Place Names of South Australia - G
Glenelg
- Coach Services
- Churches
- Early Settlement
- Education
- Jetty, Breakwater and Lighthouses
- Larrikinism
- The Old Gum Tree
- Public Buildings
- Railways, Tramways and Buses
- Sea Bathing
- Sport and Recreation
- Miscellany
- Obituaries
Glenelg
Early Settlement
Landing at Holdfast Bay
(Taken from Geoffrey H Manning's A Colonial Experience)
During mid-November 1836 emigrants from the Cygnet, Rapid and Africaine came ashore at Holdfast Bay a little south of 'Sturt's River' (modern-day Patawalonga) and proceeded inland for about a mile where they pitched their tents and built temporary huts. Robert Gouger, the Colonial Secretary, 'determined on a spot shaded by large gum trees' one of which had been bent in the form of an arch by the prevailing south-westerly winds. His tent was partly supported on the southern side and upwards by this tree now called the memorial tree.
The surroundings were beautiful but, during the day, concealed many hazards. Swarms of mosquitoes sang, but under cover of night demanded a recompense. Poor Robert Gouger and his delicate wife, Harriet, whose days were numbered, were driven almost to desperation by mosquito attacks. Putting his hand out one night from the couch on which he lay, and touching the ground, he found his hand within an inch of a scorpion.
To add to these discomforts enormous ants and small frogs came inside the tent to make the acquaintance of the new arrivals. However, there were compensations for game was in great abundance. Not far from his tent were fresh water lagoons caused by overflows of the Sturt River and he could not walk but two hundred yards without stirring up quail, wild duck and water fowl. White cockatoos, parrots and parakeets of splendid plumage spent a merry time in the trees, not knowing, as yet, the fear of man.
Nearer to the beach was the tent of the Immigration Agent, John Brown. An early immigrant reminisced:
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We all rose early and breakfasted with Mrs Brown, with the parrots chirping over our heads. The coffee mill was nailed to a tree and the roaster stood close by the side. The fire for cooking was on the ground nearby. John Brown was in his tent, writing, and we were rude enough to look over his shoulder and read what he had written: 'The more we see of the colony, the more our impressions in its favour are confirmed. There is abundance of good land everywhere... I have dug for water close to my tent and found two feet of rich, black earth, mingled with sand...'
Though there was neither church nor ordained minister they gathered at George Kingston's tent where prayers were read and a sermon delivered dealing with the birth of Christ. Following the service the pioneers returned to their makeshift abodes:
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After pitching our tents, at Glenelg, and landing our goods, myself, William [Everard] and our man proceeded to build a cottage, the one in which we now live, and a very comfortable one it is. The framework is of small trees, the walls of flags cut from the lagoon, the roof of reeds; the interior fittings are of deal, which on board were our bedplaces; the floor of clay rammed hard to make firm and covered partly with India matting, partly of oilcloths. We then dug up a bit of ground for a garden in which vegetables grew well. I had some delicious water melons from the seed of which I procured at the Cape... I have ten acres in the town, five of which were mine by priority of choice, the remainder I bought at a public sale and the average price was £5 - I would not sell one of my first five for less than £200.
Preparations were made for dinner and upturned casks substituted for tables and boxes did duty as seats. There was neither roast duck, goose, nor turkey, but salt pork, salt beef and parrot pie were attacked with gusto. After dinner, in the cool of the evening, the pioneers strolled down to the beach, looking at the few ships riding at anchor, the last visible links that connected them with Great Britain, thinking of a precious past and speculating to an unknown future.
The parched grass, known as kangaroo grass, grew in tufts about a foot apart and these harbored innumerable quail and many a brace was brought down. Parrots of gorgeous plumage flew from tree to tree, diversified by bronze-winged pigeons and screaming cockatoos and the new arrivals were startled by merry peals of laughter. At first 'it sounded like some old gentleman cracking his jokes over his wine, when a second by its cachination seemed to have discovered the joke, and then a chorus of loud laughter all round and on our stopping a general solemn silence took place. We subsequently discovered that all this mirth proceeded from those feathered Democrituses of the bush, known as the laughing-jackass.'
Early on the morning of Wednesday, 28 December 1836, the Buffalo, with Governor Hindmarsh aboard, came into the bay and anchored. At two pm of the same day His Excellency, accompanied by the ladies of his family and other officials, such as the Resident Commissioner, Mr J.H. Fisher, the Colonial Chaplain, Rev Howard, Mr Osmond Gilles, Colonial Treasurer, and Mr George Stevenson, the Governor's private secretary, came ashore to be welcomed by many of those who had fixed their temporary habitations on the plain.
By three o'clock in the afternoon the marines from the Buffalo were drawn up in a line and the whole of the colonists assembled in front of Mr Gouger's tent. Oaths of office were administered in the privacy of his abode and an announcement was agreed upon 'requiring all to obey laws and declaring the Aborigines to have equal rights and an equal claim to the white man upon the protection of the Government.'
Mr Gouger then stepped outside and read the commission in public when 'a feue de joie was fired by the marines, the white ensign hoisted, and a salute fired by the ships.' The official draft of the proclamation was then handed to Mr Robert Thomas for copies to be printed on the Stanhope Press housed a little distance away in a reed hut.
It was these settlers who made the first contact with the Aborigines and one day a passenger from the Africaine, Mr Williams, was out shooting near the lagoons when he came across two natives, a man and a boy, in the act of lighting a fire. They did not observe his approach so, looking to the priming of his gun, he advanced upon them. Startled, they seized their spears, but Mr Williams held out a biscuit, whereupon they came cautiously towards him.
They exchanged signs of mutual friendship and the white man induced them to go back to Holdfast Bay with him. Together they did a circuit of the settlement. The Aborigines peeped into tents and examined everything that met their eyes and as their confidence increased showed themselves highly delighted with what they saw. They were greatly astonished at the opening and shutting of an umbrella, nor could they understand the working of a lucifer match after the laborious fire-kindling to which they were accustomed.
They shook hands with everyone, male and female, without being at all abashed, in spite of the fact that they were both stark naked. Afterwards they were taken to the commissioners' stores and fitted out in trousers, flannel shirt and woollen cap. Before they left they slept for three nights before Mr William's camp fire on the bare ground.
From this visit may be dated the beginning of intercourse between black and white on the Adelaide plains.
The Township of Glenelg - 1839-1904
(Taken from an unpublished manuscript by Geoffrey H Manning's Glenelg - A Social History - 1836-1936 - copy in State Library)
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The mark of civilisation having been set upon that part of our coast, now known as the Corporate Town of Glenelg, but where formerly existed only a naked beach and dreary sandhills, the original coastline is scarcely, if at all, possible of recognition. Art has stepped in and supplanted the rude dominion of nature, dotting all over the barren stretch, with comfortable homesteads and superior edifices, The wild wurley of the native has utterly disappeared and the whole natural force of this particular part of the country has undergone perhaps, a greater change than any other.
(Chronicle, 2 April 1859, p. 2.)
The name ?Glenelg? honours Lord Glenelg, whose baptismal name was Charles Grant. Born in Bengal, India, in 1778 he went to England in 1790 and at the time of founding of South Australia was Secretary of State for the Colonies; he died in 1866.
In 1839 the South Australian Government called tenders for the purchase of 65 acres of land at Glenelg for one pound per acre. More than 1,000 tenders were submitted and the winner subsequently drawn by ballot. One barrel containing blanks (with the exception of one bearing the word ?Glenelg?) were drawn by the Colonial Chaplain, and a second barrel containing the names of the applicants by Mr (later Sir) John Morphett. William Finke was the holder of the lucky paper and one of a syndicate of six comprising Osmond Gilles (the Colonial Treasurer), Miss E. Blunden (Mr Gilles's ward), J. Oakden (Mr Gilles? nephew), H.R. Wigley SM, Matthew Smith, solicitor and Mr Finke, who was the Chief Clerk in the Treasury. The land grant was issued to W. Finke on 23 March 1839. This land was north of today's Jetty Road and an interested settler, John Bond Phipson was to recall:
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On the occasion of the drawing at Glenelg - it was made a gala day - champagne flowed freely, the sun shone brightly, but brighter still were the black and blue eyes of the admiring fair ones who gave their fascinating attendance to add splendour to the scene; but, alas, in the afternoon showers came down in a deluge and so much wet was taken inside and outside by a majority of the gentlemen as to qualify themselves to be inmates of the cheerful and shady [inebriates?] retreat at Belair, had it been built...
In alienating the Glenelg section care was taken to reserve an acre for a Custom House for government purposes and, on the same day that Finke's tender for the section of Glenelg was formally accepted (9 February 1839), the contract for its construction was secured by Messrs East and Breeze who, by November 1839, were reported to have practically completed the work - the contract price was £340. It was at this time that Governor Gawler requested the proprietors to name the church 'st Peter's? and the public square ?Torrens?.
Close to the Custom House was a flagstaff serving as a Signal Station for the announcement of the arrival of ships. John Anthony, Customs Officer, had to hoist a flag whenever a vessel was sighted coming up the Gulf, and had instructions that at the same time he was to fire one or two guns. One gun signified the arrival of a ship from one of the other colonies, and two guns of a vessel from England.
A plan is held in the Lands Department showing the ?Township of Glenelg? as designed and surveyed by Messrs Light and Finniss and Co. in 1839 and approved by Governor Gawler; however, this plan only shows the road pattern and not the allotments and it covers only the land granted to Mr Finke. On 22 January 1855 a plan certified by R.B. Colley, Henry R. Wigley, Osmond Gilles and Matthew Smith, as being a correct plan of the Township of Glenelg, was deposited in the General Registry Office. This plan shows the allotments and covers the same area as Light's plan.
By the years 1841-1842 there were about half a dozen houses erected at the Bay, and any one of the owners could have turned out his horse at night and catch it readily next morning. There was at that time no bridge across the Sturt River and, when its waters rose, a resident of Glenelg had no alternative other than remain there until they subsided. Accordingly, Sir John Morphett, H.R. Wigley and a few others clubbed together to build the first wooden bridge at a cost of about £45.
As to the infant village and remnants of the original settlement, in correspondence to the Adelaide Observer in 1877, Mr W.H. Leigh provided extracts from a letter written in 1839:
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The situation of this place as a settlement will never do unless immense expense be incurred by draining. There is here on the beach a kind of hovel called a store, as empty as the pockets of the man who keeps it, and that, added to some half a dozen miserable and comfortless looking slab huts, is the town of Glenelg... They find it does not answer and are about to desert it.
The four families who had fixed their residences here when lo! the place of their rest was surrounded in the night by a torrent of four or five feet deep and all hands were forced to run for their lives. Dr Everard, who from being so utterly surrounded by water was unable to fly, got upon a table and with his family waited until daylight, when he turned out and dug a trench in the distance which carried off some of the flood. He had now a kind of embankment around his hut. On the right is a swamp, filling around the remainder of his dwelling, which swarms with mosquitoes and bullfrogs and keep up their music day and night. ?Oh?, quoth the doctor when I visited him, ?these are the beauties of emigration.?
Nathaniel Hailes visited the incipient village in 1842 and recalled that:
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It was not the Glenelg of today, with railway, pier, etc.; nor was it the Glenelg at which I had landed three years before; for then it was a mere beach, whereas now a few cottages were sprinkled among or behind the sandhills. The most considerable of them was occupied by Mr Wigley, the Resident Magistrate of Adelaide. That house was always open to me, and besides partaking of Mr Wigley's hospitality, I learned much...
