Place Names of South Australia - A
Alexandra - Algebuckina
Alexandra
Nomenclature
A subdivision of section 15, Hundred of Encounter Bay by Arthur F. Lindsay in 1865; now included in Victor Harbor. Mr Lindsay (1817-1895) built one of the first stone buildings in Victor Harbor which he named 'Alexandra'; in 1868 it became his family's summer house. As Princess Alexandra of Denmark married Edward, Prince of Wales in 1863 there appears to be no doubt that he had the Princess in mind when christening his home and subdivision.
General Notes
In August 1863 the Alexandra Bridge was opened and a newspaper report says:
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Until recently the rivers Inman and Hindmarsh had to be forded from Yankalilla and Encounter Bay to Port Elliot. At times, however, the passage was very dangerous and contracts for two bridges were called for upwards of twelve months ago... The Alexandra Bridge [over the Hindmarsh] is made of timber and is built on piles with five bays and two half-bays... [It] is 31 feet wide and accommodates a single line of the tramway on the south side... It is about 20 feet above the bed of the river and 12 feet above the ordinary water level. The total length is 125 feet... Mr. A.Gouge is the contractor which has been carried out under the supervision of Mr. Rogers, the Resident Engineer. It has occupied about 12 months in its construction...
The cavalcade having passed over the Mrs R.W. Newland advanced to the centre of the bridge and after pronouncing the words 'In the name of the Central Road Board I name this the Alexandra Bridge and declare it open for public traffic' she performed the christening.
See note Hindmarsh River re the Alexandra Bridge.
Alexandra - Algebuckina
A
Place Names
Alexandrina, Lake
Nomenclature
Discovered by sealers in 1828 and named by Captain Charles Sturt on 9 February 1830. At a later date he said:
- Considering this lake to be of sufficient importance and in anticipation that its shores will, during her reign, if not at an earlier period, be peopled by some portion of her subjects, I have called it, in well meant loyalty, "The Lake Alexandrina''.
At the time of its discovery Princess Alexandrina was heiress to the British throne; she became Queen Victoria. It was proposed to change the name to 'Victoria' and as late as 1853 it was used in official Government records. (See Place Names - McFarlane Hill and Place Names - Narrung)
General Notes
Messrs Strangways and Hutchinson's account of an overland exploration from Adelaide is in the Register,
20 January 1838, page 3d.
A meeting of the Lake Alexandrina Steam Navigation Company is reported in the Observer,
11 August 1866, page 4f (supp.).
A trip across the lake is described in the Express,
27 December 1866, page 3b,
17 January 1867, page 3d,
Register,
27 December 1866, page 3g,
18 January 1867, page 2h; also see
4 and 26 March 1867, pages 3b and 2g respectively.
Also see under Place Names - Lake Albert.
Steamers on the lake are discussed in the Observer,
8 January 1870, page 3d,
14 June 1873, page 7c,
a mail steamer on
20 March 1875, page 7g.
A trial of a new steamer, Dispatch (sic), is reported in the Chronicle,
7 April 1877, page 4f,
Observer,
10 March 1877, page 11f,
7 April 1877, pages 8e-11d.
Information on the mail steamer, Despatch, is in the Register,
2 and 6 April 1877, pages 5 and 6c.
Navigation lights are discussed in the Observer,
29 December 1877, page 17g.
Also see South Australia - Communications - Mail and Postal.
The reminiscences of Rev F. Slaney Poole are in the Observer,
20 March 1926, page 60d.
"The Lake Phenomenon" is in the Observer,
8 April 1871, page 7d.
Comment on pollution of the lake by algae and a report on the quality of the water is in the Observer,
19 January 1878, page 12g,
16 and 23 February 1878, pages 5f and 12b,
2 March 1878, page 9d; also see
Express,
7 February 1878, page 2c,
Register,
16 January 1878, page 5a,
13, 27 and 28 February 1878, pages 2a (supp.), 5b and 6f,
14 February 1880, page 5b,
13 April 1888, page 6f and
Blanchetown and Murray, River.
"Poison on theLlakes" is in the Register,
6 April 1912, page 9d.
"Fatal Boat Accident" is in the Chronicle,
11 January 1879, page 21f.
The surrounding district is described in the Register,
9 January 1883, page 7a,
15 June 1892, page 6a.
A scheme for conserving fresh water in the lake is expounded in the Register,
12 February 1887, page 6e.
Observer,
19 February 1887, page 13b.
Also see South Australia - Water Conservation.
An article headed "A Week Upon the Lakes" appears in the Register,
6 January 1890, page 6c and
"Our Easter Holiday at the Lakes" on
14 April 1890, page 7a,
"A Week's Sport on the Lakes" on
7 January 1899, page 9a.
For a series of articles on hunting in the district see Place Names - Wellington.
An article on and photographs of Wellington Lodge are in the Observer,
24 October 1903, pages 13c-23.
The district is described in the Register,
15 June 1892, page 6a.
A "serious outbreak" of an unexplained malady which caused the death of thousands of fish is reported in the Register, 11 November 1903, page 4g:
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In 1903 Mr. A. Molineux camped for a fortnight on the north shore of the west end of the lake, opposite Ram Island, and the stench from the dead fish lying on the shore was so strong that he essayed with a pole to shift the mass into the water. From the space of about fifty yards long he
cleared off about 200 mulloway. In various other directions he noticed similar quantities of dead fish. In every case the dead creatures were apparently covered with a growth of vegetable matter, similar to that which is common to goldfish when kept in confinement. It was evidently a water weed which ate the scale and skin and formed a sore on the fish.
