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.
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.
The Maria Massacre
25 July 1840 The Maria Massacre Rumours of the murder of whites by Aborigines reached Adelaide on 25 July 1840. A search party was sent out under Lieutenant Pullen to the vicinity of the Murray mouth and there he found the bodies of men. Women and children clubbed to death. On hearing this news governor Gawler sent out a strong punitive force under Major O’Halloran, the Commissioner of Police, who rounded up members of the Milmenrura tribe and after a brief summary trial hanged two men on hastily constructed gallows of she-oak. This action, against the rules or British justice of trial in a court of law, caused a great controversy in the colony. Eventually more bodies were discovered on various parts of the coast and it was believed that the brig Maria, with 24 on board, had been driven aground on the Coorong and the survivors had been trying to reach help along the coast when they were attacked. H.M. Cooper, A Naval History of South Australia, Hassell Press, Adelaide, 1950, pp.68-9.
Mechanics Institute Sa Institute
28 June 1837 Mechanics Institute – SA Institute A public meeting, with David McLaren in the chair, was held on 28 June 1837 to discuss the formation of a Mechanics Institute. In February 1839 the Library of the Institute, which held its meetings in a small wooden building on North Terrace, near the present Railway Station, was opened for the public. In 1844 the South Australian Subscription Library was formed, and in 1848 the two societies combined. At this time the amalgamated society met in the Exchange Building on King William Street. In 1856 the government passed an Act to establish the South Australian Institute under the control of a Board of Governors. The Institute was to include a public library, museum, and conduct lectures on a variety of subjects. By affiliation, it also brought together all the colony’s cultural societies. The first stage of a new building, on North Terrace, was erected in 1859, although not officially opened until 29 January 1861, and the second stage was added in 1906. In 1874 a commission of enquiry found that the building was too small to contain a library, museum and cope with its other functions. Consequently the library and museum were separated and new buildings to house them were constructed alongside the Institute Building. These were the Jervois Wing (now the Mortlock Library) and the North and East wings of the Museum. In 1884 the Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery came into being in place of the South Australian Institute. However, the Institute Building continued to house the Royal Society, Royal Geographical Society, and the South Australian Society for the Arts. It continues to be the home of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts, with the History Trust of South Australia as well as the Community Information Support Service of South Australia and the Women’s Information Switchboard as tenants. In 1993 it underwent some refurbishment both inside and out. The Observer, 2 February 1861, p.3, 14 June 1884, p. 33. usan Marsden, Paul Stark, Patricia Sumerling (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide, Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990, pp. 260-261.
St Peters Cathedral
29 June 1869 St Peter’s Cathedral The foundation stone for St Peter’s Cathedral was laid on St Peter’s Day, 29 June 1869, by Bishop Short in the presence of more than 1000 people. On 9 August 1862 land on the corner of King William Road and Pennington Terrace was purchased for £1052 10s 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 first section of the cathedral, the sanctuary, choir and 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 29 June 1876. The original architect, William Butterfield, intended the neo-Gothic church to 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, amongst 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.
Adelaide Street Names Gazetted
3 June 1837 Adelaide street names gazetted The street names for the city of Adelaide were gazetted on 3 June 1837. A committee of prominent citizens was appointed to name the streets and squares and although there was some dissension on the choice of some names the committee finally settled on the following: Victoria Square for the heir to the throne, Hindmarsh Square for Governor Hindmarsh, Hurtle Square for James Hurtle Fisher the Resident Commissioner, Light Square for Colonel Light the surveyor of the city, and Whitmore Square for one of the Colonial Commissioners in London. The main city streets are named for the following: Rundle – John Rundle MP, Director of the South Australian Company. Hindley – Charles Hindley MP, Director of the South Australian Co. Grenfell – Pascoe St Leger Grenfell MP, an anti-slavery advocate who presented the funds for the town acre for Holy Trinity Church. Currie – Raikes Currie MP, Director of the South Australian Company. Pirie – Sir John Pirie, Lord Mayor of London, Director of the South Australian Company. Waymouth – Henry Waymouth, Director of the South Australian Co. Flinders – Matthew Flinders, the explorer. Franklin- Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin, midshipman under Flinders Wakefield – Edward Gibbon and his brother Daniel, members of the South Australian Association, architect of the scheme of ‘systematic colonisation’. Grote – George Grote MP, treasurer of the South Australian Association. Angas – George Fife Angas, one of founders of the South Australian Company. Gouger – Robert Gouger, Colonial Secretary. Carrington – Lord Carrington. Halifax – Mr Hallifax (sic) of Glen & Co, one of founders of the province. Gilbert – Thomas Gilbert, Comptroller of Stores. Pulteney – Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, a friend of Hindmarsh. Most of these people did not come to South Australia. City of Adelaide Municipal Year Book, 1971/74, pp. 57-70.
German Schools Closed
30 June 1917 German schools closed The 30 June 1917 saw the closure of all German schools in South Australia. These schools were mainly run by the Lutheran Church. In some cases the South Australian government then leased the buildings and took over the education of the children, while in others, such as the Hahndorf Lutheran School, the children were moved into the local public school. This action was the culmination of agitation, which began soon after the commencement of World War I, on the part of some people against anything German. In August 1916 a resolution was passed in the House of Assembly that names of towns and districts in South Australia which indicated a foreign enemy origin should be altered. A Nomenclature Committee was appointed to suggest new names. Thus, in spite of the disruption and confusion caused by the changes, and despite the fact that many German immigrants had helped to develop South Australia from the beginning of settlement, all German names were changed. The most notable were Blumberg to Birdwood (after a British General), Germantown Hill to Vimy Ridge (scene of a battle in France), Grunthal to Verdun and Klemzig to Gaza (other battles), and Hahndorf to Ambleside. Lobethal became Tweedvale, because of the woollen mills there. Hergott Springs became Marree and Petersburg was anglicised to Peterborough. In 1935 only some of these towns reverted to their original German names. Reg Butler, Lean Times and Lively Days Hahndorf Primary School 1879-1979, Investigator Press, 1979, pp. 93-95. R.G.L. Praite, German Place Names in South Australia, 1973.
Training School For Teachers
8 June 1876 Training School for Teachers In November 1874 the Central Board of Education invited Mr E.J. Woods to submit plans for a Training School for Teachers, and the resulting School in Grote Street opened without ceremony on the 8 June 1876, with Mr L.G. Madley of the Model School as Principal. In 1908 the Model School and Training School were amalgamated to form the newly established Adelaide Continuation School. By the end of the first quarter the Advanced School for Girls became a part of the establishment, and by July 1908 all three buildings of the Continuation School became the Adelaide High School which was officially opened on the 24 September 1908. For thirty years the South Australian Government only contributed to secondary education for girls, there was no equivalent for boys. This may seem strange, but there were two reasons for it: government scholarships were available for primary school boys to private schools, and as there was a need for more teachers, and females were paid less, it was better to train them as teachers. In 1979 the school was taken over by the Department of Further Education and the Multicultural Education Centre when Adelaide Girls High School moved in with the Boys High School on West Terrace. Susan Marsden, Paul Stark, Patricia Sumerling (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide, Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990, pp. 186-187.