I spent may pleasant hours in observing denizens of the aqueous world beneath me. I spent one whole afternoon in watching an innumerable and apparently interminable shoal of mackerel, tier above tier, flitting in one continuous mass beneath the keel of the vessel...
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Glenelg is not without its share in the widespread tillage of the province; and if it cannot boast of its very extensive enclosures, the well-fenced sections and allotments in its neighbourhood give evidence of great care and skill and the promise of a rich harvest. The Sturt has become a powerful stream and the flats in the neighbourhood have been extensively flooded, imparting to the picturesque estate and residence of John Morphett, Esquire, (as seen from some points of view), a striking appearance of insularity. Glenelg evidently possesses some peculiar characteristics; and capabilities of an important character are imputed to its locality as an eligible future secondary port...
Within six months this ?pleasant marine township? was becoming a favourite resort for sea bathing. There were upwards of 20 houses in the township and immediate neighbourhood, chiefly occupied by ?respectable families both from town and country.? Taking advantages of circumstances, Mr Green has established himself in that ?large and handsome inn and boarding house called the Glenelg Hotel.? This building was well situated and commanded a beautiful view. Mr Green, the licensee, had a number of boarders and many visitors and a great name for ?liquors and vivres (food), accommodation, attendance, and above all, for reasonable charges.?
Within a further two years many houses were available for rental purposes and, during the summer months of 1845, all available places were engaged for the summer and some of them even taken for a year; accordingly, some holidaying families were obliged to board at the hotel. At this time the permanent residents of the village included the families of Messrs Mundy, Giles, Birrell, H.W. Phillips, King (Gawler Town), Bickford, Fleming, J. Stephens and Mrs Howard. In an effort to extol the attractions of the resort a roving reporter opined that ?we believe no shark has been seen since the foundation of the colony.?
In September 1849 it was reported that the invalids of Adelaide were taking advantage of the 'salubrious air of this delightful marine township?, while shooting, fishing, bathing, boating, drives and strolls, ?enabled one to pass away the time most agreeably.? The township was extended during the preceding year, having been embellished with several most substantial edifices. Further, it boasted of a chapel, boarding school, three small stores and two large inns.
By 1851 the town consisted of sixty houses and more than 200 inhabitants, while a new township called New Glenelg was being laid out to the south of the existing one. Within ten years the mere township of former days had become a corporate town and the 'splendid pier erected at the public expense being the point of arrival and departure for the English mails and of passengers to and from the ocean steamships?. A Custom House has been established and Captain Duff appointed Harbour Master and Collector of Customs:
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There are three good hotels and numerous lodging houses, with board and supplies of all kinds... Several capacious and handsome omnibuses ply throughout the day and fares being only a shilling up or down... While for those who dislike locomotion, the telegraph presents the requisite facilities for rapid communication with distant parts of the province and the neighbouring colonies... Glenelg offers many inducements...
In 1858, the extensive plain that stretched away from the sandhills was dotted over with neat and comfortable homesteads, long lines of hedgerows and regular fencing, with green patches of fruit trees, vines and grass, that indicated an order of things which 22 years before would not have been imagined. The wurleys of the nomadic Aboriginal had given way to the settled home of the white man and pretty cottages and elegant mansions were to be seen at frequent intervals for the entire distance between the Glenelg creek and the rocks below Brighton, ?affording promise that the dry and sandy beach would become one long site of several flourishing villages.?
By October 1863 many new buildings, comprising large residences as well a several of the cottage order, had been completed. The style of these buildings was a great improvement on those of their predecessors for in the early days of the colony mud walls were predominant, a few cottages being of wood and still fewer of inferior bricks. Later, a 'sort of soft stone? found in the immediate neighbourhood was commonly used. Its appearance was good and some of the houses thus constructed had an imposing look; but there was evidence to show that it would soon decay.
For example, the walls of two promenades above the beach gave evidence of this as the stones were seen to be ?absolutely retiring from the mortar.? The same was the case with those of several large buildings, in the construction of which ?economy rather than utility had been consulted.? But some houses then being erected construction were, in more than one case, being built of Glen Osmond stone and even cottages had walls of that material 18 inches thick.
Fish and oysters were abundant at Glenelg, but the supply was ?fitful and uncertain.? To meet this difficulty, the landlord of the principal hotel provided himself with a large floating reservoir, divided into eight compartments in which he kept several varieties of fish, including crayfish and oysters; this was moored to the jetty - the oyster and fishing industries are discussed in another chapter. Other requisites of life were well furnished - the meat, bread and milk were excellent, while vegetable carts traversed the streets daily with garden produce as good as could be bought in Adelaide.
A fierce gale struck Glenelg on 13 May 1865 and the earthworks at the entrance of the jetty were washed away, while the sea made havoc among the bathing houses, several of which were destroyed. Some had been completely turned around and stood with their doors open facing the promenade. The large boathouse near the pier was ?wholly beaten down?, but the Argus boats in it received no injury. In Jetty Road the water rose as far as the steps and nearly reached the front doors of the Pier Hotel.
Further south, the stone pillar at the corner of Mr Jaffrey's land (occupied later by Mr J.B. Neales) was carried away. The sandhills were cleared off for a considerable distance and, instead of sloping gently to the strand, they formed perpendicular cliffs, in some instances about ten feet high. A bathing house recently erected a little beyond Mr Scott's road was broken up and its fragments lodged on the south sea wall near the Pier Hotel. The creek rose to an unusual height and the little footbridge over the watercourse near the Town Hall was carried away entirely.
David Shepard, son of Captain Thomas Shepard of the South Australian Company, spent his boyhood at Glenelg in the pre-railway days; served for a time on Warcowie sheep station; was a midshipman on Sir Thomas Elder's ship Collingrove and in later life owned pleasure boats on Torrens Lake. In his reminiscences he mentions no dates, but does provide us with this clue - He and a friend briefly impersonated the Royal Princes Albert Victor and George at their arrival on Glenelg jetty, which suggests that the writer was in his late teens at the time of the Royal Visit in 1881:
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I was born at Glenelg, next door to old Peter Cook's butcher shop, and not far from the old Patawalonga Creek. As far back as I can remember, I went to a school that was facing the mouth of the creek. The master's name was Sweetman at the time... In those days Glenelg was so different to the Glenelg of today. Everybody was known to each other, and were awfully good ?even your next door neighbours.? I never remember hearing anyone getting into serious trouble, girl or boy. There were no charabancs to take young people into the hills, no morning picture shows, or anything of that kind, perhaps that partly accounts for it.
There were three hotels - The Pier, St Leonards and the Berkshire - south-east of the Berkshire and facing Sandison's paddock stood a little chapel with a porch entrance to it. Never in my memory was it open for service - at the back of it, fenced in, was about fifty tombstones over graves. The front and back doors and windows were covered with cobwebs, and the porch with swallows? nests.
Then there came the time when some big horses came down from town and carted those tombstones away and it was rumoured in the town that the bodies were taken also and buried in one big hole in West Terrace - whether that was true I am not in a position to say, but I do know that many things were done then that would not be allowed now.
There were only three shops; Hitchcox, whose shop was the Post Office and chemist shop combined - he sold groceries also. Next to this was Temple's grocery and drapery; then came Mrs Humphries bun shop - that was the shop us boys knew best. Oh! how many times did we look with longing eyes at the buns and lick the steam off the window.
As I said before, Glenelg was so different to the Glenelg of today. There was no sea baths. The old creek had not been sheet piled or lock gates put across the mouth which proved such a white elephant to the town folk and killed the natural channel into the bargain. The bridge was a narrow footbridge.
By the end of 1865 the ?utter failure of the commercial anticipations once entertained with reference to the port of Glenelg?, forcibly suggested the desirability of undertaking to render it increasingly attractive as a watering place. It was being realised that Glenelg could not wrest away the marine trade from Port Adelaide while, conversely, Port Adelaide could not compete with Glenelg as a watering place and summer retreat for the citizens of the metropolis and its suburbs - that is supposing justice was done to Glenelg, and an irate ?Glenelgite?, with lingering doubts on this subject, cast some of the blame squarely upon the shoulders of council members:
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With the absurd regulations prohibiting bathing at a bathing place and what with sharks, which now appear now and then to cooperate with [Police] Sergeant Badman, Glenelg is virtually shut up. Only think of a bathing place where you must not take a dip, except in the dead of night; of a bathing place where there is no protection against sharks in the water, and no ?bobbies? on shore. A fine idea of a marine retreat! People who want sea bathing must provide themselves with bottles and carry home the precious fluid for dressing room ablutions...
Glenelg had, however, improved much in previous years in spite of cold neglect and want of enterprise in certain quarters. There were good shops, good inns and good lodging houses, handsome churches and good schools. The township had improved, but it was the beach that was neglected and yet it was to the beach that the township had to look for progress:
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Either by private enterprise or by corporate funds proper bathing grounds should be laid out and every inducement offered to visitors, tired of the heat and dust of the city and longing for a cool invigorating plunge, secure alike from the bite of a shark or the grasp of a peeler...
A decade of expansion followed, but in its wake came the spoliation of the environment, coupled with an increase in noxious odours and outbreaks of fatal diseases. In June 1875 Glenelg was turned into a watering place in an extremely unpleasant sense of the word for much of the municipality was converted into a large lagoon in which houses, fences and other permanent objects stood out like dreary landmarks, roughly indicating the course of the streets, the boundaries of properties and serving as indices of the depth of the water.
Many residents had to seek shelter elsewhere, houses being permanently injured and the roads seriously damaged. But this was not the worst of the evil for there was an alarming prospect of the watery visitation proving a further source of danger to the community. The presence of so much stagnant water must have ?eventuated to the generation of miasma highly prejudicial to the health of the citizens.? Mr H.R. Wigley was of the opinion that the only remedial action available was to remove obstructions out of the way of the free course of the water down the River Sturt and ?this work the Corporation cannot perform... The matter should receive prompt attention at the hands of the government.?
The aftermath of this inundation came in the form of a warning given to the citizens of Glenelg in September 1875:
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Glenelg will have to look to its laurels. It has been frequented in summer because of its salubrity, and for nothing else.. Even the acknowledged benefits of the railway and jetty will not suffice to overcome prejudices created by one or two severe local epidemics. At Glenelg as at the Reedbeds and elsewhere along the coast, there has been received for centuries the drainage of the hills and if nothing is done to prevent the accumulation of water, the chief watering place of the province will become absolutely unhealthy in proportion as population increases... It is enough for us to know that under the various names of bronchitis, scarlatina, typhoid and other fevers, we are visited by summer epidemics that appear to be becoming intensified in their character... Thorough drainage for Glenelg seems to imperatively called for...
Four years later an enterprising Editor of the Register assigned one of his reporters to visit the villages stretching along the coast from Semaphore to Marino and in respect of Glenelg and near environs he said:
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Reaching Glenelg, where steady building improvements are in progress, we turn southward along the line of country partially traversed by the South Coast line. New Glenelg, as may be expected, is filling up surely if slowly; but as we advance we find few signs of animation in the building trade. Hastings, a pleasant sea front on the southern limit of Somerton, which was cut up some considerable time ago, remains a township but in name.
