Place Names of South Australia - C

Coulta - Crafers

Coulta
Courela
Courtabie Well
Coutts Lagoon
Cowandilla
Coward
Coward Springs
Cowarie
Cowell
Cowiealunga
Cowirra
Cox Creek
Cradock
Crafers

Coulta

Nomenclature

The town in the Hundred of Warrow 32 km south-west of Cummins was surveyed by Thomas Evans and proclaimed on 18 October 1877. A corruption of the Aboriginal koolto which was applied to a nearby spring.

General Notes

Its school opened as "Warrow" in 1880;
name changed in 1906 and closed in 1966.
It and the district are described in the Register,
22 May 1884 (supp.), page 1a;
Observer,
17 May 1884, page 41a,
Register,
19 December 1913, page 5g.

"Polling Place for Coulta" is in the Register, 28 December 1887, page 7b:

Coulta is a central position and is a government township, whereas Wangary is but a wayside public house. How then does the Returning Officer report unfavourably. Coulta would have something like 30 names on the roll and, if it were a declared polling place, something like 20 more in the adjoining hundreds would register there...

Also see South Australia - Politics - Elections.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Courela

Nomenclature

Twenty-four kilometres east of Haslam. An Aboriginal name for a well in the vicinity.

General Notes

Its school opened in 1920 and closed in 1943.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Courtabie Well

For an interesting and informative letter on the menace of rabbits in the district see Register,
26 April 1881, page 7e; also see
29 June 1881, page 6g.
Also see South Australia - Flora and Fauna - Rabbits.

Coulta - Crafers
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Place Names

Coutts Lagoon

Nomenclature

On section 207, Hundred of Para Wurlie on Yorke Peninsula. James Coutts, who held pastoral lease no. 261 and others from 1853.

General Notes

An account of an affray with Aborigines on his station is in the Register, 30 October 1852, page 3b:

A fatal collision between some shepherds and the natives occurred in 1852. It appears the latter had seized a flock of sheep and when attempting repossession a determined resistance was made. The natives had already destroyed many of the sheep and had divided the remainder into two flocks... The natives attacked the white men in the first instance by throwing their spears and these having been broken by the overseer, they attempted to overpower them by closing on them and pelting them with stones. The Europeans fired in self-defence and several of the natives were killed...

Also see South Australia - Aboriginal Australians.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Cowandilla

Nomenclature

Edwin C. Gwynne (1811-1888) gave this name to a subdivision of section 92, Hundred of Adelaide in 1840. An advertisement in the Register of 1 August 1840 suggested that it was a 'privilege to buy into this new development' which was claimed to be: '... the cheapest in... Adelaide.'

For this purpose the land is admirably adapted, as well from its cheapness, as from the richness of its soil, as also from the facility of obtaining water- its proximity of the town - the circumstances of the road from Adelaide to Glenelg passing through the village, and other advantages too numerous to mention in an advertisement... A few acres on the lagoon are still unappropriated. NB. All persons found cutting down trees and shrubs in this village will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour.

This notice is headed: 'Cowandillah [sic] - so called on account of the great facilities of obtaining water', while a State Library reference says it is derived from the Aboriginal kaunenna-dlla - 'the locality of the waters', which name specifically related to the Glenelg district.

General Notes

A photograph of Turner's slaughtering yards is in the Pictorial Australian in September 1893 (supplement).

A photograph of a working-bee is in the Observer,
29 July 1916, page 23,
of school teachers taking lessons in woodwork at a local school is in the Chronicle,
27 January 1917, page 30,
of a school bank day on
8 November 1934, page 38,
of an Arbor Day on
18 July 1935, page 32,
15 July 1937, page 32.
Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days.

An obituary of Andrew C. Harley is in the Register,
11 May 1928, page 11g.

Coulta - Crafers
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Place Names

Coward

A school near Oodnadatta which existed from 1894 to 1895.

Coulta - Crafers
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Place Names

Coward Springs

Nomenclature

Corporal Thomas Coward (1834-1905), a member of P.E. Warburton's exploration party in 1858.

General Notes

Also see South Australia - Police.

Its school existed from 1888 until 1890.

A police officer of this name was dismissed from the service in February 1859 because of "disobedience of orders and gross ill treatment of a horse entrusted to his care" - see Parliamentary Paper 88/1860 and Register, 6 July 1905, page 7c which contains an obituary and says he departed South Australia for Queensland "in 1860".

"A Chat With an Old Explorer" is in the Observer,
30 May 1891, page 35e.

