Adelaide History
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The Adelaide's history start with the Kaurna people when they inhabited the plains but at the time European contact was made, their territory extending from what is now Cape Jervis to Port Broughton. "Yerta" (an area of land) were the responsibility of Kaurna adults who inherited the land and had an intimate knowledge of its resources and features. The Kaurna led a nomadic existence within the Yerta confines in large family groups of around 30. The area where the City of Adelaide now stands was called "Tandanya" which translates as "place of the Red Kangaroo". Kaurna numbers were greatly reduced by at least two devastating epidemics of smallpox transported downstream by the Murray River. When European settlers arrived in 1836 the Kaurna in the Adelaide Plains area numbered around 300.
British Captain Matthew Flinders and French Captain Nicolas Baudin independently charted the southern coast of the Australian continent. In 1802 Flinders named Mount Lofty but recorded little of the area which is now Adelaide. 28 years later Charles Sturt explored the Murray River and was impressed with what he briefly saw, later writing:
"Hurried ....as my view of it was, my eye never fell on a country of more promising aspect, or more favorable position, than that which occupies the space between the lake (Lake Alexandrina) and the ranges of the St. Vincent Gulf, and, continuing northerly from Mount Barker stretches away, without any visible boundary".
Captain Collet Barker, sent by New South Wales Governor Ralph Darling conducted a more thorough survey of the area in 1831, as recommended by Sturt. After swimming the mouth of the Murray River, Barker was killed by natives who may have had contact with sealers and escaped convicts in the region. Despite this, his more detailed survey led Sturt to conclude in his 1833 report:
"It would appear that a spot has at last been found upon the south coast of New Holland to which the colonists might venture with every prospect of success ....All who have ever landed upon the eastern shore of the St. Vincent's Gulf agree as to the richness of its soil and the abundance of its pastures."
A group in Britain led by Edward Gibbon Wakefield were looking to start a colony based on free settlement rather than convict labour. After problems in other Australian colonies arising from existing settlement methods, the time was right to form a more methodical approach to establishing a colony. In 1829 an imprisoned Wakefield wrote a series of letters about systematic colonisation which were published in a daily newspaper. He suggested that instead of granting free land to settlers as had happened in other colonies, the land should be sold. The money from land purchases would be used solely to transport labourers to the colony free of charge, who were responsible and skilled workers rather than paupers and convicts. Land prices needed to be high enough so that workers who saved to buy land of their own remained in the workforce long enough to avoid a labour shortage.
Robert Gouger, Wakefield's secretary promoted Wakefield's theories and organised societies of people interested in the scheme. In 1834 the South Australian Association, with the aid of such figures as George Grote, William Molesworth and the Duke of Wellington persuaded British Parliament to pass the South Australian Colonisation act, succeeding where two previous organisations had failed. Wakefield wanted the colony's capital to be called Wellington but King William IV preferred it to be named after his consort, Queen Adelaide. The British government appointed a Board of Commissioners from people nominated by the South Australian Association, with the task of organising the new colony and meeting the condition of selling at least £3,500 worth of land. The province and its capital were named, planned, advertised and largely sold before a single settler had set foot in their new home.
Free passage was given to "suitable" labourers, generally men and women under 30 years of age who were healthy and of good character, expected to carry out a promise of working for wages until they have saved enough to buy land of their own and employ others, a process taking at least 3 or 4 years. Land sales were encouraged by granting one acre (4,000 m²) of town land in Adelaide for every 80 acres (324,000 m²) of rural land sold. The largest buyer of land was the South Australia Company headed by George Fife Angas, which bought enough land for South Australia to proceed, and continued to influence the colony's future development. With the government's conditions met, King William IV signed the Letters Patent and the first settlers and officials set sail in early 1836.
In February 1836 the John Prairie and the Duke of York set sail for South Australia. They were followed in March by the Cygnet and Lady Mary Pelham, in April by the Emma, in May by the Rapid (carrying Colonel Light) and then by the Africaine (carrying Robert Gouger) and Tam o' Shanter. Most took supplies and settlers to Kangaroo Island on the present day site of Kingscote to await official decisions on the location and administration of the new colony. By the time the Duke of York had arrived at Kangaroo Island the HMS Buffalo (carrying Governor John Hindmarsh) was on its way.
Surveyor Colonel William Light, who had two months to complete his tasks, rejected locations for the new settlement such as Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln and Encounter Bay. He was required to find a site with a harbour, arable land, fresh water, ready internal and external communications, building materials and drainage. Most of the settlers were moved from Kangaroo Island to Holdfast Bay with Governor Hindmarsh arriving in December 1836 to proclaim the province of South Australia. Light had to work quickly as the settlers were eager to take possession of the land they had purchased and grew impatient waiting. The Port River was sighted and deemed to be a suitable harbour, however there was no fresh water available nearby. The River Torrens was discovered to the south and Light and his team set about determining the city's precise location and layout.