The same may be said of the various groups of allotments between Somerton and the further end of Brighton and of Victor, adjoining the Thatched House Tavern; though at several points the Corporation of Brighton are cutting approaches through the sandhills to the line of railway which runs along the beach. This line, which is convenient enough for casual visitors inclined to spend a day on the sea coast, or to explore the hitherto almost inaccessible ?rocks? to which locomotion now extends, is undoubtedly constructed at an inconvenient distance from the main portion of Brighton. As a consequence we find that the old line of conveyances maintain their footing and supply the main requirements of residents.
The long established (on paper) townships of Shoreham, New Brighton and Marino have not as yet shaken the lethargy of years. Building sites of convenient sizes, an in many cases of choice position, are in plenty; but population, permanent or migratory, is conspicuous by its absence, The delightful slopes of the Adelaide range, as it dips into the gulf at this point, are tenanted by a few appreciative spirits; and even the newly opened railway has, up to the present, caused no influx of residents. The absence of any hotel accommodation at or near the terminus of the line is inconvenient for casual visitors, who, unless forewarned and providentially forearmed, are fain to take an early opportunity of availing themselves of the earliest means of return to the centre of civilisation and beer.
We may yet look forward hopefully to the time when the enterprise of the projectors of the coast line may be rewarded by settlement of the strip of land abutting on the railway, and on this part of the Gulf, and by the appearance of ample attractions, in addition to those of nature, for the holiday public. If the track survives the rough winter, which we are promised during the forthcoming season, another summer will probably direct more attention in this direction.
It was at this time the ?Health of Towns? became the subject of parliamentary debate until, finally, it was realised that the public health was paramount and that no private interests ought to stand in the way of extensive reforms. At that time Adelaide and environs, including Glenelg, were the scene of fetid gutters, putrefying rubbish heaps, stagnant pools, stinking cellars, noxious trades and disease producing food. Further, many school rooms were ill-ventilated, while many dwellings were unsuitable for the climate, for they protected their inmates neither from winter cold nor summer heat.
The strongest objection against sanitary reforms was the cost, for they could not be accomplished without considerable expenditure, which meant increased taxation. Unfortunately, people had a great impatience of taxation and, undoubtedly, this was the one reason above all that prevented the carrying out of some grand scheme of drainage in Adelaide and suburbs.
The ratepayers dreaded the cost and, so long as disease and death kept a distance, they were willing to stand on the brink of danger which could break out at any moment, rather than tax themselves to a moderate amount to avert that danger. It was well known that nothing was more expensive in a family than sickness and the cost of one attack of fever might be more in pounds than a sanitary rate would be in pence. For the public to shut their eyes, generally, to remedial action was the greatest of all follies.
The best system for Adelaide was a matter for experts and professional men to determine, but the consensus of opinion at the time was for the implementation of a system of deep drainage, than with mere scavenging. All other systems were dirty and offensive, but any would have been an improvement over the apology for the one then operating.
During following years the importance of sanitary improvement was impressed upon the people, together with the fact that the soil upon which houses and shops were built was being permeated and poisoned by noxious refuse which, instead of being removed, was allowed to sink into the earth. Accordingly, it was to the credit of the government that the question was taken up for there was not a more important question to claim the attention of the legislature.
At Glenelg and elsewhere there were slaughterhouses to be met with, which were merely wooden sheds and had not been cleansed for years past. Yet they abutted upon streets used by residents and discharged their impurities, without gutter or drainage of any kind, upon the public roads. Pigsties were also to be seen in the same unwholesome state and there were localities where, on account of these causes, property was considerably depreciated in value.
There was no excuse for such nuisances because land existed in the vicinity that was readily available for the proper carrying on of every trade and where no one needed to be a source of trouble and inconvenience to his neighbours. But, since there were persons who would not do this, it was necessary for the corporation to interfere and thus prevent the neighbourhood from obtaining a bad character in sanitary matters and to prevent continued injury to the inhabitants.
By 1875 the death rate in South Australia was substantially above the average for the preceding ten years with infant mortality being the largest single contributor - it reached the staggering total of 1,113, ie, 30% of all deaths in the colony. This death rate was the worst in the Australian colonies and at this time and ?in the City of Adelaide [it] was more than 40 per cent greater than in the remainder of the colony? - mute evidence of the wanton neglect of Parliament and Councils in framing and enforcing an adequate Health Act.
Where sewers were not connected, the cemented and watertight cesspits were a menace to the public health and the authorities suggested that these pits should only be cemented at the sides, leaving the bottoms free. The liquids could then escape and the free use of dry earth, wood ashes, dry slack lime or even carbonised sawdust would be a great preventative of ?unpleasantness?.
One of the most dangerous customs of the day practised in some households was the habit of throwing the dirty water, etc., into the backyard. The recommended plan was to have a series of holes into which it should be emptied, and the hole frequently covered in and fresh ones provided. In the case of large gardens, where there was no underground drainage, the water was conveyed over the garden by drains made of brick and tarred over.
Further, it was recommended that all kitchen refuse be carefully collected and burned or carted away. With reference to milk and water it was absolutely necessary that all milk be boiled and water either boiled or filtered; boiled water was potable for two days only. The ordinary filters used in households consisted of alternate layers of sand, gravel and charcoal, the water having first passed through a sponge; unfortunately, many householders failed to clean the filters regularly with the result that they became ineffective.
No positive action was taken at Glenelg until 23 June 1879 when a meeting of citizens was held. Previously, the government, following a request from the council for an appropriate sum be placed on the Estimates, had refused to subsidise any expenditure spent on drainage works at Glenelg. The government was adamant and it appeared that the only alternative would be to secure the cost of such a scheme against the rates of the township. However, an editor of the Adelaide press had certain misgivings as to the capabilities of council members:
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The various members of the Council, unfortunately, do not appear to work together very harmoniously, and it is questionable whether, under any circumstances, it would be wise to leave such an important work to their management and control...
On the other hand, it is certain if the existing sanitary neglect is continued Glenelg will speedily get a bad name which will keep away intending visitors and probably frighten out of the town some of the present inhabitants. This of course would quickly lead to a diminution of trade and to a very serious fall in the value of property... A scheme has, it will be remembered, been prepared by Mr Chamier which... would meet the requirements of the case.
Judging from the past the members of the local council are not all of one mind in the matter and continued dissension may seriously prejudice..., if not absolutely prevent, the accomplishment of the undertaking... It is high time that the sanitary requirements of the colony were recognised as they should be.
At the public meeting Mr Chamier said the scheme would cost about £7,000 and Mr Nicholson moved that the council ?take immediate steps to provide for the drainage of Glenelg? because eminent medical men had given evidence that Glenelg was in an unhealthy state from defective drainage and, as health was of paramount importance, it ?behoved everyone to do what was in their power to support the scheme.? Mr H.R. Wigley then rose to his feet and said that the unhealthy condition of Glenelg was caused mainly by the overflow of the Sturt River which the doctors said caused much ill health and, further, it must not be forgotten that the ?government had been most liberal in the past in keeping back its waters that inundated the place on an annual basis.?
Finally, it was decided that a copy of Mr Chamier's report be furnished to all ratepayers and that the matter be reconsidered at a later date which, in respect of a deep drainage scheme, turned out to be some 21 years later! - namely, 22 February 1900, when Mr F.W. Ralph moved that ?although the present sanitary system is satisfactory, a committee be appointed to enquire as to the advisableness of introducing deep drainage.?
An outbreak of typhoid fever occurred in May 1884 and ?it was very prevalent around the district.? The outbreak was attributed to the fact that, while watercourses carried all excess water from North Glenelg to the sea via the Patawalonga, at South Glenelg flood waters were trapped behind the sandhills, thereby creating stagnant pools. ?In an endeavour to alleviate the problem a scheme was presented to clear the Sturt drain and to form two main drains running along St Ann's Terrace to Spencer Terrace and along Adelaide Road to Osmond Terrace. From these it was planned to lay sub-radial drains 18 inches wide to Pasquin Street; the main drains to be 24 inches wide, with an outflow to Patawalonga Creek.?
In January 1885, at a meeting of the Glenelg Local Board of Health, the subject of a ?closet system? was discussed as a means to 'supplement the system now in vogue in the town.? Mr Sabine thought that a dry earth system should be introduced and made compulsory, while the Chairman suggested that all existing cesspits be examined and any faulty ones be condemned and converted to the dry earth system at a cost from 15 shillings to £4.
It was resolved that as soon as 50 householders signified their intention to adopt the new system the Local Board of Health would take steps to cause such a system to be adopted. The Dry Earth Closet was invented by Henry Moule and he took out a patent for it in 1873 in England. ?This was a compact neat wooden structure with a removal bucket. Concealed within a frame at the back of the seat was a container for dry earth which was released into a bucket by a lever system operated by the right hand.?
In an interregnum, from 1885 until 1900, letters from Messrs Wigley, Lee and Dr Ferguson give an interesting and amusing insight into the opinions of Glenelg citizens as to the oversight of the town's general health environment:
-
Whenever Glenelg is assailed our pugnacious apothecary [Mr Hitchcox] comes to the fore with caustic pen to do battle on her behalf... I [Mr Wigley] have lived [by the side of the creek] over thirty years and at one time for nearly six weeks had Dr Bayer as a regular visitor, and on his leaving he always required some spiritual comfort to keep his ?purge from rising?, as he said, against the perfume from the creek. I admit I have heard him say that it was a cheap emetic for an overloaded stomach; also, that the iodine (which Mr Hitchcox knows, as a chemist,, is an irritant poison) which comes from the seaweed, somewhat counterbalanced the effect of sulphuretted hydrogen. One time, when the mouth of the creek was stopped, and the smell became very bad in consequence, one of the plagues of Egypt came upon us in the shape of blanes [sic] and boils. Personally, I was a walking advertisement of Bates's salve from the crop I had...
However, there is no denying that the matter from the creek makes splendid manure for crops and I have often pondered whether the iodine and hydrogen was the cause of the parsley beds in its vicinity being so prolific. But joking aside, let us see how far Dr Ferguson is supported. Dr Whittel, in his evidence before the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on November 5 last on the Patawalonga Improvement Bill, said that he had frequently noticed an offensive smell arising from it - ?even at my residence, which is a mile distant, we have to close the doors and windows to shut out the smell.? The creek nuisance has been notorious for ages... [we should] get rid of that which is not only a private but a public cause of unhealthiness in our midst.
I [Dr Ferguson] saw the first case of typhoid fever in Gawler Place, St Leonards on April 7... With regard to the Patawalonga Creek all products of decomposition, specially if in large quantities, must be injurious to health, in spite of what Dr Bayer has said. The late Dr Gosse and Dr Whittel and other competent medical men are of the same opinion as myself that the sulphuretted hydrogen given off from the creek is inimical to good health, and the sooner the decomposing seaweed is removed the better it will be for all who live in Glenelg and its neighbourhood...
Mr Wigley has lived thirty years on the shores of the Patawalonga and yet survives. Doubtless the infirmities of age begin to crowd upon him, and perhaps to this and not to the ?creek's foul smells? must be attributed the lamentable weakness of intelligence manifest in his reply to Mr Hitchcox.... Re the Patawalonga - the dangerous smells are all bunkum. You may smile, Sir, but I [John Lee] tell you as an absolute fact that I know a gentleman who, before going to bed, goes into the open air and takes a good, hearty smell of this selfsame smell...
