William Rigby
14 July 1913 William Rigby William Rigby who died in Adelaide on 14 July 1913 began his working life as an apprentice at Parker & Sons, Booksellers, of London. Hearing of the Victorian goldfields he decided he wanted to try his luck but could not obtain a berth on any ship to Australia in 1853. Undaunted he set out to buy a small boat and sail it out himself. He secured a 48 ton lugger, the Gem , and having married the year before at the age of 18 embarked with his wife and young son, wife’s parents and sister and a crew of seven, 13 in all, and sailed down the Thames and to Southampton to begin the hazardous voyage. On the way they encountered all weathers, from calm to storms, and the boat was driven ashore on the south coast of Kangaroo Island. They managed to get it off and continued to Melbourne. There he intended to carry goods up and down the Yarra, but litigation over the Gem frustrated his plans. He came to Adelaide in June 1859 and opened a book shop in Hindley Stree with five cases of stock valued at 209 16s 7d. In a few years he was one of Adelaide’s leading booksellers and built large premises in King William Street. Newspaper Cuttings Book, Volume 3, p 46; Advertiser 7 July 1951.
Donald Campbell Bluebird And Muloorin
17 July 1964 Donald Campbell, Bluebird and Muloorina Station On 17 July 1964, at his second attempt (1963 was a wet year), Donald Campbell set the land speed record on the dry salt pan of lake Eyre in his famous Bluebird car. For the attempt Campbell and his entourage of nearly 500 people – engineers, technicians, police and army personnel, reporters and others – had their headquarters at Muloorina Station. Muloorina owned and run by the Price family is nearly 800 square kilometres of saltbush country in the usually dry and arid outback. In 1938 Elliot Price and his brother sank bores all over the property and diverted water into the dry bed of the Frome River where it flowed along for 25 kms supplying the homestead and forming billabongs to which many birds flocked. In good years 30,000 sheep and 3,500 cattle ran on the station although in drought years these numbers were greatly depleted. For 30 years Elliot Price lived for his property and when he died in 1969 he was buried in the red earth near the road leading to his ‘kingdom’. Part of his memorial is a wilderness national park and wildlife reserve named after him in the northern section of Muloorina which he donated to the state. It is the most arid national park in the country. Trevor Gill and Ray Titus, South Australians Profiles of People and Places , Wakefield Press, 1986, pp15-19.
Willunga
18 July 1868 Willunga On 18 July 1868 a report on Willunga appeared in the South Australian Register that described the town as having some fine buildings including the Alma Hotel, Oddfellows Hall, Telegraph Office, Police Station and Court House, Catholic Church and School and a number of Non-Conformist Chapels. There were also some fine houses in this thriving township. As early as 1840 Willunga was being advertised as the ‘new halfway town to Encounter Bay and Currency Creek’, as well the mail coaches passed through there after a bridge had been built over the Onkaparinga River. Slate had been found in the nearby hills in 1840 and was soon being quarried and by 1857 the town was also the centre of the largest wheat growing district in the colony with the grain being shipped from Port Willunga. By the 1890s these two major industries of the district had fallen away with the demand for slate greatly reduced and the wheat growing moving into the northern areas of the colony. Willunga fell into a decline from which it did not recover until the 1950s. Historic Places of Australia , National Trust, 1978, pp 498-511.
Prince Alfred College
19 July 1869 Prince Alfred College On 19 July 1869, after the mid-winter holidays, the boys of Prince Alfred Wesleyan College moved into their new school building on Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town. The school actually opened on 18 January 1869 in the Pirie Street Lecture Hall with 28 boys on the roll. In 1862 a committee had been formed to prepare plans for a college, but it was not until 1865 that the land at Kent Town was purchased for £2750, although the committee did not have the money and it was lent to them by T.G. Waterhouse, a wealthy merchant, at the current interest rate of 8%. During 1867 plans were drawn up and it was decided to ask Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to lay the foundation stone when he visited Adelaide later that year. Although there was some controversy over the request to a member or the Royal family to give his name to a non-conformist college the Prince was happy to consent and laid the stone on 5 November before an enthusiastic audience. However, because of the poor financial situation in the colony in 1867/68 building plans were curtailed and hence the decision to open the school in Pirie Street. When circumstances improved finance work proceeded again and the official opening of the central building was held on 22 June 1869, on the occasion of the anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria. From the beginning it was decided that the religious teaching would be non-sectarian and over the years boys from all sections of society have attended the school which developed a reputation for providing a good all round education for business and professional careers. J.F. Ward, Prince Alfred College , Gillingham & Co., Adelaide, 1951.
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.
Pichi Richi Railway
20 July 1974 Pichi Richi Railway On 20 July 1974 the historic Pichi Richi Railway was re-opened after much hard work by members of the railway’s Preservation Society. The railway had fallen into disrepair in the 1960s as the narrow gauge line was used infrequently and damage to the Saltia bridge in 1968 put an end to any traffic. As early as 1860, when mining in the northern parts was in full swing, there was agitation for a railway to this area, but agreement about where the line should go was not easily settled. Eventually in 1874 a Commission on Railway Construction recommended the building of a line from Port Augusta through Pichi Richi Pass and thence to points north. The first ambitious plans were somewhat reduced by the time work started in 1878 and the line was built in three stages with the last section to Government Gums (or Farina, now a ghost town) being opened on 17 May 1882. The main camp and offices were at Woolshed Flat in the Pass and another camp housing Chinese workers was at what is now Quorn. In 1884 the line was extended to Hergott Springs (now Marree) and in 1891 to Oodnadatta. The completion of the standard gauge line from Port Augusta to Marree which handled the Leigh Creek coal saw the beginnings of the demise of the old line, until its resurrection by the Preservation Society intent on providing a glimpse of the past steam era in the diesel age. Booklet: Opening of the Pichi Richi Railway, 1974.
