Place Names of South Australia - B

Baxter Range - Bedford Park

Baxter Range
Bayley, Mount
Bayne Gully
Beachport
Beaconsfield
Beatrice Islets
Beaufort
Beaumont
Beda Creek
Bedford Park

Baxter Range

Nomenclature

North of Iron Knob. J.W. Bull in his Early Experiences in South Australia at page 305 says the name honours John Baxter, E.J. Eyre's companion on his overland trek to Western Australia.

General Notes

Information about Mr Baxter is in a letter from Edward J. Eyre in the Observer, 24 March 1883, page 29d:

There can be little doubt that the remains found are those of poor Baxter... You can inform [interested parties] that no grave [will] be found as none was made; the circumstances of the moment and rocky nature of the ground precluded that. I could only leave my ill-fated companion covered over with a blanket when he fell shot dead by one of the natives who accompanied me...

BaxterRrange - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Bayne Gully

Nomenclature

Near Gawler. Probably David Bayne, an early landholder in the district.

General Notes

An obituary of Frederick Bayne is in the Observer,
21 August 1875, page 4b.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Bayley, Mount

In the North Flinders Ranges near Beltana;
the mining concentrators are discussed in the Chronicle,
2 September 1899, page 14c.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beachport

(Taken from an unpublished manuscript by Geoffrey H. Manning titled "A History of the Lower South East in the 19th Century)

The Mail

A chain of sandhills extended along the coast with only one break between Port MacDonnell and Robe and that was at Rivoli Bay. The land was higher and bolder to the north than on the south and from the existence of an island and reefs was considered to be a more likely place to afford shelter to vessels. By 1875, no vessel had gone aground there and it was generally sought as a harbour of refuge by craft trading to MacDonnell Bay. All masters who had visited there spoke in the highest terms of its security. Indeed, Captain Bloomfield Douglas reported that the outlying reefs and shoal gave perfect shelter, while in 1876 it was said:

Accordingly, parliament fixed it as a site for a port and it was proclaimed as such on 21 November 1878, while in May of that year the government town of Beachport was proclaimed. The town was situated right in the elbow of the bay and it was suggested that when all of it was occupied it would "stand on more hills than the hillocks of Rome." The ground consisted of dirty sand mixed with shells and was undulating and bumpy. In the centre of the town there was a salt lake with a pretty fringe of teatree around the edge. It occupied 18 acres in extent and as summer advanced the water in it became low and a continual sickening effluvium was given off. On the westward the town was sheltered by a wall of tall sand hummocks which rose to about 200 feet above the sea level. Late in 1879 it was reported that:

There are two small temporary jetties which meet the requirements of the present trade and sidings connect them with the main line... The government jetty has a dismal ruinous look; no sound of a hammer or saw, no life of any sort. It gives the idea of an effete watering place such as one sometimes meets on the home coast...

The jetty was 2,563 feet long and built in 1881 at a cost of over £28,947, but only provided 16 feet 6 inches of water at the outer end. However, it was of special interest for it was the subject of an arbitration case between the contractors, Messrs Wells brothers, and the government. The original proposal was to have it carried out 4,000 feet into 18 feet of water and a width of 15 feet. The plan was altered and it became 3,000 feet in length, with a curve in a southerly direction, so as to place the end to the sea.. It was an iron screw pile structure for which £27,000 was voted by parliament in 1876. The contracts for this jetty and the one at Kingston were taken out of the hands of the contractors and the work was completed by the government following an adverse report from the Engineer of Harbours and Jetties in March 1878

[It] had made very little progress as the work has been stopped owing to the carelessness of the contractors in its construction The pier, which should have been level and straight has a fall of about 15 inches in its length (at present about 600 feet) and a considerable curve in it...

By 1880 the town was progressing steadily but under a cloud due to the "evanishment of the halo of coming greatness" which was cast about the place in the days of its establishment. Over £500 per acre, or £300 each for one or two quarter-acre blocks of land on Railway Terrace was paid and this gave a fictitious prosperity to the place for a time and among some citizens there were grave doubts about the place unless the Penola railway was constructed and that unless the government were induced lower the tariff on the railway and thus draw some of the traffic off the MacDonnell Bay road. Indeed, the harbour was undoubtedly safer than MacDonnell Bay and for speedy and certain transhipment of goods it "will not be surpassed when the jetty is completed."