Mr Wigley has reared a large family in its vicinity; a fashionable boarding house is situated within its immediate influence; our keen-witted and progressive Judge Boucaut daily inhales its perfume; the controlling genius of one of our largest shipping lines (Mr S. Cornish) lives in the thick of it; and our gigantic Rounsevell, whose utterances have often made governments tremble, nightly feeds upon its aroma. Do these suffer? No, the men are strong and keen-witted and the children healthy and graceful and the mothers all that could be desired...
If it can be shown that the Patawalonga is injurious to health, I presume the government would be obliged to subsidise the damming, or undertake the job itself, but we need not damn the bay to dam the creek. There can be no doubt that if the Patawalonga weeds are not soon cleared away they will become the (as the population increases and drainage drifts that way) receptacle of many germs to life most deadly; but at the present time Glenelg still continues the sanitarium of South Australia.
And so we come to the end of Glenelg's 65th year and, perhaps, a fitting close to this chapter could be a citizen's eulogy delivered in 1906 and an opinion of the town rendered in 1908:
-
Sitting on the beach one can conjure up thoughts of the fierce tribal fights and corroborees, the feasts that followed victories. Where are the victors now? Swept away by the march of civilisation. The battlefield has given way to palatial seaside residences and the poor native with untutored mind who went underground to the accompaniment of a crack from a stout waddy, will marvel when judgment day comes along, to see the trains pouring their hundreds and thousands of holiday makers to the beach.
We want this town for ourselves - a quiet. clean, orderly residential palace; not a hurdy-gurdy pleasure resort for every Tom, Dick and Harry. There are plenty of places along the gulf for the holiday crowd. Let us keep the place for ourselves.
Observer, 12 August 1843, p. 5, 8 September 1849, p. 2, 27 March 1858, p. 8, 14 April 1877, p. 12, Southern Australian, 2 February 1844, p. 3, 11 February 1845, p. 3, Register, 18 May 1839, p 4, 11 March 1857, p. 2, 10 October 1863, p. 2, 15 May 1865 p. 2, 28 June 1875, p. 5, 11 September 1875, p. 4, 8 May 1878, 8 May 1879, p. 5, 23 June 1879, p. 4, 23 March 1880, p. 1 (supp.), 30 April 1884, p. 7, 1 and 10 May 1884, pp. 7 and 5, 24 January 1885, p. 4, 11 and 21 July 1903, pp. 7 and 4, 9 and 14 April 1904, pp. 11 and 4, 12 February 1908, p. 7, Advertiser, 5 September 1859, p. 2, 24 February 1860, p. 3, 1 August 1864, p. 2, 15 November 1865, p. 3, Express & Telegraph, 13 October 1873, p. 2, The Critic, 1 August 1906, pp. 13-19. Dulcie Perry, The Place of Waters, reminiscences of David Shepard, MLSA ref. D 4888 (L).
Launching of the Vessel OG at Glenelg
A start to colonial shipbuilding was undertaken at Glenelg on behalf of the South Australian Company when the OG, named after Osmond Gilles, the Colonial Treasurer, was erected and launched. An eyewitness has left us with the following account of the proceedings:
-
A large tent was erected and crowded with invited guests who were liberally supplied with a champagne luncheon. Every vehicle in and around Adelaide less heavy than a waggon was in demand, and horses hitherto better acquainted with plough harness than a saddle were promoted to be saddle horses for the occasion. The bonnets and dresses and bouquets that were paraded on the Bay Road that morning would have done no discredit to Greenwich Fair. About noon torrents of rain began to descend without intermission and forgot to leave off for twelve hours. This persistent inclemency of the weather compelled close adherence to the tent and the company's excellent champagne. That and a profusion of bottled beer induced such sunshiny radiance inside that the unceasing patter and splash without enhanced the enjoyment rather than otherwise...
The time to separate at length came, or rather the proper time for proceeding homeward had long passed. Still the sky was one ebon mass, the earth a shallow lake and as for the big, round, cold raindrops, the popular comparison of ?cats and dogs?, give no adequate idea of them. Eventful were the occurrences of that night as a too bright morning rendered evident. Horses arrived at their stables riderless, and some of their owners reached the same neighbourhood a few hours afterwards. Vehicles were discovered unaccountably stuck in holes, lodged against fallen trees, lying on their sides or backs, or in any other position inconsistent with progress, while their previous occupants and the unhappy quadrupeds which had been associated in the dilemma had slid, waded or scrambled somewhere or other.
General Notes
"The First Immigrant Landed at Holdfast Bay" is in the Observer,
26 December 1868, page 4f.
George Stevenson's journal is reproduced in Royal Geographical Society Proceedings Volume 30, page 55 and it says, inter alia - "Saturday, December 31 [1836]:
-
The beautiful plains on which the tents are pitched had no name. I proposed that they should be called Glenelg, which was adopted by acclamation.
28 December 1937, page 8h.
A public meeting in respect of the colony's 21st birthday is reported upon in the Observer,
5 December 1857, page 6f; also see
2 January 1858, page 6a.
An interesting poem concerning the "proclamation" and the Old Gum Tree is in the Observer,
20 February 1886, page 25e.
"Proclamation of the State" is in the Observer,
25 April 1914, page 33a.
"The First Proclamation Day" is in the Advertiser,
30 December 1907, page 7d.
Reminiscences of Proclamation Day in 1836 are in the Advertiser,
28 December 1910, page 10c,
Register,
28 December 1923, page 8g,
"Memories of Early Commemorations" on
28 December 1922, page 9a,
"The First 28th" on
23 July 1925, page 12e.
An old colonist's thoughts in 1836 are recorded in the Register of 12 April 1877 at page 5a:
-
The situation of this place as a settlement will never do unless immense expense be incurred by draining... The four families who had fixed their residences here were planted pleasantly under the gum-tree, when lo! the place of their rest was surrounded in the night by a torrent of four or five feet deep... On the right is a swamp... which swarms with mosquitoes and bullfrogs that keep up their music day and night.
19 and 26 February 1927, pages 12a and 9e.
"Glenelg in 1837 - An Interesting Letter", by Therese Chauncey dated February 1837, is reproduced in the Advertiser,
28 December 1897, page 5f.
"Holdfast Bay in Olden Times" is in the Register,
23 March 1880, page 1g (supp.),
Observer,
3 April 1880, page 567c.
Reminiscences of early Glenelg are in the Register,
8 October 1886, page 7f.
"Historic Glenelg - Interesting Past Recalled" is in the Advertiser,
21 August 1915, page 16a; also see
23 July 1928, pages 8-11.
"The Cradle of the State - Its Foundation and Development" is in The Mail,
16 January 1915, page 7.
An informative article headed "The Birthplace of the State" is in the Advertiser,
12 November 1924, page 8c.
"Growth of Glenelg" is in The Mail,
26 March 1927, page 17a.
Sketch of the 1830s are in the Observer,
21 December 1895, page 2 (supp.),
of the 1870s in the Chronicle,
30 April 1936, page 32, also see
Pictorial Australian,
July 1875, November 1877,
April 1879, June 1880,
March 1883, September 1883,
June 1886, pages 88-89.
A proposal for a commemoration monument is in the Chronicle,
22 December 1883, page 5b;
a proposed memorial to pioneers is discussed in The News,
4 and 15 May 1936, pages 3g and 7f;
its opening is reported in the Advertiser,
28 December 1936, page 11h.
Foundation Day photographs are in the Chronicle,
2 January 1904, page 42,
7 January 1905, page 28.
"Old Memories" is in the Register,
3 August 1918, page 9e.
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Education
Examinations at the Albert House Academy are reported in the Register,
8 April 1856, page 3e.
Information on a proposed school is in the Register,
3 July 1858, page 3b.
The first examinations at the public school are reported in the Register,
27 November 1860, page 3g; also see
28 May 1861, page 3e.
Information on a school is in the Register,
28 May 1861, page 3e,
Observer,
1 June 1861, page 3c,
Register,
12 February 1863, page 3d,
29 September 1863, page 2g.
The proposed erection of a schoolhouse is discussed in the Register,
29 September 1863, page 2g. See
Observer,
21 May 1864, page 4a,
18 June 1864, page 1g (supp.),
Register,
14 June 1864, page 2h for its opening and
4 January 1865, page 3e.
A public meeting in respect of a school is reported in the Observer,
24 September 1864, page 3b; also see
Express,
4 January 1865, page 3b.
Examinations at the Glenelg Preparatory School are reported in the Register,
25 June 1868, page 2h.
Letters in respect of local schools are in the Register,
8, 9 and 13 December 1869, pages 3b, 3g and 2h.
Information on the hulk Harriet Hope is in the Register,
27 September 1876, page 3g,
Observer,
30 September 1876, page 8b,
17 March 1877, page 11d,
Register,
7 and 18 May 1881, pages 5c and 4g-5b-6b-3a (supp.); also see
17 and 26 August 1881, pages 6f and 5c-6d,
Observer,
25 June 1881, page 1132d,
20 and 27 August 1881, pages 30b and 30b,
Advertiser,
5 September 1881, page 6c and South Australia - Crime, Law and Punishment.
A proposed school on the Glenelg hulk is discussed in the Advertiser,
11 April 1877, page 6g.
Examinations at the Grammar School are reported in the Register,
19 December 1874, page 7,
Chronicle,
18 December 1875, page 4f,
Register,
19 December 1879, page 6g,
Express,
18 June 1881, page 3e,
17 December 1891, page 2c and
those of the Ladies' College in the Register,
22 June 1883, page 7g.
A Grammar School sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
15 November 1884, page 15g.
A photograph is in the Observer,
6 January 1917, page 28.
Reminiscences of the Glenelg Grammar School are in the Advertiser,
30 November 1936, page 21a.
Information on local schools is in the Advertiser,
2 February 1876, page 6b,
Register,
13 September 1879, page 6c,
Express,
2 December 1881, page 3a.
A photograph of Mrs Hillier's "old school" is in the Observer,
14 August 1926, page 33.
Information on Caterer's school is in the Register,
1 January 1877, page 7b,
Express,
26 August 1892, page 2b and
the opening of New College on
4 October 1892, page 4c.
Mr F.L. Caterer's obituary is in the Register,
27 and 29 August 1892, pages 5b and 4h-6b.
The opening of the new public school is reported in the Register,
1 March 1881, page 5f; also see
Express,
24 July 1885, page 4c.
Information on Mrs S.G. Kingston's and Miss Dow's school is in the Express,
19 December 1892, page 3e,
Chronicle,
23 December 1893, page 22b.
"The New College" is in the Observer,
8 October 1892, page 30d.
A farewell to Alexander Kemp, headmaster of the public school, is reported in the Register
18 September 1895, page 6e,
Observer,
21 September 1895, page 13d.
A speech day at Yoothamurra School is reported in the Register,
20 December 1895, page 7f.
A photograph of and information the school is in the Observer,
25 August 1906, page 30,
Observer,
25 August 1906, page 30.
A St Joseph's School concert is reported in the Express,
19 December 1901, page 2c.
A ball in aid of St Peter's Day School, with photographs, is reported in the Observer,
13 August 1904, page 24.
An obituary of J.R.P. Parsons, headmaster, is in the Observer,
12 August 1905, page 38e.
"Kindergarten at Glenelg" is in the Register,
11 May 1914, page 6e.
The unveiling of a Roll of Honour at the Marist Brothers College is in the Chronicle,
29 September 1917, page 26.
The laying of the foundation stone of an infants' school is reported in The News,
24 April 1929;
for information on its Mothers' Club see
4 April 1929, page 10c.
Photographs of a jubilee celebration are in the Chronicle,
26 March 1931, page 36; also see
20 April 1933, page 34.
Photographs of an Arbor Day are in the Observer,
31 July 1930, page 31.
Photographs of the Woodlands Girls School are in the Chronicle,
20 April 1933, page 31,
13 September 1934, page 36,
9 May 1935, page 31,
30 July 1936, page 35,
of kindergarten students on
22 August 1935, page 31.
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Jetty, Breakwater and Lighthouses
Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lighthouses and Lightships
A History of the Jetty
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When I walk on the jetty, which might be a delightful promenade, my attention is so constantly demanded to see where I plant my feet that I cannot hold up my head to see the surrounding objects until I am comfortably seated, lest my foot should be hurt or my ankle dislocated by treading on those oblique apertures which cross my path every six inches....