Thomas Coward's reminiscences are in letter form in the Register,
25 October 1893, page 7g; also see
22 and 26 May 1896, pages 3g and 3g,
17 December 1900, page 3e.
A photograph is in the Observer,
18 December 1897 (supp.).
An obituary is in the Register,
6 July 1905, page 7c,
Chronicle,
8 July 1905, page 38c,
Observer,
8 July 1905, page 29 (photo.)-38c:

When Inspector Tolmer organised the gold escort young Coward joined it and rode to and from in four successive escorts under the commands of Inspectors Tolmer, Alford, Rose and Stuart. He was subsequently ordered to Port Augusta to 'civilise the blacks'...

Successful boring for artesian water is reported in the Register,
17 July 1886, pages 5b-7f; also see
Chronicle,
28 April 1888, page 13c.
Also see South Australia - Northern Lands Development and Allied Matters - Water, Artesian Wells and Springs.

The spring and the hotel are described in the Observer,
27 March 1897, page 33d,
Register,
24 April 1897, page 6h; also see
23 August 1905, page 7a.
A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian in
April 1887, page 61;
a photograph is in the Chronicle,
21 June 1934, page 38:

The government bore at Coward Springs is 400 feet deep. The rush of water is so strong it shoots nearly 15 feet into the air, falling in a shower of spray and forming a most exquisite fountain... The supply is unending and never varies... A large pool of water, quite 40 feet long, lies at the foot of the fountain and the overflow fills a drain about six feet wide with a depth ranging from six inches to one foot. The inhabitants of Coward are justly proud of their beautiful fountain and talk enthusiastically of the delights of bathing under it in the summer...

An obituary of a hotel keeper, Magnus Cheyne, is in the Observer,
29 December 1906, page 38a.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Cowarie

Nomenclature

On the Marree-Birdsville track; an Aboriginal word for a marsupial rat. The name was also applied to a pastoral lease by William B. Rounsevell, when he took up 400 square miles in the area on 31 December 1875 (lease no. 2568).

General Notes

A sketch of the pastoral station is in the Pictorial Australian in
February 1884, page 25,
of a native camp in
August 1884, page 124.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Cowell

Also see Place Names - Franklin Harbor.

Nomenclature

The town 112 km south of Whyalla, proclaimed on 28 October 1880, was named by Governor Jervois after Sir John Clayton Cowell, PC, KCB, 'Master of the Household of Queen Victoria and Lieut-Governor of Windsor Castle. Sir John was a Member of Governor Jervois' Corps, the Royal Engineers. He died in 1894.

General Notes

A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
30 July 1887, page 22d,
5 January 1895, page 22b,
18 January 1896, page 26b.

A Show is reported in the Chronicle,
9 November 1895, page 20d,
7 October 1911, page 11g (includes a history).
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
6 October 1932, page 32.
Also see South Australia - Agricultural, Floricultural & Horticultural Shows.

A cricket match against Cleve is reported in the Chronicle,
29 August 1896, page 26a;
versus Tumby Bay on
3 October 1896, page 27e.
Also see South Australia - Cricket - Miscellany.

The town is described in the Register,
12 May 1888, page 6e:

Right across the harbour stands the township named Cowell, containing five dwellings, including the hotel, a new post and telegraph office, a blacksmith and carpenter's shop and a store. The post and telegraph office is built of faced-up stone with red brick coigns and would have been a very pretty place but someone with execrable bad taste has whitewashed the whole, to the disgust of the inhabitants and all visitors. In connection with this building is a Savings Bank agency and it is to be hoped that the people of this district may in future be able to make use of it. By all accounts they have been losing 'hand over fist' in the past. There is a jetty at Cowell with a long embankment leading out to it. The end was carried away a short time ago by the cargo steamer bumping it too heavily... The steamer comes in once a fortnight...

Also see Register,
3 October 1905, page 5c,
12 November 1906, page 7d,
6 April 1908, page 7f,
30 December 1908, page 7c,
9 February 1910, page 8h,
4 May 1911, page 6f,
10 October 1911, page 10b;
it and the district in the Advertiser,
7 October 1910, page 11h,
Chronicle,
22 April 1911, page 44a,
Register,
10, 12 and 14 October 1925, pages 5a, 12a and 11g,
6 April 1926, page 7.

