Murray Bridge
26 March 1879 Murray Bridge The bridge over the River Murray at Murray Bridge opened for road traffic on 26 March 1879. Discussion about a bridge at a place then known as Edward’s Crossing began in 1864. In 1867/68 ironwork for a bridge was ordered from England, but after it arrived it was decided the project was going to be too expensive, so for the next four years the materials lay rusting by the side of the railway line at Dry Creek. At last, on 7 November 1873, the foundation stone of the bridge was laid and work began on the construction of the stone piers. The bridge, which has five 120 foot spans across the river, and a further 23 by 60 foot spans across the swamps on either side, making it, in all, 1980 feet long, was a remarkable engineering feat. The total weight of iron used was more than 1000 tons, all of which had to be carted across the Mount Lofty Ranges. When completed the bridge carried road and rail traffic. In 1925 the present railway bridge was opened and the old one reverted to road traffic only. Cyclopedia of South Australia , Volume 1, 1907, p. 149.
Early Closing Of Hotel Bars
27 March 1915 Early closing of hotel bars A state election was held on 27 March 1915 which Labor won comfortably with both the Liberal Premier and Attorney-General losing their seats. Of major interest also was the referendum, which was held at the same time, to determine the closing hours of liquor bars. This was done partly in response to restrictions placed on the sale of liquor in Britain, France and Russia as an austerity measure during the war. In this instance the concerted efforts of some churchmen and the temperance groups won the day, and the 6 p.m. closing time won the majority of votes. On the night the legislation came into effect, in March 1916, the president of the Licensed Victuallers Association led a rowdy throng from the Imperial Hotel to the Adelaide Club, which was not affected by the early closing law, where the crowd threatened to besiege the doors. It would be more than 50 years before the legislation on the closing time was changed and liquor bars could again remain open until 10 p.m. The Advertiser, 29, 30 March 1915. The Register, 28 March 1916.
Liberal Movement
8 March 1972 Liberal Movement On 28 March 1972 former Premier of South Australia, Steele Hall, and other ‘progressive’ Liberals announced the formation of the Liberal Movement. Its aim was to re-state Liberal policies and principles to appeal to modern day urban liberals who were becoming alienated from the conservative, hard line elements of the LCL. The first taste of success came on 2 December when the Liberal Movement’s Federal candidate, Ian Wilson, won back the Labor seat of Bonython in the 1972 elections. On 23 March 1973 the LCL State Council voted to deny endorsement to any member belonging to ‘an outside political body’ which included the Liberal Movement. Steele Hall, Martin Cameron, and later Robin Millhouse, left the LCL and on 31 March the Liberal Movement formally split from the LCL. In September Hall announced that he would stand for a Senate seat at the next Federal elections, and was successful at the elections in May 1974. After returning to the LCL fold in 1977 Hall stood for, but lost, the federal seat of Hawker for the House of Representatives. In February 1981 he won the seat of Boothby in a by-election. He retired from politics in 19?? Bryce Fraber (ed), The Macquarie Book of Events, Macquarie Library, 1983, p. 331.
Dr Matthew Moorhouse
29 March 1876 Dr Matthew Moorhouse Dr Matthew Moorhouse, the first Protector of Aborigines in South Australia, died at his property, ‘Bartagunya’ near Melrose, on 29 March 1876 at the age of 63. Dr Moorhouse arrived in South Australia in July 1839 to take up his appointment as Protector of Aborigines and had his first office on North Terrace near what is now Kintore Avenue. He also took up a section of land at Encounter Bay to be near his friends the Newlands. At times he travelled with police parties investigating troubles with the Aborigines, but was always most concerned with their welfare and was held in high regard by all. He was instrumental in establishing a mission station on the north side of the River Torrens opposite the gaol. He was on the Destitute Board and served as a member of the House of Assembly from 1860-62. In the late 1850s he retired from public service and pursued his pastoral interests, this time in the mid-north where, in partnership with others, he held the lease of the Hummocks where he lived. Later he sold this interest and moved to his property at Melrose where he remained until his death. Rodney Cockburn, Pastoral Pioneers of South Australia, Volume 1, Adelaide, 1927, pp. 88-89.