Light favoured a location on rising ground along the Torrens valley between the coast and hills which would be free of floodwaters. Governor Hindmarsh upon arrival initially approved of the location, but changed his mind thinking that the site should instead be two miles closer to the harbour (an area unsuitable due to flooding). Other colonists thought Port Lincoln or Encounter Bay would be better sites. After much mud slinging, mainly directed towards Light, a public meeting of landholders was called on 10 February 1837, where a vote was held resulting in 218 to 127 in Light's favour, settling the issue for the meantime.
The survey was completed on 11 March 1837 which was a considerable achievement given the time taken to complete comparable surveys. The city plan carefully fitted the topography of the area: the Torrens Valley was kept as parklands and town acres were planned on higher land to the north and south. Adelaide was divided into two districts north and south of the river with North Adelaide composed of 342 acre (1.4 km²) blocks and (South) Adelaide 700 blocks, surrounded by 2,300 acres (9 km²) set aside as parklands for recreation and public functions. The grid pattern of Adelaide's streets featured a central square (Victoria Square) and four smaller squares (Hindmarsh, Hurtle, Light and Whitmore), North Adelaide featured Wellington Square. Space for public buildings such as Government House, government stores, botanical gardens, hospital, cemetery and an aboriginal reserve were included within the parklands.
Gold discoveries in Victoria in 1851 brought a severe labour shortage which was created by the exodus of workers leaving to seek their fortunes on the goldfields. High demand for South Australian wheat was created however. The situation improved when prospectors returned with their gold finds.
South Australians were keen to establish trade links with Victoria and New South Wales, however overland transport was too slow. A £4,000 prize was offered in 1850 by the South Australian government for the first two people to navigate the River Murray in an iron steamboat as far as its junction with the Darling River. In 1853 William Randell of Mannum and Francis Cadell of Adelaide, unintentionally making the attempt at the same time, raced each other to Swan Hill with Cadell arriving first.
South Australia became a Self-governing colony in 1856 with the ratification of a new constitution by the British parliament. Secret ballots were introduced, and a bicameral parliament was elected on 9 March 1857, by which time 109, 917 people lived in the province. Premier Robert Torrens devised a land title system in 1858 which adapted the principles of shipping registers, emulated in the other Australian colonies and overseas in places such as Singapore.
Further copper discoveries were made in 1859 at Wallaroo and in 1861 at Moonta. In 1860 the Thorndon Park reservoir was opened, finally providing an alternative water source to the turbid River Torrens. During John McDouall Stuart's 1862 expedition to the north coast of Australia he discovered 200,000 km² of grazing territory to the west of Lake Torrens and Lake Eyre. South Australia was made responsible for the administration of the Northern Territory. In 1867 gas street lighting was implemented, the University of Adelaide was founded in 1874, the South Australian Art Gallery opened in 1881 and the Happy Valley Reservoir opened in 1896.
In the 1890s Australia was affected by a severe economic depression, ending a hectic era of land booms and tumultuous expansionism. Financial institutions in Melbourne and banks in Sydney closed. The national fertility rate fell and immigration was reduced to a trickle. The value of South Australia's exports nearly halved. Drought and poor harvests from 1884 compounded the problems with some families leaving for Western Australia. Adelaide was not as badly hit as the larger gold-rush cities of Sydney and Melbourne, and silver and lead discoveries at Broken Hill provided some relief. Only one year of deficit was recorded but the price paid was retrenchments and lean public spending. Wine and Copper were the only industries not to suffer a downturn.
Electric street lighting was introduced in 1900 and electric trams were transporting passengers in 1909.
28,000 men were sent to fight in World War I. Adelaide enjoyed a post-war boom but with the return of droughts, entered the depression of the 1930s, later returning to prosperity with strong government leadership. Secondary industries helped reduce the state's dependence on primary industries. The 1933 census recorded the state population at 580,949 which was less of an increase than other states due to the state's economic limitations.
World War II brought industrial stimulus and diversification to Adelaide under the leadership of Thomas Playford. 70,000 men and women enlisted and shipbuilding was expanded at Whyalla. Adelaide's transformation from an agricultural service centre to a twentieth century city was complete.
After the war, an assisted migration scheme brought 215,000 emigrants of all nationalities to South Australia between 1947 and 1973. Electrical goods were manufactured in former munitions factories and Holden cars were assembled in 1948. A pipeline from Mannum brought River Murray water to Adelaide in 1954 and an airport opened at West Beach in 1955.
The Dunstan Government of the 1970s saw something of an Adelaide 'cultural revival' - establishing a wide array of social reforms and overseeing the city becoming a centre of the arts. Adelaide hosted the Australian Grand Prix between 1985 and 1996 on a street circuit in the city's east parklands, before losing it in a controversial move to Melbourne. The 1992 State Bank collapse plunged both Adelaide and South Australia into economic recession, and its effects can still be felt today. Recent years have seen the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar race make use of the former Formula One circuit and renewed economic confidence under the Rann Government.
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