Also see Advertiser,
19 July 1927, page 14h,
Register,
13 February 1928, page 14g.
Photographs are in the Observer,
7 October 1905, page 30,
27 March 1909, page 30,
Chronicle,
24 November 1906, page 30,
4 March 1911, page 32,
Observer,
18 February 1911, page 32,
3 June 1911, page 31,
11 November 1911, page 32,
Chronicle,
14 April 1932, page 34.

Its school opened in 1892.
A photograph is in the Chronicle,
8 January 1910, page 32,
2 July 1910, page 31.
A photograph of an Arbor Day is in the Chronicle,
23 July 1931, page 31.
Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days.

A sports meeting is reported in the Chronicle,
18 January 1896, page 26b.

Information on the water supply is in the Express,
26 February 1895, page 2d:

We are obliged to rely on the supply of water from a government tank for household purposes. The catchment area of this tank being the main road, the droppings of animals are swept into it thus rendering it unfit for human consumption...

"Water for Cowell" is in the Advertiser,
29 December 1898, page 3e; also see
2 September 1899, page 10g,
Express,
30 March 1909, page 1h,
20 April 1909, page 1f.
Information on the town's water supply is in the Register,
13 September 1913, page 7d.
Information on the Ullabidnie reservoir is in the Observer,
23 January 1915, page 30c.
Also see South Australia - Water Conservation.

The golden wedding of Mr & Mrs James Watson is reported in the Register,
2 February 1909, page 7d.

The opening of the Methodist Church is reported in the Observer,
6 February 1909, page 16a.

"Progress in Cowell District" is in the Advertiser,
15 March 1909, page 10e.

Information on the jetty is in the Observer,
11 September 1909, page 44b,
14 June 1913, page 45b.
The opening of the jetty is reported in the Advertiser,
11 June 1913, page 18d;
photographs are in the Observer,
21 June 1913, page 30.

A photograph of a waterfall is in the Chronicle,
8 January 1910, page 32,
of a regatta committee on
2 April 1910, page 30,
of rifle shooting competitions on
24 June 1916, page 29,
of a stingray catch on
5 February 1931, page 36,
of a race meeting on
26 March 1931, page 38,
of mail cars on
3 December 1931, page 34,
of a carnival on
4 August 1932, page 32,
of a brass band on
2 February 1933, page 34,
of a motor car bogged on the Arno Bay road on
2 February 1933, page 38,
of sand castle builders and a "treasure hunt" on
17 January 1935, page 36.

"Churches at Cowell" is in the Register,
19 May 1911, page 6g.

The laying of the foundation stone of the Institute is reported in the Register,
5 October 1911, page 5e;
its opening on
21 May 1912, page 7a.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
14 October 1911, page 31.

A proposed hospital is discussed in the Observer,
7 May 1910, page 15d.
Its opening is reported in the Advertiser,
12 December 1911, page 12a.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
23 December 1911, page 31,
21 October 1922, page 29.

Reports of a rich silver discovery near Cowell is reported in the Register,
30 November 1912, page 12f,
2, 7 and 11 December 1912, pages 6h, 20b and 14e,
3 May 1913, page 16f.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Coal.

A motor car trip to Adelaide by Mrs Thompson, Mrs Bosisto and Mr S.H. May is reported upon in the Register,
23 August 1916, page 5d.
Also see South Australia - Transport - Motor Cars and Cycles.

"Grasshoppers Inches Deep at Cowell" is in the Advertiser,
31 October 1934, page 19g,
2, 3 and 9 November 1934.
Also see South Australia - Natural Disasters - Locusts and Grasshoppers.

"Harbor Heroes" is in the Chronicle, 30 July 1936, page 49.

Cowell - Obituaries

An obituary of G.L. Ware is in the Observer,
30 November 1901, page 23a, 28 December 1901, page 22b,
of Mrs J.P. McCarthy on 27 April 1907, page 29e,
of Donald Young on 21 February 1914, page 41a,
of Mrs Caroline Franklin on 16 September 1916, page 22a,
of James Guidera on 19 January 1918, page 11b,
of W.F. Franklin on 17 November 1928, page 50b.

An obituary of Donald Young is in the Register,
17 February 1914, page 8a,
of Mrs Caroline Franklin on 8 September 1916, page 4i,
of John Storey on 10 November 1916, page 4f,
of James Guidera on 15 January 1918, page 4f,
of George Howell on 30 April 1920, page 7b,
of A.E. Tuck on 17 April 1925, page 8g,
of Mrs W.T. Cooper on 25 June 1926, page 11i,
of F.L. Grund on 10 November 1928, page 16g.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Cowiealunga

Nomenclature

The name is corrupted from the Aboriginal cowie-orlunga - "many streams".