However, with the advent of motor transport and an improvement in roads early in the 20th century "the warehouses and offices were shut up, the rails rusting and unused in the sand, the long costly jetties visited only by an occasional coaster and served as roosts for seabirds."

Also see under Place Names - South East for an essay on Lower South East Ports.

Nomenclature

Named by the Acting Governor, Sir Samuel Way, on 23 May 1878 after Sir M.E. Hicks-Beach, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

General Notes

The names of those who purchased town allotments are in the Observer,
9 August 1879, page 5e.

The school opened in 1879.

The town and district are described in the Chronicle,
3 May 1879, page 8b,
Observer,
13 November 1880, page 816c,
30 January 1886, page 38c,
Register
23 January 1885, page 6a,
15 January 1923, page 9f;
information on the jetty appears on
6 November 1880, page 6b; also see
23 January 1885, page 6b and
Observer,
6 November 1880, page 798b
Parliamentary Paper 66/1886.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
22 July 1911, page 32.

"The Wants of Beachport", and in particular the need for the draining of the lagoon, is in the Register,
2 February 1883, page 6d:

The production of chicory is discussed in the Chronicle,
31 December 1892, page 5g.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Miscellany.

A horse race meeting is reported in the Observer,
5 February 1898, page 18b.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Horse Racing.

The arrival of a steam lifeboat is reported in the Register,
30 August 1898, page 7f.
Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lifeboats.

A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
1 January 1898, page 16a,
7 January 1899, page 15c,
13 January 1900, page 15a and
a regatta on
10 January 1903, page 36d.

"Harbor for Beachport" is in the Advertiser,
10 December 1902, page 6c; also see
Register,
10 December 1902, page 6e,
Chronicle,
7 May 1904, page 33e.

Information on the salt lake (Pool of Siloam) is in the Register,
18 January 1905, page 4e.

"Mixed and Surf Bathing" is in the Register, 9 January 1911, page 10i Also see Adelaide - Beaches and Bathing - Mixed Bathing:

An effort is being made to persuade the council to afford facilities for mixed bathing. The Salt Lake there is reserved for male bathers during certain hours and for females at other times. Several heads of families are endeavouring to have a couple of hours reserved each day for mixed bathing, in order they may teach their wives and children to swim.

"Town in Peril - Threatened by Sea and Sand" is in The Mail, 4 July 1925, page 1a:

A photograph of a shark catch is in the Chronicle,
10 July 1926, page 40.
Also see South Australia - Flora and Fauna - Fish and other Sea Creatures.

Biographical details of Mrs Fanny J. Blacketer are in the Register,
5 April 1928, page 12d.

Beachport - Obituaries

An obituary of J.B. Carr is in the Register,
4 October 1898, page 7d.

An obituary of Mrs S.S. Stokes is in the Register,
6 March 1924, page 8f.

An obituary of Mrs Fanny J. Blacketer is in the Observer,
14 April 1928, page 49a,
of Harry L. Smith on 28 July 1928, page 49a,
of Thomas Blacketer on 4 August 1928, page 32d.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beaconsfield

Nomenclature

A plan of a suburban subdivision is in GRG 59, Series 47 in the State Records Office, while a "Beaconsfield meeting" at the Town Hall is reported in the Advertiser, 1 and 19 August 1878, pages 4e and 6d. Charles Howard Angas and Keith Dudley Bowman also gave this name to a subdivision of section 327, Hundred of Yatala in 1917, which was probably taken from either its namesake in Buckinghamshire, England or the famous statesman, Benjamin Disraeli, who was Earl of Beaconsfield. It was apparently an alternative name for 'Broadview'.

General Notes

A plan of the suburban subdivision is in GRG 59, Series 47 in the State Records Office.

A "Beaconsfield meeting" at the Town Hall is reported in the Advertiser,
1 and 19 August 1878, pages 4e and 6d.

"A Model Garden Suburb" is in the Register, 28 June 1917, page 6e:

In view of the great interest which has been aroused lately in the important problem of efficient town planning, it is encouraging to find private individuals taking steps to give effect to the lessons which have been taught. On the estate served by the Nailsworth and Enfield electric trams which they own at Prospect, Messrs C.H. Angas and Keith D. Bowman have determined to establish a model garden suburb on the most modern lines...