(Register, 15 March 1866, p. 2.)
At the time of the foundation of the Glenelg township the proprietors proposed to erect a jetty for, to them, it was ?clear that few large vessels would now go around to the port if facilities for discharging cargoes were provided at Glenelg? and it was suggested that:
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If the jetty proposed by Colonel Light is constructed Glenelg will become the sole landing place for cattle and sheep, as well as for the cargoes of ships whose tonnage prevents their entering Port Adelaide.
To this end authority was sought from the Governor and, at public meeting held in the Adelaide Court House on 26 November 1839, Captain Alfred Fell moved that a company be formed with a capital of £2,000. By mid-December land had been secured in the township upon which it was proposed to erect warehouses which were to be ?provided with cranes and cellars and other accommodation for the storing of goods.? It was also considered possible ?to bring loaded barges from the ships along one of the natural hollows, actually within the warehouses.? Work commenced in 1840 but, to Governor Gawler's disquiet, nothing further was done although ?a large entertainment was given at Glenelg in honour of driving the first pile.?
The question of a jetty at Glenelg was next considered in 1850 when, on 1 September, the Glenelg Jetty Committee was formed which, at once, entered into correspondence with the government, having previously themselves subscribed a sum of money to procure plans and estimates for their guidance, which were furnished by Mr Aird, providing for a jetty 1,000 feet in length with six feet of water at the sea end:
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I [R.B. Colley] could show many advantages that would arise to Glenelg from the existence of a jetty arising from the fisheries, coastal trade, etc. The saving of a long sea voyage would be made by all coasters landing their cargoes - the produce of the southern districts intended for the Adelaide market - at Glenelg, instead of proceeding on to Port Adelaide. In fact, a jetty into the sea is like a bridge over a river, it becomes the highway of traffic.
Then came the gold discovery in Victoria when every kind of local enterprise was abandoned and further movement respecting the jetty was suspended. In July 1853 a memorial signed by ?merchants, ship owners and others? was circulated stating that:
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In these stirring times when the Mother Country is straining every nerve to reduce the time of communication between us, and when the loss of an hour in correspondence is of such vital importance to the mercantile community, it is submitted by all practical men that Holdfast Bay is the place most suitable for a jetty.
In September 1853 Mr George Kingston moved in the Legislative Council that the petition be taken into consideration and that an Address be presented to the Governor; this motion was lost by a majority of six, while in December of that year Captain J.F. Duff addressed His Excellency the Governor in respect of the construction of a jetty at Glenelg and in doing so traversed the merits and demerits of both Port Adelaide and Glenelg as ports:
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I do not presume to suppose that the state of Port Adelaide has escaped your attention; nor would I attempt to bring the facts before you in this, perhaps, irregular way, were it not that, since it has become the fashion to construct legislators out of merchants and tradesmen, and to substitute their individual opinions for the former plan of examining experienced practical witnesses before Committees, the only impartial tribunal attainable by the public is the higher portion of the legislature... I will attempt to show that, inferior as the harbour is, something might be done to promote dispatch without involving an immediate and great outlay, which to do anything effectually with the Outer Bar must be incurred...
When I find that four ships have been lying in the exposed anchorage at the Lightship for some weeks attempting to lighten... [and] after an experience of more than 15 years, I have no hesitation in saying that Holdfast Bay is equally safe for ships as the present anchoring ground at the Lightship... In 1836-7 I landed cargoes at the Bay in less time than it has taken ships I have before referred to lighten their cargoes. The expense of constructing a jetty would be comparatively trifling compared to that of deepening the outer bar.... Unless something is done promptly to do away with the delay at the Lightship, the ship owners and underwriters of Britain will exact higher rates and premiums for suffering their vessels to encounter risks and delays of this Port.
In answer to this request the Colonial Secretary, B.T. Finniss, responded on behalf of the governor:
-
The Trinity Board having reported that the anchorage at Glenelg is unsafe and ill-adapted as a port for commercial purposes His Excellency could not feel justified in acceding to your recommendations of the erection of a jetty at Glenelg.
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When it was known that he was only the mouthpiece of a party whom they well know was working in the dark to obtain the removal of the jetty from Glenelg, they would see the necessity of endeavouring to avert these designs... Sir Henry Young proposed its construction in 1854 and a sum was placed on the estimates for that purpose and on the faith of it many... had purchased land at Glenelg...
Firstly, Henry Muirhead contended that at the public meeting held in March 1857:
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Vested interests presided, addressed the meeting, carried their resolutions, and the jetty, not only from the main and direct Adelaide road, but, contrary to all reason, clean past the next best site as pointed out by Captain Cawthorne in 1851, that was below Joshuah's house, nearly in front of the English Church...
- The spot recommended by Captain Cawthorne, the master of the Lighthouse... is about opposite Joshuah's cottages, a spot within 120 feet of the present site. About a section further south, in a line with the Broadway, New Glenelg, is a natural breakwater, now used for the oyster beds. It appears to have been forgotten... that a breakwater is to be placed at the head of the jetty now erecting...
Thomas Lipson, a former colonial Harbour Master, then entered the fray on behalf of the northern site:
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It was originally intended to carry the jetty from the south side of the entrance of the creek at Glenelg. The prevalent winds are from the south and west. The weeds and sand thrown off the entrance would be stopped, form a bank on the south side of the jetty, defend it from the stroke of the sea, leaving the north side smooth and sheltered. When the passage was cleared down, a basin could be formed inside the mouth of the creek... large enough for craft to load and discharge shipping, or for a small steamer to land passengers, etc., from any packet that arrived at the Bay...
If the creek is rejected and the jetty be put on the open beach, there can be neither steamer nor discharging craft of any kind [and] there will be no means of affording shelter or protection to the work, and that its utility will be scarcely more than that of affording an agreeable promenade to mammas and their children and their nursemaids and certainly useless for all important purposes of colonial requirements...
And so the arguments waxed and waned, the following being a small selection from angry participants in a debate that served no good purpose for the government was not to be swayed away from the recommendation of the Jetty Commission:
- Further enquiry is necessary before the site of the jetty is changed from the end of the Adelaide Road to Brighton Terrace, opposite the Pier Hotel. The first and original site near the creek is obviously the best, having regard to its approaches landward... A glance at the map of Glenelg will show the tortuous road by which the approach to the Pier Hotel will be gained, and this road for the most part is sandy and in other places boggy, will require a large outlay to make it available, and in order to do so it will be further necessary to form and metal the Adelaide Road running down to the first site chosen.
But another formidable objection appears against the Pier Hotel site. What is to become of the bathers, male and female, on either side of the jetty? It is contemplated to set apart the space between the creek and the hotel for promenading solely. The new bridge being constructed will conduct one or other of the sexes across the creek, where they may bathe with the greatest privacy and comfort; but what is to become of those who must inevitably be compelled to walk the best part of a mile to obtain the same luxury on the other side of the jetty?
If the jetty is placed at Hayes Flat it will be nearly useless and will certainly be quite dry at low water... But another reason overlooked by Mr Hayes is the approach to and departure of shipping from pier or jetty. With a wind blowing from the prevailing points in bad weather, south and west, a vessel, as soon as she slips her moorings, will be on shore before she can get way on her...
Should the jetty be erected on the site originally proposed the accumulation of sand and seaweed at the creek, now much complained of, would be intercepted by the piles and cause the formation of a natural spit or breakwater extending from the shore mouth of the creek and create a sheltered channel through which lighters and small steamers could enter the creek...
After considerable delays the material was landed at a cost of £22,830.16s.7d. In August 1857 work commenced on the jetty designed on a principle patented by a Mr Mitchell in the 1830s and one of the first piles was driven by the Governor on 29 August 1857:
-
The Young Australian steamer brought a large party from Port Adelaide while Mr Duryea's newly launched and beautiful little craft, Coquette, [sailed gracefully by]. On the landward size was a handsome vehicle, of the genus ?Bus?, horsed by four of Rounsevell's gallant greys which turned out on this occasion for the first time... while His Excellency and Lady MacDonnell came on horseback along the beach... [Later] the Governor, assisted by an assembly of Freemasons, screwed a pile into the sand. This was performed by means of a windlass having two handles one of which was manned by His Excellency
-
It is feared that the accident will terminate badly, which is the more deplorable, as we understand that his unfortunate wife is hourly expecting to be confined; there are two young children, the eldest not exceeding three years, entirely dependent upon him for a living.
There was much criticism of the standards of work of the English manufacturer, who was responsible for all of the iron work upon the jetty, portion of which first arrived on the Berkshire on 10 March 1857, and to this end the editor of the Observer castigated him:
-
Even to an unprofessional eye the defects of workmanship and materials are palpable and those well qualified to judge condemn them as being in the highest degree disgraceful.... the only wonder is that any manufacturer would permit his name to be attached to a work at once so defective and so discreditable. Nor does the fault stop there. The things required for the erection of the jetty have come out in installments and it is only a few days ago that the last of the materials arrived, although they should have been here twelve months ago...
The jetty was intended principally for the convenience of small coasting steamers and sailing vessels; also to enable large ships, whose draft of water was too great when deeply laden, to go over the bar entrance at Port Adelaide to discharge part of their cargo; and for the more speedy landing of mails. Its extreme length was 1,250 feet with a depth of 12 feet at low, and 18 feet at high water at the head, where vessels discharged and had a double line of rails laid down upon it. The pier, being exposed in windy weather to a short, choppy sea, was sheltered at the head by a breakwater and upon completion its total cost amounted to £34,294.
Monday, 25 April 1859, was a proud day for the rising township of Glenelg when upwards of 2,000 people gathered to witness the opening of the jetty by the Governor. From an early hour the Bay Road was dusty with the transit of carriages and ?monster omnibuses? filled with joyous holiday makers, ?all bent on associating a healthy excursion with the celebration of the terminated construction of one of the most important public works in the colony.?
A ?gross injustice? was inflicted upon the economic welfare of Glenelg in 1862 when one of the cranes was removed from the jetty and, in an effort to ?prevent such an uncalled spoliation?, Henry Moseley addressed the local press:
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The recent transmission of heavy goods to the Talisker mine could not have been effected without these cranes... Why, then, remove a convenience at great cost which must ultimately be replaced at a still greater outlay? The act is not only impolitic, but also a breach of faith, as we are unfortunate enough in not having even a semblance of a corporation to guard us from spoliation.
I hope some hon. member of the Assembly will make enquries on the subject or the government, if unmolested, may take it into their hands some of these fine days to remove, not only the cranes, but even the jetty itself to form a nursery promenade in some more favourable locality.
