide, 1883, pp.168-72.
Australian Imperial Expeditionary F
17 August 1914 Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force On 17 August 1914 work of medically examining volunteers for the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force began at the Parade Ground on King William Road. The pay for a private was 4s a day and 1s deferred pay while in Australia and 5s a day with 1s deferred pay plus rations while overseas. Criteria included height 5 feet 6 inches and age between 19 and 38 years. Two men aged 34 and 36, both ex-servicemen, walked from Port Pirie to enlist. A tent city at Morphettville was set up to cope with the expected enlistments. This followed a large gathering of some 20,000 people in Elder Park on 10 August where the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Galway, spoke of the patriotic spirit of South Australians. A procession of 4000 children civil servants and retired soldiers, with bands playing, had marched down King William Street where flags flew from nearly every building. More speeches from the premier and other ministers all added to the stirring of patriotic fervour. Although the leader of the Labor party asked for sympathy for the German colonists who, he said, were ‘all Australians’ this appeal was not in all cases adhered to and many Germans were in interned at Torrens Island for the duration of the war. In all about eight per cent of South Australia’s male population of a quarter of a million served overseas in the armed services. Advertiser , 10,18,19 August 1914.
Escaped Convicts
18 August 1852 Escaped convicts On 18 August 1852 the Superintendent of Convicts, A. J. Murray, wrote in his report: ‘All the officers on the establishment have conducted themselves very well with (one) exception’. The ‘establishment’ was an iron building erected at Cox’s Creek (Bridgewater) to house 12 convicts serving longer sentences. Prior to this period South Australia had sent her worst convicted felons to Van Dieman’s Land, but this had ceased and it was realised that the colony would need another penal institution in addition to Adelaide Gaol. It was planned to build a labour prison at Yatala, originally known as the Stockade, but until this could be completed a temporary stockade was built at Cox’s Creek where it was intended to put the prisoners to work on the construction of roads in the area. However, after settling in at the new prison and the initial good report, the Superintendent, on the next day 19 August, had to report that three convicts had escaped, and on the 24 th that three more had gone. By the 27 th the six escapees had been rounded up and sent back to Adelaide. These events must have prompted the early closure of the camp for it was discontinued later that year. ‘Eating from a Tin Bowl’, Police Journal , December 1972, pp.18-20. Newspaper Cuttings Book, Vol. III, pp.142-46, SLSA.
Adelaide Railway Station
24 August 1926 Adelaide Railway Station The foundation stone of the new railway Station in Adelaide was laid by the Premier, John Gunn, on 243 August 1926 and the building was finished in June 1928. This was one of the main improvements made to the South Australian railway system by W.A. Webb, the Commissioner for Railways from 1922 to 1930. When the American born railway man took up his appointment he immediately set about changing the old rundown system into a modern and efficient service. His rehabilitation programme extended from locomotives to bridge construction, the reconstruction of the Islington works and his most visible legacy the Adelaide Railway Station. The old building was too small for all the administrative staff who were scattered in five other buildings around the city. Webb began demolition almost before the new plans were finalised and the cost of the new project far exceeded original estimates although actual costs are not known as many of the accounting dockets were ‘lost’ and no-one knows who authorised the construction. However, the handsome building with its Ionic columns and polished granite has served Adelaide well. The ‘marble hall’ off Railway Road was used in the film Gallipoli and is now the entrance to the Casino. R.I. Jennings, W.A. Webb , Nesfield Press, 1973, Chapters 3-7.
Glen Osmond Mine
25 August 1838 Glen Osmond Mine On 25 August 1838 the South Australian register reported that copper had been discovered on Section 295 at Glen Osmond. This was the property of Osmond Gilles, the Colonial Treasurer, where some galena had been found by accident. It was some time before a mine, reputed to be the first in Australia, was operational but from about 1844 the silver lead mine was worked with the ore yielding 64% lead and 9½ ounces of silver to the ton. The Glen Osmond Mining Company, with a paid-up capital of £30,000, was formed in London and over the years of operation £30,000 worth of silver and lead was extracted, although this was roughly equivalent to the costs of setting it up and running the mine. In 1844 167 tons were exported and a further 1009 tons in the following years. A smelting works was erected in the first gully east of the quarry, with an underground flue to the chimney; in 1847 two blocks of miners’ cottages were built. Osmond Gilles’ brother, Lewis, came from Tasmania to manage the mine. The exodus of miners to Victoria in the gold rush and a dispute over the royalties paid to Osmond Gilles put an end to the mining and the property reverted to Gilles. The stone chimney on the hill at Glen Osmond is the only visible reminder of this short-lived venture. V.S. Hicks, O.G. The Colonial Treasurer , 1985.
Dr John Harris Browne
26 August 1844 Dr John Harris Brown On 26 August 1844 Dr John Harris Browne was somewhere north of Moorundie on the River Murray with Captain Sturt on his last expedition to the north. The party also included Poole as Sturt’s lieutenant and John McDouall Stuart. Edward John Eyre accompanied the group for a while along the river from Moorundie where he was serving as Protector of Aborigines. The trip later became a nightmare as heat and drought took their toll. Poole died and the others suffered badly from scurvy. Sturt was very ill and nearly blind and for much of the return journey was carried on a dray; he probably only survived through Browne’s devoted care. John Harris Browne had come to South Australia in 1840, two years after his brother, William, who was also a doctor educated in Edinburgh. After his return from the north John Harris continued with his pastoral interests in partnership with his brother and they jointly owned the Booborowie and Canowie properties in the 1860s. In 1856 they bought Buckland Park where John Harris lived for several years. They had other properties in the north and on the west coast and Moorak at Mount Gambier. John Harris settled in England in the 1870s but made several trips back to South Australia to visit his properties. He died in England in 1904. R. Cockburn, Pastoral Pioneers of South Australia, Volume 1, 1925, pp.32-3.