Place Names of South Australia - B
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
- Babbage, Mount
- Back Valley
- Backstairs Passage
- Backy Bay
- Bagley Bridge
- Bagnall Well
- Bagot Well
- Bailey Gardens
- Baird Bay
- Baker Flat
- Baker Gully
Babbage, Mount
Nomenclature
B.H. Babbage discovered the mountain in 1856 and named it 'Mount Hopeful'; in the following year it was renamed by G.W. Goyder. The peninsula was not named until 1963. It is situated on Lake Eyre North which Babbage virtually discovered, as opposed to Lake Eyre South discovered by E.J. Eyre. Born in London circa 1814 he came to South Australia in the Hydaspes in 1851. He was a qualified engineer and was involved in the construction of the Port Adelaide railway. He entered Parliament in 1857 and resigned nine months later to command a northern exploration party.
- By the end of six months his explorations had scarcely penetrated beyond the limits of pastoral settlement - the public and the government became increasingly impatient at his slow rate of progress. Eventually Major P.E. Warburton was dispatched to take over the leadership.
He died at Saint Marys in 1878 where 'he had an excellent vineyard [at Saint Marys] and devoted a great deal of attention to winemaking'.
General Notes
In the Register of
16 August 1854 at page 2d Mr Babbage claims that the whole of the surveys in South Australia was wrong - a rebuttal by the Colonial Secretary, B.T. Finniss, follows.
See Place Names - Blanchewater for details of his 1857 exploration and Register,
1 July 1859, page 2d and
Observer,
6 February 1858, page 3d for a lecture given about same.
The Advertiser of 24 December 1858, page 2f has a satirical poem - one verse reads:
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Each caviller at Babbage then
We'd northward send exploring
To find new land, or water when
He chose artesian boring!
A fairy land, no doubt, he'd see,
Where others saw but gravel,
And geographic problems he
Most surely would unravel.
9 July 1859, page 6d.
His obituary is in the Observer,
26 October 1878, page 20b: "he had an excellent vineyard [at Saint Marys] and devoted a great deal of attention to winemaking".
His father's is in the Observer,
13 January 1872, page 4f.
Information on the disposition of his sketches of 1858-1859 is in the Register,
21 April 1923, page 8f,
Advertiser,
21 April 1923, page 12h:
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Babbage's expedition of 1858-59 was one of the most fruitful in its detailed collection of geographical information and the minuteness of its survey work. Prior to 1923 the only records hitherto available was the formal records held by the government. However, in April 1923 fifty six ink and pen sketches by Babbage were presented to the State Archive by Mrs W.D. Carr of Stirling. They were executed with much care and attention to detail and cover the whole course of the expedition from Port Augusta to Stuart's Creek, Lake Eyre and represent every type of landscape and a variety of natural features in that portion of Central Australia, from clay pan and salt lake to scrub, mound spring and native well.
Every sketch has an appropriate description and the camps of the expedition appear replete with blankets, spades, and billy cans and 'suitably attended by the expedition's dog.' The views of Port Augusta, executed at so early a date are of considerable historical value. A similar series in pencil was made during the progress of the construction of the overland telegraph line in 1870-71. In addition, the collection includes several sketches of Port Lincoln in the 1860s and one panoramic view of the foreshore, harbour and Boston Island.
Biographical details of his son, Eden H. Babbage, are in the Observer,
25 May 1918, page 30c.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Back Valley
Nomenclature
The wheat farmers in the Bald Hill area 11 km ENE of Victor Harbor frequently travelled to the flour mills at Encounter Bay by diverse routes which they referred to as 'The Back Way'. The name is found in official records as early as 1857. The Aborigines called the district pondyong - 'plenty', i.e., of water and kangaroos.
General Notes
"Port Victor Coal Pty Ltd" is in the Register,
15 November 1892, page 5c Also see South Australia - Mining - Coal
-
In November 1892 the Government Geologist, Mr. H.Y.L. Brown and a party of politicians, visited a site where a diamond drill was at work on the Port Victor Coal Proprietary Co's ground in Back Valley. A portion of the core from the drilling was put on display at the office of the Company, Royal Exchange.
An obituary of William F. Keen is in the Register,
6 December 1928, page 12f.
Its school opened in 1935 and closed in 1957.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Backstairs Passage
Nomenclature
It separates Fleurieu Peninsula from Kangaroo Island and was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 because it formed a private entrance to both Spencer and St Vincent Gulfs. Baudin called it Detroit de Colbert.
General Notes
A sketch is in the Illustrated Adelaide Post,
12 June 1872, page 1.
An interesting account of barracouta fishing is reported in the Register,
5 December 1871, page 14d (supp.) Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Fishing:
-
At this season of the year it frequently happens that vessels from the neighbouring colonies fall in with the shoals of barracouta and when a fair wind ensures a rapid run up from Backstairs Passage, an
opportunity of procuring samples of this really excellent fish. Some few years back they were caught in great numbers and it was not uncommon for a vessel to arrive having from 10 to 12 dozen on board. Some mariners are of the opinion the Cape snook and barracouta are the same, but this is not so, for on this coast the snook is found during November, December and January to find its way throughout the waters of the gulf and even to penetrate the river as far as the North Arm.