General Notes

It was the name of a school commonly known as "Myponga Jetty School" - see Advertiser,
19 September 1870, page 3f;
examinations are reported in the Chronicle,
30 September 1871, page 7a:

The yearly examination of the school at Cowiealunga (commonly known as Myponga Jetty) took place on 8 September 1870. The prizes were awarded as follows: C.R.Hepworth, E.E. Boys, John J. Vanstone, Horace Hewett, Eliza A. Boys, Annie F. Hewett, Frederick Boys and Charles Hewett... In the evening there was a soiree in aid of prizes for the children...

Coulta - Crafers
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Place Names

Cowirra

Nomenclature

Corrupted from the Aboriginal kauwira - kau relates to large grubs, whose root feeding larvae live under the river red gum trees and were gathered with two-metre long hooked lignum canes.

General Notes

"Cowirra Irrigation Land" is in the Register, 3 March 1926, page 10f:

The reclamation of this area was commenced in 1915 and the total acreage is 2,369 acres of which 581 acres have been classed as irrigable... The irrigable blocks vary in area from 31 to 47 acres and the successful applicants should be able to keep from 25 to 30 cows in milk... Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Irrigation.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Cox Creek

Nomenclature

Robert Cock (c.1801-1871) was born in Fifeshire, Scotland and arrived in South Australia in the Buffalo in 1836. In 1894, H.C. Talbot said:

General Notes

A letter from Robert Cock is in the South Australian Record,
31 October 1840, page 229.

Information on its nomenclature is in the Chronicle,
14 January 1893, page 8f.

A prison station "under the management of Mr A.J. Murray" is mentioned in the Register,
19 April 1862 in an article on the Stockade at Dry Creek,
"Hard Labour at Cox Creek" is in the Chronicle,
30 January 1936, page 49:

Originally the convicts of South Australia were confined to Her Majesty's Gaol at Adelaide, but in the latter part of 1851, or the earlier portion of 1852, an establishment was formed for the discipline of criminals sentenced to long periods of servitude at Cox's Creek under the management of Mr. A.J. Murray. This establishment was continued for a very short space of time and on its discontinuance the convicts were returned to the Gaol...

A report of iron ore found near the creek is in the Register,
30 October 1866, page 2e.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Coal.

Flooding is discussed in the Observer,
20 August 1870, page 7d.
Also see South Australia - Natural Disaters - Floods.

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Place Names

Cradock

Nomenclature

A town 25 km SSE of Hawker proclaimed on 6 March 1879 and named by Governor Jervois probably after Sir John Cradock, Governor-General of South Africa (1811-1814). Governor Jervois spent the years 1842 to 1848 in that country and would have been familiar with the local town of Cradock.

General Notes

A sale of town allotments is reported in the Chronicle,
15 March 1879, page 4e.

Information on the town's cemetery is in the Register,
1 June 1880 (supp.), page 3c.

A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
8 January 1881, page 26b,
25 March 1893, page 13d,
30 March 1907, page 30c.

Its school opened in 1881 and closed in 1949.
The Register, 1 June 1880, page 3 (supp)) says "A public meeting was held in May 1880 at Mr. Anderson's to initiate steps for obtaining a school..."
The Register of
20 July 1887 at page 3b says that the school it was "only 20 feet by 15 feet and frequently girls fainted during school hours owing to its general state of dilapidation and the crowded condition it was in."
An Arbor Day is reported in the Register,
14 August 1893, page 6b.
Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days.

Information on failed crops is in the Register,
26 January 1882 (supp.), page 1c:

A large and representative meeting of settlers in the districts of Arkaba, Cudlamudla, Wirreanda and Uroonda was held at Cradock in January 1882 to take into consideration the best means of getting some concessions from government owing to the failure of crops for the past three years... Mr. Mitchell thought it hardly fair to throw the odium on the selection in this area on the Government as Mr. Goyder had drawn a line of rainfall and farmers selected beyond that at their own risk...

Also see South Australia - Northern Lands Development and Allied Matters - Comments on Goyder's Line.

A Catholic picnic is reported in the Chronicle,
25 March 1882, page 21e and
information on St Gabriel's Church on
18 July 1885, page 7b.

Its first Show is reported in the Register,
15 September 1883, page 6g; also see
Chronicle,
26 September 1885, page 12e,
15 October 1887, page 14a.
Also see South Australia - Agricultural, Floricultural & Horticultural Shows.

