Place Names of South Australia - A
Arwakurra - Ashton
Arwakurra
Nomenclature
A post office on section 64, Hundred of Booleroo 5 km east of Booleroo Centre, opened as 'White Cliffs' in October 1876; the change was effected in November 1906. The first recorded holders of land in the district were George Elder and William Spence Peter in 1853 when they took up lease no. 263 'East of Mount Remarkable'. When the Hundred of Booleroo was proclaimed in 1875 the land around Arwakurra was taken up under credit agreement leases and in 1879 section 65C (2 acres) was subdivided out of section 65 for school purposes; it opened as 'White Cliffs' in 1880 and became 'Arwakurra' in 1907 and closed in 1951. It is of Aboriginal origin and relates to the physical feature of the locality, ie, white cliffs
General Notes
Its school opened as "White Cliffs" in 1880 and became "Arwakurra" in 1907;
it closed in 1951.
An obituary of F.W. Wichmann is in the Observer,
12 April 1913, page 41a.
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ascot Park
Nomenclature
On sections 86-87, Hundred of Adelaide named after the English racecourse by Reginald Victor Wilson in 1913.
General Notes
The Mail of 28 September 1912, page 7a says
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The largest subdivision of any city land has eventuated. 160 acres were cut up into 479 allotments each with a frontage of 60 feet and a depth of 181 feet. Ascot Park is the name fixed for the new suburb which, when built, should uphold the worthy name of the English centre of population, which it is named after.
Also see The Mail,
16 November 1912, page 7b.
"A New Township" is in the Register, 18 October 1912, page 5:
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The dense body of rich pasture it is carrying indicates that the soil will be excellent for gardening purposes. Water is laid on to the property and, as the township is situated within the artesian belt, it should be converted into a flourishing settlement.
Troubles encountered by the subdivider are detailed in the
Advertiser,
18 October 1912, page 12e,
Register,
22 February 1913, page 18g,
9 and 13 August 1913, pages 18c and 15b; also see
Observer,
1 March 1913, page 48a.
Its school opened in 1926; see Register,
30 October 1926, page 10g.
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ash, Hundred of
Nomenclature
In the County of York, proclaimed on 25 April 1895. George Ash, MP (1890-1897). Born in London in 1859 he ran away to sea in his 'teens and was brought back and put to work in a warehouse. In 1877 he went to South Africa, migrating to South Australia in 1879 when he worked for the Border Watch and the Naracoorte Herald, buying the latter in 1880 in partnership with J.B. Mather. He 'looked upon himself as a heaven-born reformer...' Following a libel case he was forced to sell the newspaper. As a parliamentarian he was described as 'full of brain, backbone and tongue, eccentric, a smart man but not a discreet one'.
General Notes
A libel case against Mr Ash and public comment on same is in the Register,
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 19, 22, 27 and 31 August 1889, pages 4e-h, 7b-c, 6b, 7g, 3f, 4f, 7e, 7h and 7e,
3 September 1889, page 4e; also see
9 October 1889, page 5a,
23 June 1891, page 7d.
Biographical details are in the Observer,
13 December 1890, page 33b,
Advertiser, 19 April 1893, page 7c,
Weekly Herald, 17 April 1896, page 6c and
an obituary is in the Register, 24 February 1897, pages 5a-7b;
also see 2 March 1897, page 6c, 10 July 1897, page 5b and
The Mail, 15 April 1916, page 11c.
An editorial comment on a lecture given by him is in the Advertiser,
10 May 1892, page 4c; also see
Express,
30 November 1893, page 2c,
24 July 1895, page 2d,
Observer,
1 December 1894, pages 25d-30b.
Information on his attainment of a law degree is in the Register,
28 November 1894, page 5a-b,
14 December 1894, page 5a.
The editor of the Register ventures the following opinion of Mr Ash on 28 July 1896, page 5a:
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Mr. George Ash, MP, is an individualist, but not in the conventional sense... As a rhetorical declaimer the member for Albert would probably be characterised by a sportsman as one who scatters too much to kill, but as a critical analyst he is almost incomparable... As a prophet he may be considered too Cassandra-like to be a perfectly faithful focusser of future probabilities. In our judgement, however, he does not overcolour his views of realisable possibilities; and just such popular deliverances as his are needed to keep alive the people's sense of their responsibilities and their duties...
(See Register, 28 July 1896, page 6d for his address to the Patriotic Association.)
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ashbourne
Nomenclature
The 'Green Hills Special Survey' was claimed by John Morphett on 8 July 1839, 4,000 acres for £4,000 to be selected from 15,000 acres in that district of country extending generally to the south-east of the survey called 'The Three Brothers' taken by J.B. Hack and to the eastward of the eastern boundary of 'The Meadows Survey'.
Eventually the 'Green Hills Special Survey' developed into a river type of survey twelve miles by two and extending from the latitude of Mount Magnificent in the south to one mile north of Macclesfield. It included the site of Ashbourne (13 km south of Strathalbyn), which was laid out on part sections 2337-39 by the owner, C.S. Keeling (1817-1875) in 1865. Forty-two allotments were surveyed, including a site for a school, (Lot 40).
The name was not officially recognised for postal purposes until 1 May 1869 when its postal address was changed from 'Finniss Flat'. Charles Staley Keeling hailed from Ashbourne in Derbyshire; it derives from the Anglo-Saxon esseburne - 'ash tree stream'; it was there in 1644 a battle was fought between the royalists and parliamentarians in which the former were defeated with considerable loss.
