Place Names of South Australia - B
Blumberg
Nomenclature
In April 1851 Johann Gottlob Blumel purchased section 6595, Hundred of Talunga. In 1854 he acquired section 6587 from George Fife Angas and in 1856 sold portion of this section to J.C. Handell, a blacksmith, and J.G. Cloke, a wheelwright. Bluemel's mill stood on this land and the adjacent wheelwright and blacksmith shops were the nucleus of the town which he named 'Blumberg', probably taken from portion of his name 'Blum' and berg, German for 'mountain'. However, it should be noted that there is a town of 'Blumberg' in the province of Brandenburg, Germany from whence he emigrated.
In 1860 he subdivided a further portion of this section which comprised nine allotments of which he retained lots 1, 4 and 5. The name was changed to Birdwood in 1918 (Sir William R. Birdwood, an English General of World War I who commanded the Australian troops) after the Nomenclature Committee had suggested 'Peroomba' meaning 'wattle blossom'.
General Notes
Also see Place Names - Birdwood.
In a report on the laying of the foundation stone of the Institute the Register,
14 March 1884, page 1c (supp.) says, inter alia:
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[It] was named after a small village in Germany whence came most of the early settlers.
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The place was called after him - Blumberg; in English "Bloom Hill".
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Both Mr Blum and Mr Bluemel did not arrive in Blumberg until some time after the place had been named... Mr Krueger's daughter found some beautiful wild flowers on one of the hills. Upon her returning home she showed them to her father, praising their beauty and quoting the text "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arranged like one of these. (Matt. vi, 28-29)."
The South Australian of 2 April 1850, page 2d says the word means "flower hill".
The Blumberg School opened in 1859 and became "Birdwood" in 1918;
photographs of an Arbor Day are in the Chronicle,
8 August 1908, page 30. Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days
The opening of the high school is reported in the Register,
1 February 1909, page 9g.
Photographs are in the Observer,
22 July 1916, page 26.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Catholic Church is reported in the Register,
12 June 1867, page 2f and
The dedication of St Matthew's Catholic Church is reported in the Register,
12 September 1867, page 2f.
The town and district are described in the Advertiser,
11 December 1902, page 7b,
Observer,
15 October 1910, page 15b.
Photographs are in the Observer,
20 August 1910, page 30.
The opening of the bridge is reported in the Register,
23 May 1861, page 3d.
"Blumberg and Environs" appears on
1 October 1910, page 15c.
The destruction of the steam mill by fire is reported in the Observer,
23 February 1867, page 4f (supp.).
The opening of the Peerless Rolling Mill is reported in the Register,
8 September 1888.
Also see South Australia Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Farming - Mills.
A gold discovery in the district is reported in the Register,
5 February 1870, page 4f; also see
7 and 14 February 1870, pages 4f and 5d,
11 May 1870, page 5c,
Observer,
23 July 1870, page 11g.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Gold.
"Conlin's Reef" is in the Register,
11 May 1870, page 5c.
A description of Mr Randell's crushing battery and information on the diggings are in the Register,
20 July 1870, page 3b; also see
20 and 21 July 1870, pages 5d and 4e,
21 February 1871, page 3e,
1 November 1893, page 7b,
21 and 23 March 1894, pages 3g and 3c,
19 September 1894, page 6h,
19 December 1894, page 6g,
1 March 1895, page 3e,
1 February 1898, page 5a.
"Gold Mining at Blumberg" is in the Chronicle,
23 May 1896, page 17c.
"The Blumberg Field" is in the Chronicle,
6 April 1901, page 29b.
A photograph of the Sienna mine is in The Critic,
20 June 1906, page 25.
The results of an athletics meeting are in the Register,
22 April 1870, page 3f.
A horse race meeting is reported in the Express,
13 April 1871, page 3c,
Observer,
6 April 1872, page 3g.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Institute is reported in the Register,
14 March 1884, page 1c (supp.); also see Observer,
2 May 1885, page 31a,
Chronicle,
6 January 1906, page 41c,
Register,
14 and 16 March 1906, pages 4g and 6a,
12 July 1906, page 7g.
Information on the Institute is in the Advertiser,
30 December 1905, page 11a,
Observer,
17 and 24 March 1906, pages 37d and 29-42a.
A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
10 November 1883, page 21e;
a Catholic sports day in the Chronicle,
22 November 1884, page 8e,
Register,
14 November 1885, page 3f,
12 November 1886, page 7e,
22 November 1890, page 7g.
A dinner given in honour of Mr F. Pflaum is reported in the Chronicle,
14 March 1891, page 7a.
A wattle bark industry is described in the Register,
29 January 1902, page 9c.
Also see South Australia Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Wattle Bark.
A field naturalists excursion is reported in the Register,
13 November 1902, page 6h.
"A Romantic Life Story - Blumberg Boy and American Professor" is in the Register,
6 February 1905, page 5i.
Information on the Institute is in the Advertiser,
30 December 1905, page 11a and
"Telephone to Blumberg" is in the Register,
20 December 1905, page 4e.
Information on an ochre deposit is in the Advertiser,
22 May 1906, page 5e,
"Mt Sienna Paint Company" is in the Register,
18 June 1906, page 5b.
Photographs of the Mt Sienna pigment and paint mine are in the Observer,
6 July 1907, page 30,
of a carnival in the Chronicle,
6 January 1906, page 27 and
of a football team on
3 September 1910, page 32.
"A Blumberg Failure [Stein Bros butter factory]" is in the Register,
22 July 1908, page 9c; also see
26 August 1908, page 4g.
Also see South Australia.
An Arbor Day at Blumberg is reported in the Register,
3 August 1908, page 7c,
Advertiser,
4 August 1908, page 10h.
Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days.
"Blumberg and Environs" is in the Register,
1 October 1910, page 15c.
The opening of Angas Bridge is reported in the Observer,
17 April 1915, page 50d.
"Blumberg Fifty Years Ago" is in the Register,
18 April 1924, page 5e.
Blumberg - Obituaries
An obituary of Lorenz Wilks is in the Observer,
8 June 1895, page 28d,
of J.F.W. Neumann on 4 April 1914, page 41b.
An obituary of Patrick Hynes is in the Register,
18 May 1905, page 4h,
of C.G.H. Klose on 23 August 1905, page 7f.