First Wool Sale
3 March 1840 First wool sale The first sale of wool by auction in Australia was held in South Australia on 3 March 1840. The wool, shorn from the flocks of Captain John Finniss, was sold by V. and E. Solomon in a sale room in Currie Street. Wool sales took place at various localities until July 1886 when a number of men met to form the Adelaide Wool and Hide and Skin Salesmen’s Association, the forerunner of the Adelaide Woolbrokers’ Association. In 1896 the Wool Exchange rented premises in the new Brookman Building and the first sale there took place on 30 September 1897 when 6393 bales were offered. Sales continued in this venue until the 1970s although under difficulties, for by 1966/67 580,578 bales were offered for sale. The lease on the building ran out in 1973 when it was planned to demolish it and the Wool Exchange moved to Port Adelaide for the series beginning on 22 June 1974. It has been estimated that sales in the Wool Exchange in Brookman Building amounted to almost 22 million bales for $2364 million, at an average price of $209 a bale, over a period of sixty years. Stock Journal, 12 September and 7 November 1974, Newspaper Cuttings Book, Volume 3, p. 165. SSLM
Regent Theatre
30 March 1967 Regent Theatre On 30 March 1967 a charity variety show was held in the Regent Theatre to mark its closure for major renovations and alterations. These alterations reduced the grand theatre to two small cinemas with the foyer, including the marble staircase, and stalls lost to create a shopping arcade. Since then a further small cinema has been incorporated into the complex. The Regent Theatre opened with glitter and glamour on the 29 June 1928. Described as a pleasure dome with its concealed lighting, soft carpets, paintings, tapestries, Italian statuary, and magnificent chandeliers, the theatre was the ultimate in movie theatre opulence. On opening night an 18 piece orchestra played the William Tell Overture to an accompaniment of changing coloured lights, followed by a stage show and a film, Flesh and the Devil, starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. The famous Wurlitzer organ was installed a few months later. Prices ranged from one shilling to two shillings and tenpence halfpenny. The theatre closed for a time during the depression, but renovations in 1939, saw it emerge again as one of the city’s leading theatres until the changes in the late 1960s. The Wurlitzer organ is now in St Peter’s College. Susan Marsden, Paul Stark, Patricia Sumerling (eds), Heritage of the City of Adelaide, Corporation of the City of Adelaide, 1990, pp. 121-122 Michael Burden, Lost Adelaide, Oxford University Press, 1983, p.181.
Sir William Henry Bragg And Sir Will
31 March 1890 Sir William Henry Bragg and Sir William Lawrence Bragg. William Lawrence Bragg was born in Adelaide on 31 March 1890. William Henry Bragg arrived in South Australia in 1886 to take up the post of Professor of Pure and Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide. He was also to give instruction in physics although he was not trained in the subject which was to become a major part of his life in later years. On 1 June 1889 he married Charles Todd’s daughter, Gwendoline. William Lawrence was the first born of his three children. In 1895 Ernest Rutherford visited Adelaide and he and Bragg became firm friends. The following year Bragg learned of W.K. Rontgen’s discovery of X-rays. Excited by this discovery he, with his able assistant, A.L. Rogers, set about producing a new radiation. William Lawrence Bragg was educated at St Peter’s College and the University of Adelaide. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge and after graduating became a fellow and lecturer in natural science. By this time his father was back in England and the two worked together on X-rays. They were both awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1915. During World War I both men worked on different problems for the war effort. Bragg senior was appointed to the Chair of Physics at University College, London. He was knighted in 1920 and died in London on 12 March 1942. In 1938 William Lawrence succeeded Rutherford as Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge. He also received many honours in his career and was knighted in 1941. He died on 1 July 1971. Bede Nairn, Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, pp. 387-389.