A dinner to W.T. Lithgow is reported in the Register,
26 February 1885, page 7a.

Irregularities in the conduct of the local Vermin Destruction Board are reported in the Register,
24 July 1886, pages 5a-7f.
Also see South Australia - Flora and Fauna - Rabbits.

"The Cradock Ghost" is discussed in the Register,
15, 16 and 27 June 1887, pages 3h, 7g and 3h,
14 and 19 July 1887, pages 7e and 7h,
5 August 1887, page 3g,
Observer,
18 June 1887, page 27b,
2 and 30 July 1887, pages 8a and 6e,
13 August 1887, page 27d,
Express,
29 April 1887, page 3e,
6 and 9 May 1887, pages 4a and 3e,
10 and 15 June 1887, pages 3e and 7f.

Peculiar Knocking Within the Hundred of Moockra

A mysterious ghost story caused a sensation in the district in 1887. It appears that 'unaccountable knockings' were being experienced at a pine and pug tenement on the banks of Boolcunda Creek owned by a farmer named Hamdorff. Mounted Constable Mitchell and Messrs H. Hayward and A.J. Graham were deputed to investigate.

Upon their arrival early one evening they found that Mr Hamdorff had gone to Quorn, taking with him his wife and a little girl, aged seven, who they thought had seemed to attract the noises. Two boys, aged 14 and 9, were keeping house and the investigating party ate their provisions and at about 9 pm blew out the light, the boys having told them that the 'ghost' appeared at such times.

Within two or three minutes two of the party heard a low, distant sound like a splash from a heavy stone dropped into a pool of water, followed by footsteps and immediately succeeded by a distinct knocking at the outside of the chimney. They went outside but could see nothing, but heard knocking on the inside. After an hour's duration the noise ceased but at 3 am, their nerves having been calmed somewhat, the sounds recommenced and continued for some hours when the 'supernatural visitant' decamped, leaving no trace behind.

Many of the local residents attested to the 'reality of the sounds' and there were rumours abroad of a shepherd drowned near the spot many years before and of a flitting form having been seen by people out at night horse-hunting. On 1 May 1887 a large party proceeded from Cradock, hoping to further test the matter, but arriving at the place they found the homestead deserted. Later, they were informed that, because of the noises, Mr Hamdorff had removed to a hut some three miles away.

Constable Mitchell subsequently got a statement from this gentleman and his wife: 'They had charge of two motherless children named Schulz whose father was at Teetulpa. The knocking had disturbed them for several weeks and, as it seemed to proceed from the locality of the little girl, they visited some friends in Quorn to see whether the sounds would be heard there. The knocking continued to be heard on the Boolcunda property but nothing was heard at Quorn.

'Upon their return, in the evening the little girl was sitting on an empty box when the same distinct noise appeared to emanate from the box. Upon retiring Mrs Hamdorff took the child into her own bed, placing her on the inside next to the wall. Shortly afterwards a loud knocking took place in the wall just where she lay. The girl was then put in the middle of the bed between the two adults and, immediately, the sounds proceeded from the wall exactly above the girl's head. The following day they removed from the house because they could not suffer it any longer.'

A few days later Mounted Constable Shegog visited the 'haunted house' and, shortly after his arrival, Mounted Constable Thomas, with Mr Baker of Hammond, arrived for the purpose of investigating the mystery. After some sensational anecdotes were presented about his ghostship the light was put out and, within a few minutes, a rapping was heard on the slate floor. The newspapers of the day describe in detail the investigations made by the party and they left 'pretending it to be a great mystery, but satisfied it was a great fraud.'

Rumour upon rumour spread throughout the district such as - Upon the approach of the little girl wonderful raps, sometimes as though a sledge-hammer had struck the wall, were heard; electric shocks were felt and that on one occasion an apparition was seen by the child. The citizens imagined the devil or some accredited representative was in their midst and a visitor to the district was told, gravely, of the spirit of the girl's mother communicating that the child must be allowed two sticks of toffee per day!

All this prompted an Adelaide 'expert', Mr Kirkham Evans, to proceed to Boolcunda Creek and his findings, aided and abetted by a local student of 'physical subjects' are edited as follows: 'Armed with a small tin of flour, some blacklead, string, an electro magnet, a bottle of strong smelling salts, a thermometer, etc., we made our way over to the store.' [Mr Evans, at this juncture, then stated the 'chief objects' of the visit and described an ensuing 'seance'.