Later, on 18 November 1865 the Mayor of Glenelg and several gentlemen attended at the hotel for the purpose of presenting Captain Watson with a handsome binocular glass which had been subscribed by those citizens present. A toast was drunk to Mr Moseley ?whose enterprise had been the means of introducing the first cargo of coals into Glenelg? and in reply that gentleman said that:
-
He trusted to be able to use his influence towards the provision of proper moorings at Glenelg, as he was certain that if they were laid down it would be an inducement to owners of vessels to send them without fear.
The jetty was also used for recreation purposes by many youths of the town and cranes at the head of the jetty were resorted to by adventurous bathers who used them as a diving platform. Many persons had been in the habit of discouraging bathing from off the jetty bulwarks, considering the leap from the steps as quite enough for all purposes of enjoyment. However, in February 1870, a foolhardy youth, whilst plunging from the top of a crane, ?failed to take proper aim?, and fell on his side in the water, to his own evident discomfort.
During 1872 many adverse opinions were enunciated in the House of Assembly by some members that the Glenelg jetty should not be repaired out of the general revenue and, in support of the legislators, a correspondent under the pseudonym of ?Alert? penned the following:
-
It cannot be questioned that during our long summers the general public flock in thousands from all part s of the province to the jetty to invigorate their constitutions with a whiff of the briny, and the public having worn out the flooring of the jetty, is it too much too ask that the public purse should repair it?
At the same time the Register's ?Geoffrey Crabthorn? interposed with a satirical piece and a poem:
-
It is not often that I am enabled to inhale the odorous atmosphere pervading the neighbourhood of the Glenelg Creek or mix in the gay and festive throng... promenading the jetty during the summer season, and therefore any remarks I may make on the proposed structure must necessarily be of a very impartial character.... Whether the jetty was ever required, or should ever to have been built, is entirely foreign to the question - there it stands now, so badly in want of repairs that we are told that it is becoming absolutely dangerous. Although the piles - both of timber and money - already sunk have done their best, it would assuredly be a good thing to make the jetty self-supporting, and it is unfortunate that Mr Blyth's proposal to levy a small toll for admission... should not be feasible.
I would suggest that as hon. members have expressed a diversity of opinion upon this subject, all jetties, etc., should for the future be under the supervision of a Select Committee, to be called ?The House of Piers?. A young lady who occasionally corresponds with me, but whose letters are unfortunately like angels? visits, send me the following somewhat rhapsodical communication upon the much needed repairs, and which, as illustrating a view of the subject entertained, perhaps, by more than one of the fair sex, I am happy to insert:
-
My dearest Mr Crabthorn, Oh! I?m really so excited!
I feel inclined to kiss the cook or hug the housemaid Betty,
That charming Mr Barrow! oh, the darling should be knighted
For begging for that thousand pounds to spend upon the jetty.
If you could see the flooring you?d be terribly indignant,
The rotten open planking South Australia disgraces;
I'm sure you will be sorry (for I know you are begninant)
To see me twist my ankles in those horrid broken places.
Another thing I?ll mention, which, I think, will gain your pity,
A week last Monday evening, when we had all finished dining,
A friend of brother Charley's, whom we brought down from the city,
Proposed a promenade, and as the moon was brightly shining
Mamma and I put on our cloaks, and off we went together,
But we found the wind was blowing from a somewhat chilly quarter,
So Charley's friend suggested, as a shelter from the weather,
A seat upon the steps, that lead right down to the water.
At first it was delightful, though I felt a little frightened,
Till Charley's friend assured me that there wasn?t any danger,
And then he squeezed my fingers so, I know my colour heightened,
For I thought it rather forward - he was such an utter stranger,
But one thing that I noticed was, the Jetty steps kept shaking,
And seemed to tremble with our weight whene?er the wind blew stronger,
Until mamma jumped up and said, ?I?m sure the steps are breaking;
?Come home, my dear, it isn?t safe any longer!?
It's true the steps are rotten and the railings all unjointed;
But when we were so cosy, and the sea did look so pretty,
I couldn?t bear to leave it, and I felt so disappointed,
I wouldn?t speak a single word the whole way up the Jetty,
I know that I was sulky - but then, wasn?t it provoking?
But thanks to Mr Barrow, Mr Townsend and the others,
The steps will soon be strengthened, and - course I?m only joking -
I hope to sit there often with a friend, Sir, of my brother's.
Devotedly yours,
Arabella Gushington
Just before the fire originated two young boys, the sons of Mr Fischer of the Pier Hotel and Mr Bungert, a butcher of Freeman Street, Adelaide, were in the tower attending to the lamp. Fischer asked Bungert for a light and the latter, having struck a match, threw it on the floor just below the lamp. There was some cotton soaked in kerosene there and it ignited thus causing the destruction of the building. The Government arranged a temporary light in its stead by affixing it to the flagstaff, while a week or two later the Marine Board approved plans ?for the proposed additions to the Glenelg jetty and of the new lighthouse to be erected thereon.?
In his reminiscences held in the State Library, David Shepard recalls that:
-
The L-Head [sic] had not been added to it and it had a wooden lighthouse at the end. I was close to it when it caught fire; it burnt down to the floor and the burning frame was pushed overboard. It happened on a Sunday evening at a time when people were in church. A man by the name of Jewell, then the postmaster, who walked on wooden legs from the knees down, had the contract from the Marine Board to light the lamps. This night he sent the Postboy and a boy by the name of Fisher [sic], whose father then kept the Pier Hotel, to light up, with the result above stated...
The jetty was not like it is now, it then had no kiosk. It was intended when the jetty was built to put an L-Head to it and iron plate it to act as a breakwater; the iron plates were never used for that purpose but lay on the beach for years and were bought for a song by H. Moseley, who at that time kept the Pier Hotel. Several of us boys had a good ride on them as they were being drawn along the sand by five horses. Moseley used them as a fence to his backyard...
The jetty was the scene of a tragedy in July 1876 when Mrs Mary McCarthy was crushed by a truck driven by an employee of Mr Bowker, of Glenelg. At a trial, where Mr McCarthy sought to recover damages for the injuries sustained by his wife, it was reported that it was almost impossible for any person to pass between the truck and the railing without being crushed, although one witness asserted that he had seen the truck pass men and boys who were leaning over the railing. The jury awarded Mrs McCarthy £45 which, ?though it will doubtless be of great service to the family, who are people in humble circumstances, will yet badly compensate the poor woman for the pain she has suffered...?
Prior to 1876 ornamental lamps were used with varying success in the lighthouse; sometimes burning well, but at others in stormy weather, when light was most needed, became extinguished. All difficulties in this respect were overcome in 1876 when these old oil and kerosene lamps were replaced by their ?more modern and brilliant rival, gas.? In trials carried out aboard the cutter, Rosa, the general illumination of the new lamps was to be seen all but eight miles from the shore.
In April 1882 a deputation from the Glenelg corporation waited upon the Treasurer, Hon. Lavington Glyde, and asked that the Government take steps to lengthen the jetty by about a quarter of a mile, thus permitting the largest vessels to come up and anchor there:
-
The Russian fleet anchored within that distance from the present end of the jetty and it was clear, therefore, that in the event of the work being carried out very large boats would be able to come up to the end of the new structure... It was a well known fact that the nasty choppy sea experienced at the Semaphore was not to be found at the Bay and although the weather may be rough occasionally at the latter place, unloading had been done there in a shorter space of time than at any other place in the colonies.
Another deputation to the Treasurer occurred in 1885 when he was informed that:
-
Very frequently when goods were being landed the passengers had to scramble over the jetty to the danger of their limbs and [we] are informed that the difficulty might be overcome at the expense of £3,000 or £4,000... The facilities at Glenelg were less than at other parts of the coast... In years to come South Australia will be the landing place for mails, etc., for the eastern colonies and various schemes had been proposed to secure proper landing among which was the outer harbour at Marino... What [we] ask is that the jetty be extended by 1,800 feet... If the P&O boats left Glenelg they would not go anywhere else and that would be a serious thing...
The lighthouse and flagstaff at the end of the jetty were provided with a complete set of international signal flags but were put to little use by the lighthouse keeper and, in 1882, Mr Allchurch said that he had not an occasion to use them for three years. However, complaints were made by the master of the Roma that on running up the gulf in thick weather he had mistaken the Glenelg light tower for that of Semaphore. Mr W.E. Slade, the Deputy Assistant Engineer, considered that no lighthouse was required at Glenelg because mail steamers had ceased to call there and recommended its immediate removal and replacement by an ?ordinary jetty light.?
In 1907 it was proposed to build a pavilion on the jetty to 'supply refreshments of every description on a separate platform? at the north-west corner just inside the L-Head. It was to be constructed on piles with a jarrah floor and built of wood and covering an area of 60 by 45 feet. The main room was to be 15 feet high with a promenade roof around the centre storey terminating with a lookout, with a fancy iron railing. It was to be glazed with leadlight windows and at night lighted with several large lamps. During rough weather patrons would be protected from wind and rain with canvas walls and roofing. The pavilion itself was to be fitted with marble top tables and fancy chairs, while lounge chairs were to be placed outside. In addition, the existing invalids? awning at the extreme end of the jetty was to be removed and ?a more fanciful one erected.?
The pavilion was erected by Messrs Sigalis & Company at a cost of nearly £2,300 and opened by the Premier, Thomas Price, on 26 October 1907. It was fitted up with ?the latest American principle with temperate drinking fountains?, while a lift was provided for conveying refreshments from the kitchen to each floor. In the course of his opening address Mr Price intimated that:
-
Although the corporation was not of his mind regarding politics... anything it had asked from the government was generally necessary and reproductive work. The repairs to the jetty had not been done long before they were needed. They had an improved railway service and further improvements would be introduced shortly. Another boon was the proposed breakwater...
General Notes
The proposed formation of a company to construct a pier and erect warehouses is advertised in the Southern Australian, 19 December 1839, page 1d.
The proposed erection of a "pleasure pier" is reported in the Adelaide Times,
25 October 1851, page 8e; also see
14 July 1853, page 2c.
Comments on a proposed jetty and an account of a "private" jetty in 1850 are in the Register,
15 August 1853, page 3b; also see
Observer,
20 August 1853, page 6d,
8 October 1853, page 3c,
31 December 1853, page 3d,
Register,
26 January 1856, page 4c and
7 February 1856, page 3b
15 August 1856, page 2f.
Public meetings in connection with a jetty are reported in the Observer,
6 June 1857, page 3f.
For further references see Register,
11 and 21 March 1857, pages 2e and 2h,
3 June 1857, page 2f,
31 August 1857, page 2e,
Observer,
14 March 1857, page 6h,
28 March 1857, page 3f,
5 September 1857, page 3c,
27 March 1858, page 8c,
Register,
21, 25 and 26 March 1857, pages 2h, 3a and 3a,
6 April 1857, page 3a,
2 June 1857, page 3f,
3, 5, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25 and
27 August 1857, pages 3d, 4c, 3f, 3d, 2h, 3f, 3e, 3h and 3f.
The commencement of the government structure is reported in the Register,
31 August 1857, page 2e; also see
28 October 1857, page 3h,
25 March 1858, page 2h;
its opening is recorded on
26 April 1859, page 3c; also see
Advertiser,
28 March 1859, page 3d.
Correspondence relating to the cost of the jetty, etc, is in Parliamentary Paper 53/1857.