General Notes
The opening of the bridge across Balderstone's Creek and ensuing dinner are described in the Register,
24 January 1867, page 3e:
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The bridge at Finniss Flat over Balderstone Creek was opened on 22 January 1867 by Miss Catherine Kirkham and the event was celebrated at 'the new township of Ashbourne'. The bridge is in the Italian rural style of architecture, has a stone arch parapet and wing walls and is built of the flat sandstone of the neighbourhood and has freestone dressings. The dinner was laid out in a stone building on the premises of the new public house, the Green Man, Host Gosling being the caterer.
An obituary of Robert Kirkham is in the Register,
17 November 1903, page 5a,
of Mrs S. Kirkham on 2 December 1904, page 5a.
An obituary of Reuben Kirkham is in the Observer,
5 December 1925, page 61a,
of John Kirkham on 14 January 1928, page 43d.
The 65th wedding anniversary of Mr & Mrs George Dunn is reported in the Register,
21 March 1916, page 4h;
also see 21 March 1921, page 9g,
An obituary of George Dunn is in the Register,
27 November 1926, page 11c;
of Mrs George Dunn is in the Observer,
4 December 1926, page 43c,
The demonsration of a milking machine on Tom Kirkham's property is reported in the Register,
5 June 1909, page 11d.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Dairying .
The district is described in the Register,
3 May 1910, page 5d; also see
27 November 1912, page 15a and Place Names - Finniss Flat.
The trial of a potato digging machine is reported in the Register,
20 January 1928, page 12g.
Also see South Australia< - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Farm Implements .
A photograph of a decorated motor car at a school gala day is in the Chronicle,
3 April 1930, page 35.
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ashford
Nomenclature
Also see Place Names - Everard Park.
Laid out on sections 44-45, Hundred of Adelaide by Charles J. Everard in 1909. Further subdivision occurred until eventually the suburb encompassed Everard Ave, Day Ave (now closed), Anzac Highway and South Road. The Everard homestead is now part of the Ashford House School complex.
General Notes
The precise nomenclature of the "Adelaide" subdivision is possibly explained in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. 32, page 44 where in footnote 14 reference is made to the connection between the Fiveash family and the Everards, the former's name being derived from "some five ash trees near Ashford, Kent".
"Old Time Memories" is in the Register, 20 November 1919, page 5b:The following is an extract from a letter written in May 1837 by Mr. C.G. Everard:
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After pitching our tents, at Glenelg, and landing our goods, myself, William and our man proceeded to build a cottage, the one in which we now live, and a very comfortable one it is. The framework is of small trees, the walls of flags cut from the lagoon, the roof of reeds; the interior fittings are of deal, which on board were our bedplaces; the floor of clay rammed hard to make firm and covered partly with India matting, partly of oilcloths. We then dug up a bit of ground for a garden in which vegetables grew well. I had some delicious water melons from the seed of which I procured at the Cape... I have ten acres in the town, five of which were mine by priority of choice, the remainder I bought at a public sale and the average price was £5 - I would not sell one of my first five for less than £200.
Irrigation of Mr C.J. Everard's property is reported in the Register,
16 September 1861, page 2h; also see
Advertiser,
18 March 1862, page 2f.
The Ashford orangery is described in the Register,
19 July 1875, page 6e.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Fruit and Vegetables.
Dr Everard's obituary is in the Observer,
1 April 1876, page 7f.
In respect of the "northern" subdivision an obituary of Admiral Hawker is in the Register,
14 August 1860, page 3d;
it is described in the Advertiser,
28 January 1876, page. 7a.
An obituary of James Collins Hawker, of "Ashford" North Adelaide, is in the Chronicle,
18 May 1901, page 32c.
A ploughing match is reported in the Observer,
29 August 1874, page 4d.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Ploughing Matches.
Biographical details of James W. Farrant are in the Register,
11 February 1927, page 8g.
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ashleigh
The Register of 10 September 1925, page 5d describes it as a subdivision near the Torrens Park railway station comprising part of the Ashleigh Estate "the old home of the Laffer family".
Arwakurra - Ashton
A
Place Names
Ashton
Nomenclature
George Hunt who came from Ashton, Northamptonshire gave the name to a subdivision of section 1197, Hundred of Onkaparinga in 1858 3 km south-east of Norton Summit. The name comes from the Old English aesctun - 'the town where ash trees grow'.
General Notes
"Ashton (Grassy Flat)" is described in the Register, 14 July 1868, page 2g:
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Situated about five or six miles from the township of Magill is another... And although it cannot boast of a large population, yet, within a radius of a mile or so may be seen many a 'humble cot' and curling wreaths of smoke issuing from the tops of 'bush' chimneys... Some of the inhabitants of this sequestered locality have been solicitous that a Wesleyan Methodist place of worship should be erected, but 'the powers that be' considered the idea impracticable.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Wesleyan Chapel is reported in the Register,
5 January 1869, page 2d; also see
21 March 1869 and
3 April 1869, page 2g,
while that of the Bible Christian Church appears on
3 May 1878, page 6d; also see
13 December 1878, page 5b for its opening.
Information on the school is in the Express,
21 September 1882, page 2d.
Its first Show is reported in the Advertiser,
16 January 1885, page 7b.
Also see South Australia - Agricultural, Floricultural and Horticultural Shows - Farming - Farm Implements.
The district is described in the Register,
1 April 1893, page 5e.
An obituary of Mrs James Copeland is in the Register,
3 August 1907, page 7a,
Observer, 10 August 1907, page 40b.