"From Milang to Meningie" is in the Advertiser,
17 January 1910, page 8d.
"Scenes in a Shearing Shed" is in the Register,
24 August 1910, page 8g,
"Bird Life on the Lakes" on
11 and 12 July 1913, pages 9e and 11a.
"Solving Lake Problems" is in the Register,
26 April 1912, page 8d.
Concern at the lake's salinity level is expressed in the Advertiser,
27 November 1913, page 14d.
"Rainbow Trout in Lake Alexandrina" is in the Register,
16 October 1915, page 8f.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Fishing.
"Draining the Lakes - A Feasible Scheme" is in the Observer,
3 March 1928, page 6a,
8 March 1930, page 11a.
Alexandra - Algebuckina
A
Place Names
Alford
Nomenclature
In the Hundred of Tickera 16 km WNW of Bute. The town was proclaimed on 24 August 1882.
Henry Alford, born in Acton, Middlesex on 12 February 1816 came to South Australia in 1836 in the John Pirie. He joined the police force in about 1839 resigning with the rank of Inspector in 1853 to become a successful businessman. He died in 1892.
General Notes
A lengthy letter from Mr Alford is in the Observer of
4 and 11 January 1879, pages 20g and 13a - in it he makes mention of his service with the SA Police; also see
Register,
28 and 30 December 1878, pages 6f and 7d-1g (supp.),
6 and 9 January 1879, pages 7b and 5g,
17 August 1886, page 5d.
"The First Police Constable" is in the Chronicle,
1 January 1887, page 6e.
Further reminiscences and an obituary appear on Register,
22 and 24 February 1892, pages 6d and 6c,
Observer,
27 February 1892, pages 7d-26b.
The infant town is described in the Register,
24 November 1882, page 7c:
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You gentlemen of Adelaide can have no idea of the suffering for want of water endured by us living in the scrub, without any water nearer than Wallaroo or Kadina. The poor cattle are put on allowance like a wrecked boat's crew... We have not even roads. You would hardly believe the state of the new town of Alford. A fine city laid out in the heart of a dense scrub. On the map various streets are shown and a three chain road running through it. This is a 'main road'. It actually is not grubbed; there is not even a cart track cleared to the thousands of acres beyond, for which the government is extracting a high rent... A still should be erected at Peela Weela and water brought across from Crystal Brook, or elsewhere, as soon as possible. The end of winter, and no water in the tanks for miles around, even in those of very old settlers. It will be far worse than last year, and that ruined several.
An Arbor Day is reported in the Observer,
16 August 1890, page 35d.
Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days.
An Oddfellows' sports day is reported in the Observer,
4 October 1902, page 33e.
The Alford School was opened as "Peela Weela" in 1883.
A photograph of students and teachers is in the Chronicle,
19 June 1909, page 32.
Comment on the local water supply is in the Register,
1 February 1887, page 6h.
Also see South Australia - Water Conservation.
Alford - Obituaries
An obituary of Dennis McMahon is in the Observer,
18 May 1912, page 41a,
of Mrs Elizabeth J. Prouse on 13 July 1912, page 41a,
of T.R. Heath on 6 May 1916, page 33c,
of Phillip Cock on 27 July 1918, page 19c.
Alexandra - Algebuckina
A
Place Names
Algebuckina
Nomenclature
A railway station 48 km south of Oodnadatta on the former Marree-Alice Springs line is an Aboriginal name of a nearby waterhole recorded by A.T. Woods in 1872. The town was laid out in 1890 and proclaimed on 21 July 1898.
General Notes
Also see South Australia - Mining - Gold.
The survey of the town in 1890 was, no doubt, prompted by the gold find in the area - "as far as can be ascertained about 60 ozs. of gold were got up to March 1887 ... [at] a waterhole called Algebuckina" - see Record of the Mines of South Australia (fourth edition) page 199.
Further information on the goldfield is in the Register,
5, 8 and 18 November 1886, pages 5c, 6e and 5g,
14, 20 and 31 December 1886, pages 6e, 5b and 6h,
12 July 1889, page 6f,
21 October 1893, page 7d,
Express,
3 May 1889, page 2c.
An interview with the discoverer of the field, Mr R.H. Biddle, is reported on
21 November 1903, page 5e:
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Mr. R.H. Biddle discovered gold there in about 1870 and worked the locality again in 1889 and 1902. During six weeks of the year the river near the Algebuckina bridge is about a mile wide when in flood and all the year round brackish water can be obtained at six feet for prospecting 'in quantities sufficient to supply Adelaide' at Cadnowie Springs (within six miles) and at Hogden's Springs (two miles distant). There was an abundance of rough wood for fuel in the neighbourhood and good gums for timbering 18 or 20 miles along the creek to the north.
There must be a reef somewhere, but 'I was unable during the time I stayed to discover it... The country is essentially mineralferous...'
1 January 1904, page 4h.
A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian in
December 1888, page 133;
photographs are in the Chronicle,
6 August 1931, page 32.
"Algebuckina Tragedy" is in the Register,
26 April 1926, page 7g,
27 July 1926, page 9g,
"The Algebuckina Murder" is in the Chronicle,
31 July 1926, page 46a.