The First Baptism At Trinity Anglican
21 July 1838 The first baptism at Holy Trinity, North Terrace ‘Mrs Stephen and myself were dressed for the christening by 2 o’clock. Mrs Cotter called for us and we walked from the S.A. Bank [cnr North Tce and Stephen Place] to the church [ie Trinity]. It was, for Adelaide, a very big building, but would have been thought small in England. The workmen were on the roof and looked with astonishment at the party below. The ceremony commenced. Mrs Fisher’s daughter of 18 months was the first. She was named Emily Anne (or Ann). Mrs Fisher was one godmother, and Mrs Cotter proxy for an aunt, and Mr Cotter for Charles Fisher. The next was Master Cotter aged two years and four months: Thomas Charles Edward, Miss Cotter 4 months, Ellen Fisher. After the ceremony we walked to Mr Fisher’s and in a few minutes the company assembled. Mr Fisher was dressed in uniform; Mrs Fisher wore a maroon cored silk with a very handsome worked collar. Mrs Cotter has a fawn silk with lace pelerine. Mrs Smart a lemon coloured `silk and pearl necklace. Mrs Stephens (or Stephen) pale green silk, white crepe scarf and sable boa. Mrs [sc Miss?] Fisher French poplin, of fawn and brown, and a ribbon round her head of white and green. Fanny had a frock like Mrs F’s dress and a ribbon like her sister’s round her head. I wore a white frock and blue scarf. There were several gentlemen present: Mr Morphett, Alan Hicks, John Hancock, James Fisher, Capt Pollard and Mr Brown. At 3 o’clock [1] we partook of an elegant cold collation and as I wish to be able at some future time to know the manners of the colony I hall insert the bill of fare as nearly as I can remember:- Giblet and gravy soup Cold roast suckling pig, Fowls roast and boiled, tongue, chicken pies Plum pudding, gooseberry pie, scalded codlings [unripe apples, preserved by scalding, and eaten as sweetmeats] Preserved ginger, tipsy cake, custard, open tart, preserved orange Plum cake Port, sherry, ale, cheese I find I have omitted the Rev Howard, with wife and sister. Mrs Howard in stiff corded black silk, her hair tied with cherry ribbon. Sister [Miss Neville] in violet silk . After dinner the ladies walked in the garden or stayed in the office, where supper was set out for the servants, consisting of round of beef and plum pudding. The gentlemen soon joined us and we returned to the sitting room. Miss Fisher was soon seated at the piano. Several stood round her, and others stood talking to the ladies. The instrument was a very fine toned one and we were favoured with some beautiful music, Weber and other composers. Coffee and tea was brought in and after that the company arranged the room for a dance. After several had been gone through, the ‘Coquette’ was proposed, and all joined with the exception of 2 or 3. Mr Morphett leading out Miss Fisher was the signal for a burst of applause. After an evening spent in a most delightful manner we separated and went home. Capt Pollard and Mr Brown accompanied us to the Bank, where they stayed some time.’ [1] The subsequent reference to ‘the office’ suggests that the Fishers were the hosts most probably at the Fisher residence and attached Land Office, on the parklands near the corner of North Terrace and West Terrace (i.e. the Newmarket Hotel site now) and with Colonel Light’s hut adjacent. Both were subsequently destroyed by fire with resulting disastrous impacts on records of the early colony.
James Cowan
21 July 1890 James Cowan James Cowan died on 21 July 1890 as the result of a shocking accident at Dry Creek when his horse-drawn vehicle was hit by a train, killing him and his passenger instantly. Cowan was born in England in 1848 and arrived in South Australia in 1852; he was educated in at North Adelaide Grammar School. While still a young man he bought a flour mill in Two Wells and later became the proprietor of mills in Quorn, Mallala, Allendale and Gladstone. With others he formed the Adelaide Milling Company and had interests in the Willowie Pastoral Company. He was also interested in mining and was one of the group who opened the Bird-in Hand Mine in Woodside. The depression of the early 1890s affected his businesses and he suffered losses but he had invested in Broken Hill Proprietary when shares were at a low price and the great increase in their value restored his fortune. He purchased three station properties in the north – one in Charlotte Waters, one in Alice Springs and another on the River Murray. He was also a promoter of the Tietkins Exploration party. He had interests i breweries in Broken Hill and Port Pirie and was involved in the foundation of the Coke Company in Port Pirie. In April 1890 he was elected to the House of Assembly for Yatala and was looked upon as a possible Minister of the Crown, until his untimely death robbed the colony of an intelligent and able man. J.J. Pascoe (ed), History of Adelaide and Vicinity, Hussey and Gillingham, Adelaide, 1901, pp. 412-143.
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.
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.