Complaints re the removal of the crane is reported in the Register on 30 August 1862, page 3f.
A report on a proposed breakwater is in Parliamentary Paper 31/1859.
An editorial in respect of a proposed breakwater is in the Register,
5 May 1859, page 2h; also see
15 June 1859, page 2g,
Chronicle,
2 April 1859, page 2d,
Register,
26 September 1877, page 5f,
Express,
28 January 1909, page 4f,
15 March 1909, page 4h,
30 December 1910, page 4c,
12 January 1911, page 4a,
Register,
21 August 1912, page 9e.
A photograph is in the Observer,
20 March 1909, page 29,
13 and 27 March 1915, pages 28 and 29,
Register,
3 June 1915, page 6d.
A letter re the need for a light on the jetty is in the Register of
12 August 1859, page 3a.
The destruction of the lighthouse at the end of the jetty is reported in the Observer,
13 September 1873, page 10a; also see
4 October 1873, page 8a,
16 December 1876, page 3f.
Its proposed lengthening is reported in the Register,
12 April 1882, page 6c.
A Glenelg Regatta is described in the Register,
29 December 1859, page 3e,
Chronicle,
30 January 1875, page 4d.
The arrival and discharge of the first merchant vessel at the jetty is reported in the Register,
16 and 21 November 1865, pages 3h and 2g; also see
Chronicle,
18 November 1865, page 7e.
A warning against diving off the jetty and instances of death and injury by so doing are recited in the Register,
8 February 1870, page 5d.
Early newspaper references in respect of jetties are in the Register,
17 January 1924, page 9h.
Satirical comment on the jetty is in the Register,
30 April 1872, page 5e,
1 May 1872, page 5c.
The removal of rails from the jetty is reported in the Express,
2 May 1872, page 2d.
A proposed pavilion on the jetty is discussed in the Observer,
4 May 1907, page 28a;
its opening is reported in the Advertiser,
28 October 1907, page 11a.
Photographs of an on-shore pavilion are in the Observer,
4 May 1907, page 28.
A report of a ship colliding with the jetty is in the Observer,
3 January 1874, page 8b.
Information on the jetty is in the Register,
11 and 29 August 1885, pages 6g and 5b.
An article on the lighthouse is in the Register,
15 December 1876, page 5a.
For information on the Beatrice Light see 17 May 1883,
page 4g and below.
Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lighthouses and Lightships
"The Glenelg Light" is in the Register,
16 and 17 September 1881, pages 4g and 6e.
The "Beatrice Lightship" is mentioned in the Register on
17 May 1883, page 4g,
19, 24 and 25 December 1885, pages 5b, 6c and 7g,
28 January 1886, page 5c,
5, 11, 12, 23, 26 and 27 February 1886, pages 5c, 7d, 5c-7d, 5d, 4g and 6d,
3 and 4 March 1886, pages 5a and 4h-7d,
11, 12, 15, 19 and 22 March 1886, pages 5a, 5a, 5d, 7h and 7c.
Also see Advertiser,
30 January 1886, page 4e.
Information on a hulk is in the Register,
18 May 1881, page 4g-5b-3a (supp.); also see
17 August 1881, page 6f,
Advertiser,
5 September 1881, page 6c and note South Australia - Crime, Law and Punishment - Law - Reformatory Hulk.
On at page 5b in the Register a lady expressed surprise at:
-
The strange want of gallantry evinced by many of the promenaders [on the jetty] who walk up and down with cigars in their mouths, regardless of the direction of the wind, to the great discomfort of the ladies occupying the seats...
-
The real grievance was that the quiet delights of the cigar were preferred to the promenade and harmless flirtation...
21 October 1876, page 7f.
Lighting of the jetty is discussed in the Express,
15 December 1876, page 2d and
concerts on the jetty in the Register,
28 January 1878, page 5c,
2 February 1879, page 5a; also see
11 November 1882, page 2c (supp.).
"The Russian Squadron at Glenelg" is in the Chronicle,
4 March 1882, pages 5f-10d.
"Lighthouse and Flagstaff on Jetty" is in the Register,
24 September 1891, page 5b.
A proposed harbour is discussed in the Register,
14, 16 and 18 March 1907, pages 5c-9c, 5d and 4f,
4 August 1913, page 7c;
27 February 1915, page 7f for a report on a proposed breakwater,
18 October 1915, page 6f,
1 March 1916, page 5f,
29 and 30 June 1916, pages 5a and 4c,
12, 13, 14 and 21 July 1916, pages 8h, 5b, 6g and 4c-e,
24 August 1916, page 6b,
9 July 1917, page 4g,
8 February 1921, page 6b.
A proposed pavilion on the jetty is discussed in the Register,
27 October 1905, page 5b;
its opening is reported on
28 October 1907, page 6e;
a photograph is in the Chronicle,
2 November 1907, page 29,
of May's Band on
3 February 1917, page 28.
"Glenelg's Concrete Breakwater" is in the Register,
13 and 15 March 1909, pages 8g and 4e; also see
29 and 30 December 1910, pages 4e and 6c,
7 January 1911, page 15h,
30 April 1914, page 6e,
6 and 23 May 1914, pages 8e and 15c,
27 February 1915, page 7f,
1 March 1916, page 5f,
29 and 30 June 1916, pages 5a and 4c,
13, 21 and 26 July 1916, pages 5b, 4c-e and 9a,
2, 4, 9 and 24 August 1916, pages 5d, 6g, 11d and 6b-7b,
5 and 8 September 1916, pages 4e and 7e,
8 November 1916, page 6e,
7 February 1917, page 6h,
9 and 10 July 1917, pages 4f and 4b-f,
6, 12 and 19 September 1917, pages 4d, 10c and 6d-9e,
3, 25 and 26 October 1917, pages 7g, 9c and 4h,
17 September 1918, page 4e,
22 December 1919, page 6g,
30 December 1919, page 4e,
17 September 1920, page 6i,
8 February 1921, page 6b,
29 May 1922, page 6d,
1 August 1922, page 6e.
A history of the breakwater is in the Register,
2 September 1921, page 7e,
24 October 1922, page 6f,
"Breakwater - Harbour for Rats" appears on
25 March 1925, page 10a;
17 June 1925, page 8h.
The removal of the breakwater is reported upon in The Mail,
14 November 1925, page 4f.
Also see Patawalonga.
"Gales in the Gulf - Excitement at the Seaside" is in the Register,
3 October 1910, page 7a.
Photographs of storm damage are in The Critic,
9 January 1904, page 5,
Observer,
22 May 1915, page 27.
The lighting of the Varley Memorial Light is reported in the Advertiser,
3 December 1920, page 6g.
"Demolition of Breakwater Jetty" is in the Register,
14 March 1929, page 12e.
"Indolent Anglers at Glenelg" is in The News,
7 November 1935, page 2f.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Fishing
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Larrikinism
Also see Adelaide - Larrikinism
Crime, Larrikinism and Wanton Mischief
(Taken from an Unpublished Manuscript by Geoffrey H Manning's A Social History of Glenelg - 1836-1936 - copy in State Library)
Glenelg was visited by several cabloads of the most degraded of both sexes... Terpischorean performances resembling the war dances of the untutored savages, with intervals of noisy attention to the bottles of liquor... the awful arm of the law as represented by the ubiquitous [Sergeant] Allchurch was in this instance conspicuous by its absence...
(Register, 16 December 1876, p. 6.)
Introduction
For the first two to three decades of European settlement in South Australia the people always prided themselves - and with sufficient reason - on the good order prevailing within the community. There were none of those violent crimes which disgraced and terrified the neighbouring colonies. In no part of Her Majesty's dominions had life and property been safer than in South Australia.
The people lived in the utmost security thinking it quite an unnecessary precaution in many places to use bolts and bars. Doors were left unlocked and property exposed in what people in other lands would call a most reckless deed. Our comparative immunity from crime may be ascribed to various causes - The class of persons who came here were, as a whole, of a superior order and the working classes were industrious and provident, with some considerable amount of education in their ranks. It is questionable whether in any part of the British dominions could such a provident, industrious, well-conducted community be found.
Our immigrants were well selected and many of them, in the course of a few years, raised themselves to positions of comfort and not a few became wealthy and respected. From such a well-conducted working class dangerous crimes were not anticipated. We always set our faces against the convict element mingling in our population and, from time to time, when the foundations of the colony were laid, there was always a wise jealousy and a commendable vigilance exercised to guard against the convict taint.
Our laws against the admission of transportees, from whatever quarter they might have attempted to come, were most firm - some would say arbitrary - and on the whole our vigilance was rewarded. We succeeded in practically keeping away from us the accursed evil of convictism. Those violent deeds which were so rife in the other colonies can, in almost every instance, be traced back to the influence, direct or indirect, of the existing felonry amongst them.
A third reason for the orderliness of our population and the safety of property was the fact that we had no poor amongst us, in the sense in which that word is used in the old countries of Europe. There were, of course, isolated cases in which some suffered from insufficient means. The people, generally, had plenty of work and good wages and the labouring class had comforts here which it would have been impossible to obtain in the old country. Then, in addition, the population as a whole was a religious one - proverbially, a colony of churches and church going people. These, then, it was believed, were amongst the causes which produced the safe and healthy state of society.
Sadly, by the late 1850s there became a need for increased vigilance when a spate of robberies of a daring character occurred; shops and dwelling houses were entered forcibly, stables were visited by the light-fingered gentry, where both horses and harness disappeared. Our peaceful serenity was disturbed and the people had to look about them to see to the better protection of their property. Watch-dogs were brought into service and life-preservers and revolvers were taken up by some for the purpose of ?moral suasion.?
A system of local police had been authorised in 1852 and gave civic authorities the right to nominate a sufficient number of persons to be sworn in. Disobedience of orders or breach of duty were punishable by a fine, while services were recompensed by a fee payable on account of a particular service in which a constable may have been engaged. Accordingly, a Glenelg resident, Mr Davie, was appointed as ?Constable, Inspector of Nuisances and Messenger? and in ?a rather ineffectual way endeavoured to control the youth of the town who ?congregated of an evening in front of shop windows, using foul and obscene language, and creating a great disturbance?.?
However, it was clear that neither the District Council Acts nor the Police Acts contained any definite statement of the functions which a district constable might exercise. A code of instructions was issued in 1860, but there was good reason to believe that the directions it contained were ultra vires. For instance, a district constable arrested a man for a breach of the peace and when tried before a special magistrate in Adelaide ?Mr Beddome decided that the law was against him and Mr Downer, on appeal, upheld that decision but only inflicted a nominal fine, as the constable had evidently acted bona fides and without evil intention.? Thus with a simple desire to properly discharge his duty, a special constable could make arrests in the manner directed in the semi-official ?instructions? and find himself exposed to the discomfort and loss of an adverse action at law if his authority was called into question.