Also see Adelaide - Social Matters and Town Planning.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beatrice Islets

Nomenclature

Off Kangaroo Island near Nepean Bay, is a bird sanctuary of approximately 25 acres named after HMS Beatrice, a survey ship of the 1870s.

General Notes

"The Survey Schooner Beatrice" is in the Observer,
23 August 1873, page 3g:

Beatrice

"Cruise of the Beatrice" in the Register,
17 June 1878, page 6d.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beaufort

Nomenclature

The town in the Hundred of Goyder 10 km north of Port Wakefield was named by Governor Jervois and proclaimed on 4 September 1879; its school opened in 1890 and closed in 1967. When the local salt industry wound down it was gradually reduced to empty houses and later to ruins. It was revived in 1976 when many city dwellers became interested in 'hobby farms'.

Its nomenclature is, no doubt, explained by the following facts - Charles Henry Somerset was Governor-General of South Africa from 1814-c.1827 and his father was the Duke of Beaufort. During his term of office 'Fort Beaufort' was built as a blockhouse and circa 1842 Governor Jervois 'spent two years building a bridge across the Fish River at Fort Brown and making a road to Fort Beaufort'. The name is French for 'fine fortress'.

General Notes

Its school opened in 1890 and closed in 1967. Register,
1 July 1889, page 5c.

The golden wedding of Rev & Mrs D.T. Reddin is reported in the Register,
10 May 1916, page 6h,
of Mr & Mrs James Sampson in the Observer,
13 May 1916, page 26.
An obituary of James Sampson is in ther Register,
7 September 1916, page 4h.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beaumont

Nomenclature

The area of land where 'Beaumont' is now situated (part of preliminary section 296) was granted to George Fife Angas, Henry Kingscote and Thomas Smith, (i.e., the South Australian Company) on 7 March 1839. It changed hands almost immediately and the new owner, E.B. Gleeson, called the property 'Gleeville'.

Later, in 1839 Gleeson brought a wooden gabled house from India and erected it in the south-west corner of the property. This was dismantled, rebuilt in timber, and later again stone additions were made. Due to financial difficulty Gleeson sold the property in 1842. On 13 August 1846, Samuel Davenport, later to become Sir Samuel, purchased for £700, preliminary section 296, from the South Australian Company and in 1848 he laid out the 'Village of Beaumont'; see Observer, 9 September 1848, page 2e. The only house in the area at that time was 'Gleeville' in which Samuel Davenport took up residence. The Rt. Rev. Dr Augustus Short, Bishop of Adelaide from June 1847 to November 1881, arrived in Adelaide on 21 December 1847. From 1847-1851 he rented a house at Kensington, but his family suffered greatly from the heat of the Adelaide Plains.

In 1851, Bishop Short leased allotments 8 and 9 in the south-east corner of the Village of Beaumont, at an annual rental of £9, with a right to purchase at £90. On his site he built a substantial one-storey house, in a Romanesque-Classical style, which he called 'Claremont'. This is the house which became known as Beaumont House. Bishop Short and his family moved into the house later in 1851 and lived there until Bishop's Court, North Adelaide, was ready for occupation in 1856. In the same year, Sir Samuel Davenport purchased the house and land from Bishop Short and lived in 'The Lodge', a small cottage facing the Common at the entrance to what became the drive to 'Beaumont House'. Apparently this was occupied temporarily by John Fullerton Cleland's family about 1853, and then by the Davenports until Bishop Short vacated 'Claremont' (Beaumont House).

Sir Samuel Davenport was a pioneer of the olive growing industry in South Australia, and on his property at Beaumont planted many olive trees of various varieties, imported from Italy, Spain, France, Turkey and other sources. The first olive oil was produced there in 1864. Some of the original trees have survived in the grounds of 'Beaumont House'. In the cellars below the main building, constructed about 1868, grapes were pressed and olives crushed by George Fullerton Cleland and Tom Glen for Samuel Davenport. One of the features of the cellars was the lever press which has survived. The levers were red gum and iron-bark trunks. The actual mill was originally designed for gold crushing. The basin was cut from old Scotch granite and weighed four tons. Two huge wheels each weighed one ton.

