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.
John Mcdouall Stuart
4 June 1904 John McDouall Stuart A statue of the explorer John McDouall Stuart was unveiled in Victoria Square on the 4 June 1904. His expeditions to the north enabled others to follow and establish settlements in the Northern Territory. Stuart arrived in South Australia in 1838 and was with Sturt, as his draftsman, on his 1844/5 expedition to central Australia. In 1859 Stuart found a way between Lake Eyre and Lake Torrens and passed through desert country to find good pastoral lands. In 1860 he reached the centre of the continent which he named Central Mount Sturt, later renamed Stuart, and pushed on through spinifex country to within 400 miles of the northern coast before he was forced back by hostile aborigines. On his second attempt to cross the continent he had to turn back about 100 miles beyond his first journey. In October 1861 Stuart left on his third and last expedition to reach the northern coast. After striking trouble negotiating the swamps and scrub of the northern areas he headed across a tableland to the headwaters of a river which he named the Adelaide, and this he followed to the sea reaching there on the 4 August 1862. His journey back was a nightmare of illness (scurvy), hunger, and lack of water and he became nearly blind. The party reached Adelaide on the 17 December 1862. On the 21 January 1863 there was a public holiday with crowds lining the streets to greet him. He returned to England soon after and died there on the 5 June 1866. The Australian Junior Encyclopedia, Volume I, Georgian House, Melbourne, 1951, pp. 289, 979.
Parliament House
5 June 1939 Parliament House The first half of Parliament House was opened on the 5 June 1889, but it was to be a further 50 years before the whole building was completed, largely through a centenary gift of £100,000 from Sir Langdon Bonython. The original plans for the building by Edmund Wright and Lloyd Taylor, who won the competition for a design for the new Parliament House in 1874, showed it as having a large dome in the centre and two smaller towers at each end. From the beginning there were disputes, firstly with the architects who withdrew from the project, then with the contractors who also withdrew, and finally with E.J. Woods, the Government architect. However, the building went ahead using Kapunda marble and granite from West Island at Victor Harbor rather than the originally recommended imported stone. The west wing was completed in 1889 at a total cost of £165,396 9s 9d. With the approach of South Australia’s centenary in 1936 the completion of the Parliament House seemed to be a fitting enterprise, although it was 1939 before the east wing was opened, again on 5 June. The Palladian style building with its Doric columns is an impressive sight on North Terrace even without its crowning dome. Susan Marsden, Paul Stark, Patricia Sumerling (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide, Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990, pp. 247-250. Max Lamshed, Adelaide Sketchbook, Rigby, Adelaide, 1967, p. 20.
Boer War Memorial
6 June 1904 Boer War Memorial The Boer War Memorial, on the corner of King William Street and North Terrace, was unveiled on the 6 June 1904 by the Governor, Ruthven Le Hunte flanked by detachments of military men who had served in South Africa. Nine contingents had been sent from South Australia consisting of 1499 men, 82 officers and 1507 horses. Of these 59 men were killed and 68 wounded. There were seven DSO, ten DCM, and three CB medals for bravery awarded. After the war a committee was formed to plan a memorial and when they went to the people for contributions the response was magnificent. A London sculptor, Adrian Jones, was commissioned to design and make the statue. In June 1902 Jones wrote to Major Charles Burt, a British Army Officer, asking if there was an officer or trooper from Adelaide who could go to his studio to give him some information. Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant G.H. Goodall, a member of the Australian Coronation Corps in London for the coronation of King Edward VII, was sent to Jones to give details about uniforms and other particulars of the South Australian Army Corps. The sergeant’s impressive features must have inspired the sculptor who made a clay model of his head, and this was used for the figure on horseback. The statue is 3.7 metres tall on a base of red Murray Bridge granite, making it 7.3 metres high overall. It is sited to face in a south-westerly direction so that the setting sun falls on the strong face of the horseman. Judith Brown, Town Life in Pioneer South Australia, Rigby, Adelaide, 1980, pp. 19-22.