'She was undressed and put to bed made on the pug floor. It was a double one and when the child lay in the middle with her arms stretched out she could not reach over to touch the floor, but by rolling over to he left side she could easily tap the floor with her fingers, under cover of the bed clothes, and in this way unseen.

We agree from our observations on Wednesday, June 1:

2. She produces the raps herself with her hand on any available object, this including her own body.

3. The raps could be easily simulated.

4. That she is open to suggestions.

5. ... We don't feel justified in imputing in any person in the room a charge of collusion with the girl.

'Subsection 4 of the clause under which the information is laid states that "every person pretending to tell fortunes, or using any subtle craft, means, or devices, by palmistry or otherwise, to deceive and impose upon any of Her Majesty's subjects... shall be liable to imprisonment in any gaol in the said province, with or without hard labour, for any time not exceeding three calendar months".
Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Ghosts.

The town is described in the Advertiser,
17 December 1885, page 7b,
Parliamentary Paper 66/1886,
Observer,
19 December 1885, page 36b.
"Troubles of the Farmers" is in the Advertiser,
7 November 1888, page 6b; also see
Chronicle,
7 November 1896, page 17a.
Also see South Australia - Northern Lands Development and Allied Matters - Comments on Goyder's Line.

Information on the Institute is in the Chronicle,
13 April 1895, page 22a.

A drought is discussed in the Observer,
31 October 1896, page 29a.
Also see South Australia - Natural Disasters - Droughts.

A sports event on St Patrick's Day is reported in the Chronicle,
31 March 1900, page 15d.

Reminiscences of the district by D. Fitzgerald are in the Register,
6 May 1914, page 4a.

Biographical details of J.H.P. Moyses are in the Register,
25 February 1928, page 12g;
also see 13 March 1928, page 8g.

The location of a guano deposit is reported in The News,
15 June 1932, page 1f.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Miscellany.

A photograph of a tennis team is in the Chronicle,
30 April 1936, page 31.

Cradock - Obituaries

An obituary of T.F. Hilder is in the Register,
29 October 1919, page 6h,
of Mrs Agnes Ruddock on 21 July 1925, page 8g.

An obituary of Martin Neylon is in the Observer,
16 May 1925, page 11c.

Coulta - Crafers
C
Place Names

Crafers

Nomenclature

H.C. Talbot says: 'David Crafer of the "Sawyer's Arms'' on the Mount Barker road took out the licence on 22 March 1839.'

An Essay on Crafers

The name is associated with David Crafer who came from Buxton, near Norwich, in Norfolk and took out a licence for an hotel in the Mount Lofty range on 22 March 1839. Following accusations alleging that he was a cattle rustler or, perhaps, a receiver of stolen cattle, on 17 July 1839 he placed the following rebuttal in an advertisement in the local press:

Some impudent insinuations having been made respecting my having slaughtered a bullock at my house in The Tiers, I beg to leave to inform the public that I have done so and that the hide may be inspected by any inquisitive person who desires it. And I further give notice that I am just about to slaughter another and will be happy to furnish any persons with such portions of it as he may require, for adequate remuneration.

His new hotel received due publicity when, on 6 October 1840, he stated in the Southern Australian that:

David Crafer of the Norfolk Hotel, Stringy Bark Forest, Mount Barker road, begs to inform his friends that his opening dinner will take place on Wednesday, the 21st instant at 5 o'clock, when every luxury that the colony affords will be provided... Tickets (not transferable) two guineas each, including two bottles of wine.

A report published later says the dinner came off 'in a style of great elegance. The greatest hilarity prevailed throughout the evening and no one seemed to have regretted his trip from town. A full length picture of Admiral Lord Nelson was exhibited at the dinner.' In his recollections published by the local branch of the Royal Geographical Society, Thomas Hardeman says:

Crafers made a lot of money fairly fast. Many [tiersmen] worked at high wages for three of four months and then came to Crafers to knock it down. The Tiers at the time were inhabited by a low class of men, mostly old hands from New South Wales and Tasmania and some of them [were] arrant thieves who robbed the teams that stayed there for one night laden with food.

Hardeman went on to say that Mr Crafer was much annoyed by the existence of sly grog shanties and did all he could to suppress them. In his recollections of early days J.W. Bull relates how he arrived at Crafer's 'old bush pub' to find it in possession of bushrangers who had bailed up Mrs Crafer and the servants and were treating themselves and a bar full of tiersmen to the best in the house. Mounted police were sent for and on arrival found the lawbreakers helplessly drunk. They were easily handcuffed and two were executed later on a more serious charge. David Crafer at one time was also licensee of the South Australian Arms Hotel in Hindley Street. He died on 15 August 1842 after 'a lingering illness.'