Sir Samuel Davenport owned and lived in 'Beaumont House' until his death on 3 September 1906, when the property passed to his nephew, Howard Davenport. In 1907 it was sold to Major Vincent who made extensive alterations. It was bought by R.T. Bennet in 1911 and upon his death passed to his widow who later became Mrs K.A. Brock. It was transferred to the National Trust of South Australia by Mr and Mrs Brock on 24 August 1968. The present day suburb is laid out on section 266, Hundred of Adelaide. At one time the area was surrounded by vineyards, including the Linden Vineyard, the Sunnyside Vineyard (owned by the Hon W. Milne) and the Stonyfell, Hazelwood and Auldana Vineyards. Excepting for Sunnyside, all the names referred to have been adopted as suburb names for areas in the general vicinity of Beaumont. Sunnyside Road, forming part of the suburb's western boundary, takes its name from the Milne property.

Its nomenclature is probably explained by the fact that the Davenport family removed to a residence in St Giles Street, Oxford where George Davenport, Senior, (c.1781-1846), conducted a banking business; later he became a director of the South Australian Banking Company. The house they occupied was on the western side of the street and north of Beaumont Street - on contemporary maps 'Beaumont' and 'Beaumont Fields' are shown in the near vicinity. This fact, no doubt, influenced Samuel Davenport when he named his Adelaide subdivision. Indeed, a memorial in the General Registry Office referring to the subdivision shows a 10 acre oval reserve titled 'Beaumont Pleasure Grounds' which later became known as 'Beaumont Common'.

The following extract is taken from Wood's City of Oxford:

Further, from his extensive travelling through Southern Europe prior to coming to South Australia he would have known the French language and recognised the aptness of the French word beaumont (fair hill) to describe section 296, overlooking Adelaide.

General Notes

Information on the subdivision is in the Observer,
9 September 1848, page 2e.

The local vineyards are described in the Chronicle,
28 December 1861, page 4f.
Register,
10 October 1893, page 5c.
Information on a vineyard is in the Register,
24 March 1903, page 6f.
A vintage at the Beaumont Vineyard is reported in the Advertiser,
4 May 1908, page 11g.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Vitculture.

The opening of a Congregational Chapel is reported in the Chronicle,
4 January 1862, page 2c.

The details of a cricket match, Beaumont versus East Torrens, are in the Register,
14 January 1862, page 2f; also see
Express,
2 December 1863, page 2d.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Horse Racing.

Mid-summer examinations at the "Beaumont Grammar School" are reported in the Observer,
19 and 26 December 1863, pages 8f and 2c (supp.).

A case of smallpox is reported in the Express,
10 May 1893, page 2e.
Also see South Australia - Health - Smallpox.

Samuel Davenport's involvement in "French Emigration" is cited in the Register,
30 January 1875, page 5d and
"The Knight of Beaumont - Sketches of a Remarkable Career" on
5 March 1903, page 5d.

"Sir Samuel Davenport at Home" is in the Chronicle,
6 February 1904 (includes photographs).

Biographical details of James Smith, JP, are in the Register,
10 February 1876, page 4g.

The Register of 25, 26 and 27 July 1904, pages 4g, 4h and 9b has information on an "Alleged Human Fossil" discovered in the district.

The opening of the Salvation Army Girls' Probationary Home is reported in the Register,
21 December 1905, page 6c,
20 May 1909, page 7c.
Also see Religion - Salvation Army.

Information on a golf club is in the Observer,
13 July 1907, page 20c,
3 August 1907, page 20a,
9 November 1907, page 22c,
11 July 1908, page 25b,
3 July 1909, page 25b,
14 June 1913, page 26b,
13 June 1914, page 28e.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Golf.

"The Olive Industry" is in the Chronicle,
13 July 1907, page 42b:

There is an old Spanish proverb to the effect that the man who plants olive trees founds a fortune for his grandson... Beaumont has some advantages over Stonyfell in the power of its hydraulic presses... Having been instrumental in placing the industry upon a profitable basis in past years, ranging from the time of the first crushing of a few pounds of berries in Lady Davenport's sausage machine down to the present day, Mr. G.F.Cleland has once more risen to the demands of the situation.