Lunatic Asylum North Terrace
31 March 1902 Lunatic Asylum, North Terrace The old Lunatic Asylum on North Terrace was closed on 31 March 1902 although it was used as a consumptive home for a time afterwards. The asylum was commenced in 1850 and served until the Parkside Asylum opened in 1870. On 11 August 1866 134 acres at Parkside were purchased for a new complex. Architect Robert Thomas (son of Robert Thomas of The Register ) designed a building modelled on the latest asylums in England which were fireproof for safety and surrounded a central quadrangle. The buildings were constructed of iron girders with the spaces filled with concrete, the passages were partly paved and partly cement, the staircases were of colonial slate, and Glen Osmond stone was used for the walls, while there were fire proof ceilings beneath the timber and galvanised iron roof. Walls of stone were built around the buildings with a Ha Ha (deep trench or moat) on each side to discourage any escape attempts. Much of the ground was cultivated for vegetable gardens and fruit trees. The eight foot high stone wall surrounding the property was built in 1885. It was reduced in height to three feet in 1962. The rather grim looking institution was known as the Parkside Lunatic Asylum until 1913 when it changed its name to Parkside Mental Hospital, and this was again changed in 1967 to Glenside Hospital. Other buildings have been added over the years and the changing attitudes to mental illness and modern treatment has seen improvements within the hospital. Although the exterior of the original buildings looks much the same these are now used mainly for administration. The North Terrace Asylum was demolished in 1938 and the ground absorbed into the Botanic Gardens. 1870-1970 Commemorating the Centenary of Glenside Hospital, 1970.
Sir Richard Hanson
4 March 1876 Sir Richard Hanson Sir Richard Hanson died on 4 March 1876 and was given a State funeral in recognition of his service to South Australia. Hanson had worked in Canada and New Zealand before arriving in South Australia in 1846. A capable lawyer, he helped to draw up the constitution and other important measures, and became the colony’s first premier, serving from 1857, the year South Australia gained responsible government, to 1860. However, his term of office was not without problems. On 27 May 1859 the government faced a motion of no confidence over its conduct of the Babbage exploration expedition. The government had financed the expedition which was to examine and survey the country between Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner. Not happy with the way Babbage was conducting the exploration, the government sent Captain Warburton to take over. Reports about the unsatisfactory nature of the expedition led to questions in parliament. As a result the Hanson Ministry resigned, but after a week of negotiations, which failed to produce a new Ministry, Hanson was asked to return. In 1861 he was appointed Chief Justice. Knighted in 1869, he acted as Governor from November 1872 to April 1873. He was the first Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, but died before he could give the inaugural address. Douglas Pike (ed), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, pp. 336-340.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
5 March 1958 Queen Elizabeth Hospital The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Woodville was officially opened on 5 March 1958 by the Queen Mother who unveiled a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in the foyer. In the early 1950s it was realised that a new public hospital, preferably in the north-western area of Adelaide, was needed to relieve the demands on the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The site at Woodville was chosen as it was centrally situated in the fast expanding industrial area between the city and the Port. The first building to be completed was the Nurses Home in 1954, and this was used partly as a maternity block. The main maternity block was completed by the Architect-in-Chief’s Department in May 1957 and was opened for patients on 6 September. With extra work for the Government the work on the General Hospital block was contracted to a private firm and this was opened in 1959. The final cost of the hospital was £7 million. It is the state’s second largest teaching hospital and is affiliated with the University of Adelaide. In the last 30 years the hospital has been added to and updated and operates one of the best renal units in Australia. The first successful kidney transplant was performed there on 21 February 1965. Sunday Mail, 29 February 1964, Newspaper Cuttings Book, Volume 3, p. 104. SSLM. usan Marsden, A History of Woodville, 1977, pp. 220-222.