A few months before his death his hotel and near environs were described as:

A stone house containing large and commodious sitting rooms and a row of neat beds above. Here everything requisite may be obtained at a moderate charge, which will be thought the more so, when the distance that everything has to be brought is considered and which cleanliness and civility render doubly acceptable. On the opposite side of the road is the first house here built for the accommodation of passengers, a low wooden building, its proprietor erecting the present one as soon afterwards as possible...

Among the early settlers in the immediate area were the Cobbledick family in 1845 when they commenced to grow potatoes raised from seed obtained from Brown's River, Tasmania and their yield was as high as eight tons per acre. As a boy William Cobbledick, who was born at O'Halloran Hill in 1841, hawked potatoes about Adelaide and Norwood and recalled the times when men and women could be seen carrying baskets of produce on their backs to the Adelaide market. In July 1862, Mr Cobbledick ploughed the first 20 acres for Messrs Clark and Crompton's vineyard at Stonyfell.

The first annual show of the Crafers Horticultural and Floricultural Association took place on 14 March 1878 in a marquee erected at the foot of the hill opposite the Crafers Inn:

The gullies in the neighbourhood are the homes of the market gardeners whose produce forms so often not only a considerable bulk but also much of the attraction of exhibitions in other places, and it was very reasonable that they should to prove what they could d o on their own ground, and consequently form an association with that object. They must certainly be congratulated on the success of their first attempt...

General Notes

It was previously called "Old Tiers" - see Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, volume 6, page 56.

The SA Record, 21 November 1840, p. 332, says, inter alia:

The opening of Mr Crafers' Norfolk Hotel is reported in the Register,
24 October 1840, page 2d:

We are informed that Mr. Crafers Norfolk Hotel is a very commodious one... This, be it remembered, is in the heart of a dense forest where the foot of a white man little more than three years ago had never trod...

Also see
Southern Australian,
6 October 1840, page 2e and
South Australian Magazine, 1841-1842, page 196.

"Old Bush Pub - Early Crafers History" is in The Mail,
4 August 1928, page 13e.

An editorial entitled "A Railway to Crafers" is in the Register,
4 October 1856, page 2d.
Also see South Australia - Transport - Railways.

By the closing months of 1856 the idea of a railway through the "Eastern Hills" was not exactly a new one in the minds of the government and some private citizens, but prior to that time the suggestions made on this subject were not characterised by much practicability. In October 1856 the Editor of the SA Register addressed the subject:

The Eastern ranges are a formidable barrier to that free interchange which would so greatly benefit the interests of town and country; and to many people that barrier appears both impenetrable and insurmountable. But, on the contrary, there are others who maintain the practicability of carrying our traffic either through or over the interposing ranges...

It is well known that canals have been cut through the most hilly and diversified countries, the waters being literally taken along the hillside by a system of locks and intervening levees. On a kindred principle, railways have for many years past been constructed at the great English quarries and collieries... In applying the same principles to the Glen Osmond Road, it would be necessary to adapt it with those modifications suggested by canal contrivances. As the ascending and descending train must be connected by one chain or cable, it follows that the space to be worked must not be too long, or a cable would be required of such prodigious strength that its weight alone would be fatal to the undertaking.

We are informed that a gentleman in Adelaide has so far convinced himself of the practicability of the idea that he would, at his own personal risk, undertake to carry it out for a very moderate sum. He would construct three series of levels, or gradients of an easy application, and the termination of each would be prepared for the ascent of the carriages. At the top of this incline a drum would be fixed, around which would pass the cable used for connecting the ascending and descending trains. Of course, the trains would both ascend and descend upon the same face of the inclined platform, a double set of rails being laid, with the revolving drum in the centre at the summit.

The descending trains would be laden with wheat and country produce, or with stone and firewood, In some places, where there is no down traffic, the descending force consists of water tanks, which are fixed on carriages and descend full, the water being let off at the bottom of the incline, and the goods taken out of the track at the top. The water tank being lighter than the goods' truck, the latter descends by gravity, bringing up the former.

The gentleman to whom we refer professes his readiness to contract for the execution for a railway of this description for £3,000 per mile, with £3,000 extra for esch lift... Considering the cost of constructing and repairing macadamised roads and considering the utter impossibility of ever having an easy road with such gradients as prevail between Glen Osmond and the top of the south-eastern ranges, we think the suggestion herein advanced may not be unworthy of attention...