Pier Hotel Glenelg
7 June 1856 Pier Hotel Glenelg The foundation stone of the Pier Hotel, Glenelg, was laid by the Mayor, R.B. Colley, on 7 June 1856. After the ceremony the party adjourned to the nearby Glenelg Hotel for a dinner given by Mr Moseley, at which Sir John Morphett toasted the new venture and said he felt that, when the jetty was built, Glenelg would take first position as a holiday place. In the afternoon people gathered on the beach for rowing and sailing races and in the evening workingmen were invited to a substantial supper. The hotel, which cost about £7000, was opened on Christmas Day 1856. The jetty was opened in 1859. From 1871, when the railway ran from South Terrace to the Bay, Glenelg became an even more popular spot. However, swimming was not allowed as the sight of men bathing ‘outraged public decency’. From 1863 women and girls could bathe between midnight and 7 a.m. in summer (8 a.m. at other times) within 200 metres of the jetty. Men and boys over 10 years of age were banned although later this was changed and they were allowed to swim, between Pier Street and a point 200 metres south of the jetty, anytime except between 8 a.m. and dark. By the 1890s it was legal to bathe during the day, but only in reserved, segregated areas. Males in bathing suits could be fined for approaching within ten metres of a member of the opposite sex. Mixed bathing was not permitted until 1911, and even then neck-to-knee bathing suits were required to be worn. However, promenading on the jetty or along the foreshore was the thing to do. Through all these years the Pier Hotel was the place to stay, and for many years the English Test cricketers stayed there while playing in Adelaide. The building was demolished in the late 1980s and replaced by a new luxury hotel. The Ramada Grand Hotel, said to recreate the best of Victorian era seaside hotels, opened on 5 October 1990. H.M. Cooper, A Naval History of South Australia, Adelaide, 1950, pp. 83-84. John Lee, Glenelg A Historic Guide and Directory, 1883. The Advertiser, 27 December 1993, p. 28. The Mail, 30 September 1990.
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.
Burra Copper Mine
9 June 1845 Burra Copper Mine On the 9 June 1845 a young shepherd named William Streair walked into a solicitor’s office in Adelaide where Henry Ayers, who was also Secretary of the South Australian Mining Association, worked, and showed them specimens of rich copper ore. He also told a merchant named Bunce who together with a friend, Samuel Stocks, decided to interest people with money to join them in a mining venture. But before any claim to the land could be made a Special Survey costing £20,000 had to be arranged and thus began the battle between the ‘Nobs’ and the ‘Snobs’ for the control of the Burra copper deposits. The ‘Nobs’ were a few comparatively large capitalists, and the ‘Snobs’ were the shopkeepers and some minor capitalists. After much frantic negotiating the issue was resolved when the ‘Snobs’ joined forces with the South Australian Mining Association, and the ‘Nobs’ with their shareholders, agreed to put up £10,000 each, and to share the land surveyed by taking half each, the section of land to be decided by lot drawn in the presence of the Surveyor-General. The ‘Nobs’ represented by Captain Bagot drew the southern section. They named their mine Princess Royal, but it was the northern lode of the ‘Snobs’, the Burra Burra mine, which proved to have the richest ore and made a fortune for its owners. Streair received £8 for his discovery. Ian Auhl, The Monster Mine, District Council of Burra Burra, 1986, pp. 15-41.
Sir Henry Ayers
11 June 1897 Sir Henry Ayers Sir Henry Ayers who died on the 11 June 1897 came to South Australia in 1840 as a nineteen year-old law clerk. Only five years later he was appointed Secretary of the South Australian Mining Association and became manager of the Burra Mine, in which he invested and which made his fortune. Over the years he was involved in many financial institutions including the Savings Bank, as a director of the Bank of Australasia, and was one of the founders of the Bank of Adelaide. He was on the boards of the Gas Company, the AMP, and for 35 years was Governor of the Botanic Gardens Board. He formed the Old Colonists Association in 1883. For 36 years he was a prominent figure in politics being seven times Premier, eleven times a cabinet minister and for twelve years was President of the Legislative Council. Considered an able administrator, on many occasions he represented South Australia at inter-colonial conferences. He was strongly opposed to the re-introduction of convict transportation to the eastern colonies and was instrumental in the cessation of transportation to Western Australia. In 1871 Ayers bought, from William Paxton, the house on North Terrace which he had been leasing for some years. He made additions to the house with a ballroom on the eastern side and a west wing added to balance the structure. Many dinners and balls were held in ‘Austral House’ as it was then called. In the early 1900s the house stood empty for some years, but was later bought by a syndicate who named it Austral Gardens and built an open-air theatre, and, adjoining it, the Palais Royal Dance Hall. Later still the house was used as a Nurses’ Home by the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Now known as Ayers House the building contains two restaurants and the office of the National Trust. Henry Ayers’ lasting memorial is in the name of Ayers Rock, the remarkable monolith discovered in 1873 by William Gosse. J.J. Pascoe (ed), History of Adelaide and Vicinity, Hussey and Gillingham, Adelaide, 1901, pp. 286-290. Max Lamshed, Adelaide Sketchbook, Rigby, 1967, p. 30.