The British province of South Australia was established in 1836, and in 1842 it became a crown colony. South Australia was never a British convict colony, although a number of ex-convicts settled there from other colonies. Around 38,000 immigrants had arrived and settled in the area by 1850. (Source: http://www.australia.gov.au/)
South Australia was an unusual settlement within the British Empire. Unlike the older colonies on Australia’s eastern seaboard there were to be no convicts, and this commitment to a ‘free’ settlement was fiercely maintained. (Source: http://boundforsouthaustralia.net.au/)
This plan was contrary to the penal colony systems operating in Australia where vast acreage's were granted free or sold at low prices and progress was largely dependant on the convict "slave labour" work force. The South Australia scheme was to revolutionise colonisation throughout the world. South Australia was a free state where a healthy lifestyle and opportunity and freedom of religious persecution was promoted. Free emigration for young married couples was offered, funded by pre-sold land. They would be gainfully employed by landholders and eventually have the opportunity of owning land themselves. (Source: http://www.exploringaustralia.com.au/) |
The British Parliament’s South Australia Act 1834 established South Australia as a convict-free colony.The Act was intended to create a colony on the finest qualities of ‘British society’ without unemployment or religious discrimination.
A settlement was temporarily made on Kangaroo Island until the official site of the colony was selected in the area now known as Adelaide. The first immigrants arrived in November 1836 and the colony was proclaimed on 28 December 1836, now known as Proclamation Day. The Adelaide City Council, established in 1840, is the oldest municipal authority in Australia (Source: http://www.federationstory.com/south-australia-established-as-a-convict-free-colony/#sthash.JU1Duw5v.dpuf) |
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South Australian Company
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The South Australian Company, formed in London in 1835, made a significant contribution to the foundation and settlement of South Australia. It was founded by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants. Its immediate purpose was to encourage the purchase, in advance, of land in the planned colony. The company continued until 1949 and contributed various infrastructure as well as establishing the Bank of South Australia.
(Source: http://guides.slsa.sa.gov.au/) Click the images below to learn more about the South Australian Company in detail. |
South Australia's Founders
George Fife AngasGeorge Fife Angas was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1789. From his youth he was involved in church activities, sponsoring missionaries, and establishing Sunday schools and a Seaman's Union. Angas became interested in the projected colony of South Australia due to its ethos of religious tolerance. In 1835 when the new colony was on the verge of floundering due to lack of funds, Angas used his wealth to found the South Australian Company, which bought much of the unsold land at a reduced rate.
Angas and his wife came to live in South Australia in 1851, and in 1857 he was elected to the Legislative Council. He died in 1879. George Fife Angas showed great generosity through gifts to many churches and charities. (Source: http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/) Click the image of George Fife Angas to learn more about his influence on the colony. Governor John HindmarshRear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838.
"Bluff Jack Hindmarsh", as he came to be known, arrived in South Australia in 28 December 1836, with a fleet of ships carrying the first British settlers for the colony. The ships in the fleet included the Cygnet (carrying Colonel William Light's surveyors), Africaine, Tam O'Shanter, Rapid, and HMS Buffalo (carrying Hindmarsh). Initially they landed on Kangaroo Island, and sent out the team of surveyors led by Light to find a suitable place for the capital city of the new colony. Hindmarsh wanted it at Port Lincoln, instead of at the present site which had been selected by Light. Light eventually chose the site of Adelaide. The name Adelaide was chosen by Hindmarsh in honour of Queen Adelaide, King William IV's wife. Hindmarsh's proclamation on 28 December 1836 announced the colonial government and stated that Aborigines were to be treated justly and were now British Subjects. (Source: Wikipedia) Click the image of Governor Hindmarsh to learn more about his influence on the colony. John FoleyJohn Foley was use to being a man on the run. What he had no experience in being was a new type of founding hero, one who would help play a part in establishing the colony of South Australia.
Raised a gypsy, transported for horse stealing, Foley was assigned to the back blocks of New South Wales in the early 1830s, just as the biggest and most rapid land conquest in Australian history was gathering steam. The demand in British factories for raw wool to process was causing an explosion of pastoral settlement, as settlers expanded well beyond the official Limits of Settlement with herds of sheep, exploring and taking over the country of south-eastern Australia - modern day Victoria and Southern NSW - in less than a decade. Convicts had developed a wide range of skills and knowledge of Australian conditions. Foley proved his bushman skills were unrivalled. He worked as head stockman for John Hack and guided the first major cattle drive along the path he'd blazed from Portland into South Australia, which he had discovered while on the run. Foley had saved Adelaide from near catastrophe by showing the settlers new country to farm. (Source: Australia: The Story of Us, Issue 1) Skip to 9 mins to learn about John Foley's role in saving South Australia.
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Edward Gibbon WakefieldEdward Gibbon Wakefield was a British politician, the driving force behind much of the early colonisation of South Australia.
His idea of colonisation was for free settlement, the sale of land at a affordable price to deter labouring emigrants acquiring it immediately (and thus assuring a sufficient supply of labour without convicts) and directing the income from land sales to supporting assisted emigration of labouring families. It is perhaps ironic that the founding principal of the free settlement of South Australia was devised by a convicted felon while in prison. (Source: http://boundforsouthaustralia.net.au/) Click the image of Edward Gibbon Wakefield to learn more about his influence on the colony. Colonel William LightColonel William Light was a British military officer and the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia. He is famous for choosing the site of the colony's capital, Adelaide, and for designing the layout of its streets and parks – in the Adelaide city centre and the Adelaide Park Lands.
Light selected the location and laid out the street plan of the city of Adelaide. The Adelaide city centre was planned by Light in a grid fashion. One of the reasons he chose the location was because clouds drifting over the nearby Adelaide Hills would provide rainfall. This was a promising indicator of good conditions for agriculture. Another was that the location was adjacent to the perennial creek grandly named the River Torrens; the available supply of fresh water was a problem throughout the new colony, and had resulted in the rejection of, or relocation of, settlement sites on Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln and Holdfast Bay (now known as Glenelg). (Source: Wikipedia) Click on his image to read more about his decision to choose Adelaide for the Colony's settlement. |