An article on the "Backstairs Passage Cable" is in the Register,
3 January 1876, page 6d; also see
13 April 1876, page 6f.
A suggestion for improved lighting of the Passage appears in the Chronicle,
11 December 1897, page 16a and
Register,
11 February 1898, page 7g,
31 March 1905, page 9e; also see
Observer,
10 November 1906, page 48a.
Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lighthouses and Lightships.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Backy Bay
Nomenclature
In the Hundred of Cultana. The name was changed to Fitzgerald Bay in December 1937. (See below for a possible explanation of its derivation.)
Backy Point is the northern point of Fitzgerald Bay north-east of Whyalla and is a corruption of Becky and originally named Becky Point after Rebecca McCarthy, the wife of W. McCarthy, whose father, Alfred, was the first pilot and harbourmaster at Port Augusta.
General Notes
"Backy Bay Tramway" is in the Register,
15 March 1913, page 17a, 8 May 1913, page 10e:
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The private Hummock Hill to Iron Knob Act of 1900 defined the route of the tramway to the coast and gave power to construct jetties and wharfs. In March 1913 a protest was entered by the citizens of Port Augusta against a proposal to survey a deviation of the line to a point near Point Lowly or Backy Bay and demanded that Port Augusta should be the terminus, it being only eight miles further from Iron Knob than Backy Bay.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Bagley Bridge
Nomenclature
Spans a creek which runs into Lake Alexandrina north-east of Milang. Charles Bagley (1834-1917), who leased sections 2836 and 2838, Hundred of Bremer from 20 December 1859, following his arrival in the Shackmaxon in 1853.
General Notes
Mr Charles Bagley's farm is described in the Register,
8 June 1892, page 6f.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Bagnall Well
Nomenclature
On section 305, Hundred of Dalrymple. W. Bagnall, a shepherd employed by Mr Rogers of Ynoo Station who was killed by Aborigines in May 1851. He had a very savage dog which attacked the Aborigines, who remonstrated with Bagnall without avail. As he would not kill the dog, they killed him.
General Notes
The immediate district is described in The Life and Adventures of Edward Snell (Angus & Robertson, 1988), page 126.
A photograph of members of a tennis club is in the Chronicle,
28 May 1936, page 35.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Bagot Well
Nomenclature
Named after Captain C.H. Bagot, MLC (1844-1869). Born in Ireland in 1788, he arrived in the Birman in 1840. He was an appointed member of the Nominee Legislative Council in 1842 and was later representative for the Light District from 1851 where he farmed near Shea-oak Log. He was also an agent for Sir Montague Chapman of Killen Castle who sent out 213 of his tenants rendered homeless by enclosures in Ireland to be under the direction of Captain Bagot.
According to Douglas Pike he was the only friend of civil liberty in the Legislative Council:
- He was far from being a radical, but his sympathy with the Dissenters kept him in touch with the opposition out of doors.
General Notes
The area was originally known as "Sour Flats" - see Kapunda Herald,
13 May 1904, page 6.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Congregational Church is reported in the Register,
22 April 1865, page 2h:
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On 14 April 1865 a meeting was held on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of a new Congregational Church. The site of the building about to be erected was an acre of land the gift of the Hon. Thomas Magarey, MLC. Interesting and impressive addresses were given by Reverends M. Williams and W. Oldham and Messrs W. Lewis,, Cameron, Kelly, Stobie, J. Adamson, Will Davies and Pinch. Divine services had been conducted previously in a building kindly lent for he purpose by Mr. Henry Kelly.
Also see
Chronicle,
27 April 1867, page 6f,
Register,
29 March 1864, page 2e.
The Bagot Well School opened in 1863 and closed in 1954. See Register,
30 July 1866, page 2f for a report on the proposed erection of a new school at Bagot's Gap;
its name was changed to "Fords" in 1912 and it closed in 1944. Also see
Chronicle,
16 June 1877, page 9b.
The Observer of
9 June 1877, page 6f has a report on a proposed railway station
while the need for educational requirements is discussed on
16 June 1877, page 12c.
Mr C.H. Bagot's obituary is in the Register,
30 July 1880, page 5a-g;
also see Advertiser, 30 July 1880, page 5a, The News,
9 February 1933.
An obituary of John Bagot is in the Observer,
3 September 1910, page 41a,
of Gottlieb Obst in the Register, 4 February 1915, page 4f,
of Murtagh Conolan on 18 February 1922, page 6i,
of James K. Shannon on 14 and 15 June 1922, pages 7g and 6g,
of James O'Brien on 21 March 1928, page 7b.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Bailey Gardens
Nomenclature
George Church (c.1839-1885) honoured John Bailey when he subdivided part section 256, Hundred of Adelaide in 1876; now included in Hackney and bounded by Westbury Street, North Terrace and Company's Bridge Road (now Park Terrace).
