Kapunda Copper Mine
5 July 1845 Kapunda copper mine On 5 July 1845 the Adelaide Observer gave a description of the Kapunda copper mine that stated ‘£3600 worth of ores have been raised in the short space of six weeks’. Copper had been discovered in 1842 when Francis Dutton of ‘Anlaby’, while looking for sheep during a storm, noticed some green rock. He consulted his neighbour, Captain Charles Bagot of ‘Koonunga’, who produced a similar piece of rock found by his son. The two men kept the discovery secret until they could purchase the land on which it was found and then agreed that Bagot would have a 75% share and Dutton 25% in the mine. Bagot decided to manage the mine himself and had little trouble in getting experienced Cornish miners to come and work. The mine did well, and by 1846 smelting operations were begun and the town of Kapunda started to grow. With the discovery of gold in Victoria in the 1850s many miners left slowing production for a time, but the mine continued to operate until about 1880 after which only tributers, miners working for themselves and paying a percentage of their earnings to the proprietors, worked on. Rob Charlton, The History of Kapunda , Hawthorn Press, Melbourne, 1971, pp5-21.
Trolley Buses
6 July 1963 Trolley buses On 6 July 1963 the Advertiser announced that trolley buses would run for the last time on Friday 12 July, ending a service that began on 2 May 1932. The first trolley bus in Australia was an open top, double-decker, purchased from the South Australian Railways, affectionately dubbed the ‘Green Goddess’ which ran on an experimental route along the Lower North east road between Payneham and Paradise. The experimental line closed on 11 August 1934 and the Green goddess was stored until it became a trolley wire greaser and later a tow-away kitchen for workers. Twenty new trolley buses were built by J.A. Lawton & Sons and were commissioned with the opening of the City of Tusmore service on 5 September 1937. In April 1938 the Tusmore route was connected at Morphett Street with a service to operate to Semaphore and Largs Bay. This had necessitated changing the superstructure of the Jervois Bridge and the building of two converter stations to supply electric power. In 1960 the Jervois Bridge was declared unsafe for heavy vehicles and buses were re-routed over the Birkenhead Bridge, but problems occurred with the wiring and motor buses were used from Port Adelaide until the problems were overcome and the trolley buses returned to the Largs Bay run on 25 September 1960 and Semaphore on 13 February 1961. After World War Two the trolley bus system was extended and operated until 1963 when motor buses replaced them. Advertiser, 6 July 1961. Newspaper Cuttings Book, Vol.3, p100, SLSA.
Synagogue
7 July 1870 Synagogue On 7 July 1870 Garbriel Bennett, President of the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation, laid the foundation stone of the new synagogue in Rundle Street. This was the second building on the site as the first synagogue, virtually a large room, was consecrated in August 1850. The Jewish community which numbered only 48 persons in 1846 raised the money to purchase land and erect the building. The Community continued to grow and by 1891 the Jewish population of Adelaide was 840 and it was at this time that Levi Jacobs suggested redevelopment of the site to make shops and thus provide income for the maintenance of the synagogue. This was done on the rundle Street frontage and the entrance to the synagogue remains in Synagogue Place, the building having changed little over the years except for ‘refacing’ in 1936. City of Adelaide Heritage Survey 1986, Volume 2, Hindmarsh Ward, p69.
South Australian Gas Company
8 July 1861 South Australian Gas Company On 8 July 1861 22 people met in White’s Rooms in King William Street and agreed that it was ‘desirable to proceed with the undertaking called the South Australian Gas Company’. The prospectus of the new company had been issued in May, but by July only 943 of the original 6000 shares had been sold. However, the promoters who included some of Adelaide’s leading businessmen – Henry Ayers, Arthur Blyth and George P Harris – were confident that the venture would be a success. In fact Adelaide lagged behind the eastern cities in the provision of this utility for Sydney had gas lighting as early as 1841, Melbourne turned on the lights on 1 January 1856 and Hobart’s Gas Company was incorporated in 1854. The next step was to gain the approval of parliament and this was achieved on 29 November, despite the opposition of George Fife Angas who apparently disliked the use of gas. The Bill gave the Gas Company the right to distribute gas throughout the metropolitan area within a radius of 12 kilometres of the GPO. The building of the gas works on land acquired at Bowden proceeded and on 23 December 1862 the foundation stone of the ‘great’ chimney was laid by Ayers and the furnaces were lit for the first time on 30 May 1863. Peter Donovan and Noreen Kirkman, The Unquenchable Flame , Wakefield Press, 1986, pp12, 17-25.
Botanic Garden
9 July 1837 Botanic Garden As early as 9 July 1837 a site had been chosen for Adelaide’s botanic garden. This first site was part of the parklands on the north-west corner of the city and although in September the government called for tenders to fence in the area the project failed. In 1839 John Bailey, a horticulturist, was appointed Colonial Botanist and he chose a site of five hectares in North Adelaide on a bend in the river. For some reason he was removed from his position, the gardens were let, and yet again the project failed through lack of government and public support. The present gardens were laid out in 1855 on 16.2 hectares of land and the first portion opened to the public in 1857; the remainder was planted by 1865. The first director was GW Francis who had arrived in South Australia in 1849; he died in 1865 just as the gardens were becoming established. However, his work enabled his successor. Dr Richard Schomburgk, to continue to enhance the area. Anthony Trollope, the famous novelist, who visited Adelaide in the early 1870s, placed Adelaide’s gardens next to Sydney’s for beauty, saying they ‘please like a well-told tale’. Added to over the years the gardens are now a beautiful feature of the north-east corner of the city. Judith Brown, Town Life in Pioneer South Australia , Rigby, 1980, pp22-24.