A proposed district council is discussed in the Register,
16 October 1857, page 3h,
Observer, 17 October 1857, page 4h.
Also see South Australia -Miscellany - Local Government.

Examinations at the school are reported in the Observer,
1 January 1859, page 4f; also see
Observer,
21 December 1861, page 3d,
7 September 1867, page 6g,
Register,
30 December 1864, page 3f,
21 August 1867, page 4b,
3 September 1867, page 2e,
Express,
26 October 1872, page 2d,
Register,
6 November 1912, pages 7h-8e.
A proposed new school is discussed in the Register,
20 June 1927, page 8f.
Its opening is reported on
1 September 1928, page 10g.
Photographs are in the Observer,
16 June 1928, page 52,
Chronicle,
8 September 1928, page 54.

The opening of a Primitive Methodist Chapel is reported in the Observer,
27 December 1862, page 5g.

A local Show is reported in the Observer,
16 March 1878, page 5c,
Register,
14 February 1879, page 6c,
26 March 1880, page 6a,
26 March 1881, page 7a and (see South Australia - Agricultural, Floricultural & Horticultural Shows)
the opening of the Anglican Church on
18 February 1879, page 5b.

The laying of the foundation stone of the Institute is reported in the Express,
16 October 1882, page 3b.

The laying of the foundation stone of the Church of the Epiphany is reported in the Register,
3 October 1898, page 6f;
its consecration is on
7 January 1899, page 9c.

A flower farm is described in the Register,
2 July 1890, page 5c,
Observer,
23 May 1891, page 37e,
24 October 1891, page 11b,
16 July 1892, page 11b,
Register,
19 October 1891, page 5a,
4 March 1893 (supp.), page 1b and
the district on
7 April 1893, page 6d,
27 April 1893, page 6b:

A New and Valuable Industry

Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Miscellany.

In October 1894 the farm's proprietors, Mrs James Cowan and W.J. Magarey, the trustees of the late Mr Cowan's estate, invited members of the Chambers of Manufactures to inspect the flower farm. About 14 acres were under cultivation, the allotment being approximately roses, eight acres; mignonette, half an acre; lilac, two acres; native peppermint, three-quarters of an acre; violets, half an acre; tuberose, half an acre; and small beds of jessamine, wall-flower and fruit trees. There were 250 acres in the farm property and the land was of the richest description. Samples of scents manufactured were handed around and the visitors were full of admiration for the quality of production.

A field naturalists excursion is reported in the Register,
31 March 1893, page 7h,
15 October 1906, page 9c.

The laying of the foundation stone of the district hall is reported in the Register,
16 March 1908, page 7g and
its opening on
29 June 1908, page 8h;
photographs are in the Chronicle,
4 July 1908, page 30.

The formation of a football club is reported in the Advertiser,
13 April 1910, page 7h.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Football.

A photograph of vehicles passing through the town on their way to Oakbank is in the Chronicle,
13 April 1912, page 30,
of a draught horse team in the Observer,
14 December 1929, page 3 (supp.).

Biographical details of Nurse Blanche Atkinson are in the Register,
9 September 1916, page 4g and
an obituary on 13 December 1916, page 6h.
Also see South Australia - Women - Nurses and Female Doctors.

"Diphtheria at Crafers" is in the Register,
25 May 1922, page 6e,
Observer,
27 May 1922, page 28c. Also see South Australia - Health - Diptheria

A damning report concluded by stating that the school was overcrowded, the building unhabitable, the playground unsuitable and dangerous and the closets unsanitary and it was impracticable to reconstruct the existing building or to erect a new building on the same site in such a fashion to meet the requirements of the current attendance.

Biographical details of Mrs Mary A. Mason are in the Register,
5 August 1925, page 8h.

Crafers - Obituaries

An obituary of Captain Alfred France is in the Register,
4 April 1899, pages 4g-5a,
of R.K. Spotswood in the Observer, 18 July 1903, page 34c,
of John Spencer in the Express, 5 October 1904, page 4c,

of Dr J.H. Henderson in the Observer, 20 February 1909, page 40c,
of F.J. Atkinson on 26 April 1913, page 41a,
of Mrs Agnes Pendleton on 5 July 1924, page 38a.

An obituary of Frank Adams is in the Register,
25 June 1917, page 4e.

Coulta - Crafers
C