General Notes
John Bailey's obituary is in the Express,
27 May 1864, page 2d.
The gardens are described in the Register,
8 and 12 February 1869, pages 3a and 2h.
- He was trained at Conrad Loddiges & Sons nursery in England and following his arrival in Adelaide he was appointed to run a botanic garden on behalf of an Adelaide Citizens Committee. At the same time by arrangement, he was able to sell seed, produce and other items.
The garden project was abandoned after a year or two of operation, because of the financial position of the government of the day. In 1841 he opened a nursery known as 'Bailey's Gardens' and 'Hackney Nursery' situated near the junction of Hackney Road and the road to Magill.
The property remained in the hands of the Bailey family until early 1859 and, in 1876, the owner, George Church, honoured the family when he created the subdivision of 'Bailey's Gardens' on part section 256 contiguous to College Town. Today this subdivision is included in 'Hackney', bounded by Westbury Street, North Terrace and Company's Bridge Road [now Park Terrace]. Macadamised streets were made through former flower beds, stately palms were chopped down and spreading sycamores and noble magnolias felled in the cause of progress.
The numerous noble trees even now remaining on the old site testify to the work done by Mr Bailey, and as so long as they are allowed to stand will keep his memory green. Time, however, rolls ever onwards and man passes away, leaving his works behind, which other men either preserve or ruthlessly destroy, as the whim may take them.
15 December 1875, page 5b.
"Building Improvements" is in the Register,
29 March 1879.
The Register of 16 April 1881, page 6f has a report of larrikinism - "It is scarcely safe for any unprotected person... to pass them after dark..."
By April 1881 the gardens had been renamed "Exotic Nursery" - see Register,
19 April 1881 (supp.), page 1g.
The reminiscences of John Bailey's son are in the Observer of
7 January 1911, page 44a.
For information on the family and the gardens see Register,
21 March 1914, page 18g,
8 June 1914, page 9d.
Historical information on the gardens is in the Observer,
3 June 1922, page 9,
Register, 17 and 19 June 1922, pages 12b and 9d:
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Established in 1839, Bailey's Gardens at Hackney were for many years recognised as being the principal nursery in Adelaide. Seven acres of land running from Hackney Road along the Payneham Road were utilised for the purpose of the propagation of seedlings of all kinds and a big Australia-wide reputation was established by the firm of John Bailey and Sons. Work continued there for about 20 years and terminated in 1858 when a series of seven auction sales were conducted when the whole of the stock was sold.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Baird Bay
Nomenclature
(Formerly Beard Bay) - James Baird settled on the shore of Anxious Bay in 1850 and was murdered by Aborigines on 2 November 1850. Parliamentary Paper no. 25 of 1851 includes a report by P.E. Warburton:
- [I] bring under His Excellency's notice the untiring zeal, activity and perseverance of Corporal Geharty, who appears to have left no stone unturned to discover the murderers of the late Mr Baird.
- [He] followed Eyre's track through the Gawler Ranges to come out in the Cape Radstock area. Here Baird settled to become a squatter - [he] was speared to death in 1849 [sic]'
General Notes
Further information on Mr Baird's murder is in the Adelaide Times,
11 January 1851, page 2e.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Baker Flat
Nomenclature
A 'suburb' of Kapunda situated approximately south of the mine. In 1854,
A significant number of Irish emigrants arrived and started to work at the mine... they put up huts and cottages on the first place that appealed to them... the land was owned by four people, including John and Mary Baker.
The Adelaide Times of 10 October 1850 at page 2d advertises 'Baker's 500 Acre Blocks' as being laid out in 69 allotments from one to seven-and-a-half acres.
The Register of 11 August 1855, page 3f talks of "part of the celebrated 500 acre block known as Baker's or South Kapunda" while
in 1860 a correspondent talks of Baker's Flat at Kapunda and the existence of hundreds of hovels there with 'an almost utter absence of water closets'. (Register, 2 June 1860, page 3.)
General Notes
An advertisement in the Register of 11 August 1855,
page 3 announces the sale of 'part of the celebrated 500 acre block known as Baker's or South Kapunda... All the fresh water supplying the Kapunda Mines spring from this splendid block of land...'
Information on land usage by villagers is in the Register,
5 July 1902, page 10d,
10 September 1902, page 4h,
Observer,
13 September 1902, page 3c (supp.).
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
Place Names
Baker Gully
Nomenclature
On section 813, Hundred of Kuitpo, 3 km south of Clarendon was named after either George A. Baker, an early settler on section 812 in 1844, or John Baker who purchased section 854 in 1851.
General Notes
Its school opened in 1868 and closed in 1872. See Advertiser,
5 May 1868, page 3g.
Biographical details of Aldophus Biddle are in the Observer,
16 June 1917, page 28b.
Babbage, Mount - Baker Gully
B