Colonel Lights Survey
16 July 1929 Colonel Light’s Survey A bronze tablet on a granite obelisk on the corner of North and West Terraces was unveiled on 16 July 1929 to commemorate the start of the surveying of the city of Adelaide by Colonel William Light on 11 January 1837. This is just opposite Town Acre Number 1 on part of which now stands the Newmarket Hotel. Light completed the preliminary survey of the 1042 acres in the city of Adelaide in two months, despite problems and the shortage of assistants. Adelaide south had 700 one-acre lots with the city streets and squares in a grid-pattern; Adelaide north contained 342 one-acre lots, the two parts separated by the River Torrens. Light finished the survey of the new city by the middle of March and the Town Acres were allotted to preliminary purchasers – those who had bought land before leaving England – by ballot, while the remaining acres were sold by auction at prices ranging from £2 4s to £14 14s. Light envisaged a cathedral would be built on Victoria Square, but of course this did not happen. Government House was also placed in a different position than in Light’s original plan. The parklands surrounding the city separating the city from its suburbs are regarded as one of the city’s best features and a perennial memorial to Light. R.M. Gibbs, A History of South Australia , Balara Books, 1969, pp35-6. D. Pike, Paradise of Dissent, Melbourne University Press, 1957, p.174.
Real Property Act
2 July 1858 Real Property Act In January 1858 the South Australian government passed the Real Property Act, the legislation that allowed the Torrens Title system of land conveyance to be used. Designed by Colonel Robert Torrens, one of the Colonisation Commissioners, it came into operation on 2 July 1858. By this method registered certificates guaranteed by the state and showing on their face every subsequent transaction were substituted for the cumbrous transfer by deed whish was also more expensive to implement. Although there was some opposition to the system, particularly from the legal profession who no doubt saw this simplification of land transfer as causing a reduction in their earnings, the Torrens method was established in SA. In 1860 Torrens visited neighbouring colonies to explain his system which was well received, and on his return he was made Registrar General so that he might administer the Act he had framed. Many countries now use the Torrens Title system. Douglas Pike, The Paradise of Dissent , MUP, 1957, p.482.
Women Parliamentarians
22 July 1959 Women Parliamentarians The editorial in the News on 22 July 1959 was headed ‘Wisdom of Women’. The editor stated the first two women to serve in the South Australian parliament had made such sensible contributions as members and such valuable contributions that they have made the previous omission of women from parliament even more glaring. Although women had stood as independents and others endorsed by political parties none had won a seat prior to 1959. For the March election seven were endorsed – four by the Liberal & Country League (LCL), two by the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and one by the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). Two of these were standing for Central No. 2 in the Legislative Council. Three weeks before the election two men handed a legal challenge to the women standing for the seat based on the interpretation of the 1915 Acts Interpretation Act, 1934 Constitution Amendment Act and even the original 1855-56 Constitution. The case hinged on whether ‘person’ in Section 12 of the 1934 Act included ‘women’. Four days before the election the Court declined to grant an order refusing women the right to contest seat in the Legislative Council. In August 1959 Premier Tom Playford introduced a Bill which removed any doubts on the eligibility of women to stand for the LC. Mrs Jessie Cooper was duly elected to the Council. Helen Jones, In Her Own Name, Wakefield Press, 1986, pp 254-58.
Port Augusta Power Station
23 July 1954 Port Augusta Power Station The Governor, Sir Robert George, officially opened the Port Augusta power Station on 123 July 1954. Port Augusta was chosen as the site for the new power station as it was close to the Leigh Creek coalfields and had an abundant water supply. Studies had found that it would be cheaper to transmit power to Adelaide from Port Augusta than to transport coal all the way from Leigh Creek. This was the first South Australian power station to use local fuel exclusively, prior to the discovery of brown coal at Leigh Creek, South Australia had to import its needs from other states. However, there were disadvantages at the Port Augusta site for the head of the gulf is subject to great tidal variations and is mainly mangrove swamps. To overcome this, the Electricity Trust had to build a causeway nearly two kilometres across the swamp and make an artificial island on which to build. The station was renamed after the Premier, Thomas Playford, when he opened B Section on 20 July 1960. Colin and Margaret Kerr, The Vital Spark , Unpub. MS, ETSA, 1979, pp160-61.
Kingston House
24 July 1980 Kingston House On 24 July 1980 Marino, or Kingston House as it is now called, was placed on the Heritage Register as worthy of preservation. In 1839 George Strickland Kingston, who arrived in South Australia in September 1836 to be deputy Surveyor General to colonel Light and was later appointed in his stead, bought land on the cliffs south of Adelaide. A small dwelling was built and in 1840 was leased to Robert Barstow who used it as an inn called Marino. About 1851 Kingston made extensions to the building and used it as his summer residence. In 1880, suffering from ill health, he set out an a voyage, but died on the way to Bombay (Mumbai). The home became the property of his son, Charles Cameron Kingston, who was premier of the colony from 1893-99. He continued to live there for some of the time until his sudden death on 11 May 1908 at the age of 58. There were no children of his marriage and after his widow died in 1919 the house was left in the hands of a caretaker for some years and began to become run down. The property was taken over by the government in 1924 and used as a tourist hostel from 1927 and with the adjoining land became known as Kingston Park. Eric Gunton, Gracious Homes of Colonial Adelaide , 1983, pp.75-76.