"City of Olives - Beaumont's Distinction" is in The Mail,
27 August 1927, page 1a.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Olives.

A photograph of the Aged Men's Retreat is in the Observer,
6 November 1920, page 26.

"Chateau Beaumont Subdivided" is in The News,
10 September 1924, page 10d,
Register,
11 September 1924, page 9a.

Beaumont - Obituaries

An obituary of Mrs J.F. Cleland is in the Register,
6 November 1895, page 5b,
of Lady Davenport on 7 February 1902, page 5a,
of Captain H.D. Haggard on 18 June 1903, page 5d,
of Mrs Matilda L. Cleland on 2 April 1928, page 15f.

An obituary of Ellis Edwards is in the Observer,
27 February 1915, page 41a,
of F.W. Giles in the Register, 18 July 1919, page 6f,
of Dr M.R. Jay on 24 October 1919, page 6h.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Beda Creek

Nomenclature

West of Lake Torrens. Discovered by Messrs John and Murdoch Campbell in 1857; origin unknown.

General Notes

The Register of 24 August 1857, page 3f reproduces the journal of Charles Swinden - "We found plenty of water [in the creek], but so salt that the horses would not drink it."

"The Beda Bore" is in the Chronicle,
8 March 1890, page 8d:

A deputation of citizens of Port Augusta waited on the Commissioner of Public Works in March 1890 to protest the action of the government in discontinuing boring operations at Beda and the removal of the plant to Finger Post.... It was arranged that the deputation should meet the Government Geologist and inspect the district.

Also see South Australia - Northern Lands Development and Allied Matters - Water, Artesian Wells and Springs.

A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian in
September 1889, page 153.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B
Place Names

Bedford Park

Nomenclature

When the South Australian Government established a Tuberculosis Sanatorium in 1917 it was named Bedford Park, retaining 'Bedford', the name given to the property by the former owner, Edwin Joseph Hancock (1877-1934), who built the homestead and lived there. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon bedican - 'the fortress of the ford' or 'protected ford'. The suburb was laid out on part section 624, Hundred of Adelaide by Barill Nominees Pty Ltd and Sleeps Hill Estates Pty Ltd in 1968.

Mr Hancock was born at Cliff House, Port Moonta, the third son of Captain H.R. Hancock. He chose the name because of family connections in earlier generations with the Bedford family in England.

General Notes

Information on the district is to be found under "Grazing Land and Boys' Reformatory" in the Register, 27 March 1916, page 4f:

The land was purchased by the last government on the advice of the Hon. G. Bice. He had in mind the consummation of a valuable scheme to replace the present Boy's Reformatory at Magill... Lack of money prevented the government from inaugurating the scheme. Whatever is to become of it eventually, a use has been found for it pro tem - part sections 63 and 65 were leased for grazing purposes... So for a time at least, the idea of a better system of training of wayward boys must stand to one side while horses graze.

Information on a sanatorium for consumptive soldiers is in the Register,
13 December 1916, page 7e,
21 June 1917, page 4i; also see
8 and 9 April 1921, pages 9a and 8f.
"Where Heroism Dwells" appears on
11 August 1923, page 13d.
Also see Register,
23 and 24 February 1925, pages 9d and 11c.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
30 June 1917, page 25,
The Critic,
27 June 1917, page 11,
Observer,
30 June 1917, page 26,
1 September 1917, page 24,
14 February 1925, page 17e,
28 November 1925, page 32,
Observer,
24 July 1926, page 34.

"The White Demon - Stricken Boys of Bedford" is in The Mail,
28 August 1920, page 2d.

A proposed public consumptive home is discussed in the Register,
9 October 1923, page 7f,
29 January 1925, pages 6e-7e,
3, 5, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 February 1925, pages 6d, 9g, 8e, 7f, 11c, 9d, and 10a,
19 March 1925, pages 8e-9f,
16 and 28 May 1925, pages 9d and 4d,
24 December 1925, page 8f,
8 April 1926, page 4c.
Also see South Australia - Health - Consumption.

"Wireless for Bedford Park" is in The News,
28 January 1924, page 1b,
1 February 1924, page 1a.
Also see South Australia - Communications - Wireless and Radio.

Baxter Range - Bedford Park
B