Some time prior to 1864 a police constable was stationed permanently at Glenelg for in January of that year a meeting was held in the Government schoolroom to consider a proposal from the government which, apparently, desired ?to remove the policeman?. The Corporation thought that the greater part of the £70 they paid for this purpose might be saved, inasmuch as, instead of having the policeman under the existing system, it could engage, as in the 1850s, a man who could combine the duties of special constable with the ?avocation of labourer under the Corporation.? Mr H.B.T. Strangways reminded the meeting that the idea of police protection was first broached about three years before and that:
-
Mr Hitchcox who had been one of the foremost on that occasion in favour of police protection, was one of the most active in trying to get rid of it. Little boys used to go into his shop and buy Chinese crackers and after lighting them throw them in again, and that seemed to be the reason why he was so active in procuring police protection. The late Mr Joseph Peacock... succeeded in obtaining police protection for Glenelg [and] obtained a vote for a police station on the condition that the government would pay half the policeman's salary... Scenes used to occur on the jetty and beach that were most disgraceful before the advent of the policeman.
[I] defy anyone to say that the former constable even did £10 of work for the corporation... He used to do several things; amongst others he used to hold the Town Clerk's horse... To bring into Glenelg a stranger would deprive the working men [of Glenelg] that work...
Larrikinism
-
The poorest State
Can?t educate
This poor abortive human through his leal;
So as it's vain
To try his brain,
They?ll have to teach him through the back instead.
If Charles Darwin was challenged to explain the origin of the larrikin species, it may be supposed that he would refer to the superabundance of physical energy derived from the British stock; to the inordinate growth of the doctrine of liberty; to the comparatively large amount of leisure obtained in these days by all classes of society; to the ease with which money is obtained, leading to indulgence in a host of excesses that penurious times forbade; to the want of exercise of proper parental authority and to the early maturity of the physical constitution in Australia, resulting, not infrequently, in the attainment of a man's stature before the mental powers are matured.
The growth of larrikinism has been gradual, but steady, and flourishes most where population is dense. Its freaks vary according to circumstances and opportunity and range from such petty foolery as breaking gates off their hinges, ?removing sign boards and jostling foot passengers, to the barbarity of murdering Chinamen by torture, or assaulting and maiming the police.?
Nothing comes amiss to the larrikin, provided it is sufficiently foolish and mischievous. In his esteem there is naught that is sacred. The beauty of a flower, the grace of a tree, are nothing to him but objects for the gratification of his craze for destructiveness. The rights of property, the inviolability of the person, the tenderness claimed for the weak, the reverence due to the aged, all have no meaning to him - especially if the vigilance of the police can be eluded.
The larrikin is a gregarious animal - I had almost written, beast. Combination is an essential condition of his operations, and he is an arrant coward. He plays his highest jinks at the expense of the defenceless, or when he believes himself supported by such a number of accomplices that he can depend on a practical immunity from chastisement.
Late in 1872 Mr James P. Boucaut introduced a Bill into the House of Assembly for the more effectual punishment of juvenile offenders which, when carried into law, was expected to be of great service to the community. It dealt with male offenders under the age of sixteen years and provided the ?wholesome and salutary punishment? of flogging for a number of offences which were specified as:
-
1. Riotous or indecent conduct, or indecent or obscene language, or assaults on
women, or disturbing the peace in any public place.
2. Exposure in any public place.
3. Singing obscene songs, or writing or drawing obscene words, figures, or representations in a public place.
4. Throwing any deleterious drug, to the damage or danger of any person.
5. Being convicted as a rogue and vagabond.
6. Throwing stones or other missiles to the danger of any person, after a previous conviction for a similar offence.
7. Being guilty of simple larceny when the property stolen is of the value of £5 or less.
For each or any of these offences the courts could sentence an offender to be once or twice whipped, either in substitution of, or in addition to, any sentence with which, by law, such offender could then be punished. In respect of whippings, the number of strokes were limited to twenty five - as to this aspect of ?criminal reform?.
At the time, it was expected that this law would have:
-
A wholesome effect in deterring youths from the commission of offences for which there was no provision for adequate punishment... Fines and imprisonment produces but little impression on the most incorrigible of these offenders... The use of the lash produced wonderful effects in England when it was employed for the punishment of hardened and brutal ruffians who would laugh at either fines or imprisonment... We believe the effect of a good whipping on larrikins, for offences to which they are prone, would be ... salutary...
-
The wanton mischief, the serious damage to property, the outrageous and indecent insults which the public have to suffer from bands of thoughtless, unprincipled and vicious lads and boys is a terrible infliction on all the well-behaved citizens and colonists.
If the mischief is not arrested at once and the value of the police as a terror to evildoers maintained, there is no saying to what length the larrikin element amongst us will advance. The impunity with which juvenile ruffians injure public and private property in this country and otherwise annoy peaceable citizens is anything but creditable to the intelligence and manliness of the masculine portion of the community.
Deliberate injuries to property, public and private, perpetrated by youths who have reached years of discretion should be punished by the free application of the lash.
The evil has become so rife that severe corporal punishment would seem to be the only effective means available for appealing to the sensibilities of experienced and hardened larrikins... This repressive process cannot in any sense of the term be considered a radical cure for juvenile depravity.
The fast growing larrikinism of our youths greatly arises from want of reverence. There is no respect shown to age or position. Age is spoken of as ?that (expletive) old fool?; the master as ?the (expletive) boss?, with the adjective short but sanguinary... This growing larrikinism is one of the concomitants of ?the dignity of labour?. If everybody is equal there is no room for authority... It may be that Democracy and Free Education are not all beer and skittles.
A Robinson Crusoe at Glenelg
In August 1871 a decently dressed boy, aged about 14 years, was reported to Police Constable Allchurch as having been living for some days in Robinson Crusoe style upon the northern side of the bay creek. By the aid of pistol and powder he procured his rations of small birds which he cooked in a tin pot and supplemented by bread obtained from some ?loose boys? belonging to Glenelg, who seemed to act as so many ?Man Fridays.? He was brought before the magistrates as a neglected child, but at the same time a woman of respectable appearance appeared and claimed she was his mother and the wife of Mr Antonio Gannoni, a well known cab driver on the Kensington road.
She said that her son had been sent to collect the rent of a cottage belonging to his father but had disappeared with about one pound in his possession. The boy admitted having taken the money and bought a pistol and added that he had ran away because he had been whipped. The mother assured the bench that he had only been moderately corrected for misconduct. The charge was withdrawn and the boy was handed over to his mother.
A Visitor's Complaint
In December 1874 scenes of debauchery disturbed a citizen who lodged a complaint in the Adelaide press to which the Editor and the Mayor of Glenelg, Mr Wigley, responded:
I and many others were deeply grieved at the scenes which took place at a drinking and dancing booth erected in the vicinity of the Pier and Parade Hotels. During the whole of the day it was crowded with prostitutes and roughs of the lowest class and fights were continually taking place... But the scenes that took place during the night were infinitely worse...
It is difficult to determine in what way to fairly apportion the blame of these disgraceful occurrences. Our correspondent suggests that much of it is attributable to the Glenelg Corporation and notwithstanding the reply of His Worship the Mayor printed in another column we agree with him that they cannot be held guiltless in the matter... The course they adopted had the effect of giving unconditional leave to certain individuals to erect booths upon the beach and keep them open for several days.
The booth was sold by Mr Townsend by public auction for the council who did not know ?the character of the booth before they granted a stand for its erection, and that a permit was given to keep it open long after every hotel and public house were closed?, namely, from 11pm to 6 am by two Adelaide magistrates, after Mr Beddome (and I believe the resident magistrate at Glenelg) and myself had refused to grant one. The council applied to and obtained from the Commissioner of Police constables, who with a local policemen were engaged all night in keeping order as far as practicable at the same booth.
A New Chum's Brush With Glenelg's By-laws
In September 1879 a newly arrived migrant from the United Kingdom fell foul of the corporation's officialdom and was so incensed he wrote to the Editor of the Register and in his preamble pointed out that he had been fined £1 for riding upon the footpath of Colley Reserve, while on the same day an habitually drunken woman was fined to the extent of 10 shillings in the Port Adelaide Court. He continued:
-
Deeply penitent and certainly determined that, though
I might commit great matricide, I will never again
ride across Colley's Reserve, let me confess freely
that on Monday morning, having been to the baths,
and having found it uncomfortable riding on the beach
owing to the high tide, I determined to go home by
the road, the direct and, as I thought, usual approach
to which seemed to be across Colley Reserve. May
I not say the melan-choly reserve? There are no flower
beds there; not even a colley-flower grows on it.
I did no harm, and I did not know I infringed any
law in going that way. Not being able to get through
the turnstiles, I went round by the road at the back
of the Post Office and thence home. It was 7 o?clock
am and at that time I felt no sense of guilt, but
one Mr Overseer Kerr saw me... I will not lose the
opportunity of thanking Mr Kerr for the welcome to
hospitable, free Australia which he gave to me, a
newcomer from England, the land of game laws, and
where every inch of the country is owned by a haughty
aristocracy, and there is liberty to roam about at
will.
All this is personal, but now for that which is the concern and benefit of all. Why does not everyone come to Glenelg? See how sea air improves moral as well as physical health. In Port Adelaide old offenders are fined 10 shillings, but at Glenelg it is considered a crime to ride across a plot of grass. All crimes are comparative to the condition of moral development. Of course the nuisances are suppressed, all the parks kept clean, all the roads made perfect, and all the holes where stagnant water would collect, filled up by our diligent overseer. The only "take-off" to the place is that when you go for a seabath a Kerr may snap at you.
Glenelg Cyclists in Trouble
In 1897 the civic authorities ??waxed exceedingly wrath? with that section of cyclists who converted the footpaths into bicycle tracks and, war having been formally declared, Corporal Allchurch and PC Hansberry reconnoitered while the town clerk, Mr J.P. Bickford, it was ?whispered?, took lessons in the art of laying information:
-
For some time the enemy safely eluded their pursuers and as complaints continued the advisableness of procuring reinforcements from the city was discussed. Following this, however, came one or two arrests and by dint of perseverance the number was swelled to six... The corporation was no respector of persons for among the culprits who appeared before the Mayor, Nr G.K. Soward, and Mr H.D. Gell were the Acting Crown Solicitor and ?his equally well known?, with two lad relatives who, with a leading member of the Stock Exchange and another gentlemen pleaded guilty......
Crackers and Constables
In 1910, at the time of the celebration of Guy Fawke's Day at Glenelg the local police were reinforced by five constables when a large crowd assembled in Moseley Square to witness the customary baptism of fire arranged for the police. Large crackers and smaller packages were exploded at frequent intervals until ten o?clock when, apparently upon an arranged signal, matters livened up and a perfect fusillade of reports was heard from all directions. Senior Constable Reilly had his men well in hand and for the next hour they were kept busy trying to locate the offenders, but the darkness made this impossible. Shortly after 10 pm the fire alarm in Jetty Road was broken and the firemen, who turned out promptly to the call, were greeted with shouts and hoots by a section of the crowd.
A more serious incident occurred shortly after 11 pm when a large, jagged stone, thrown at Constable Harrold from the lane adjoining the Pier Hotel struck MC Clark upon the head, cut through his cap and inflicted a deep wound... The offender was promptly seized by a plainclothes officer. Constable Keen rushed to his comrade's assistance and was promptly felled with a bottle. A general mixup followed. The supposed law breaker was rescued by the crowd and the police, bearing all the marks of rough usage, supported their two injured comrades and returned to the station. The police, with batons drawn, then stepped out in a body and the crowd soon dispersed...
Illegal Tea Selling on the Beach
The persistency of Mrs Martha C. Dally, in selling tea and hot water upon the beach without a permit and in continued defiance of the law, led to her appearance before the local court in January 1914. After receiving leniency from the magistrate, on the next day Mrs Dally took up a situation upon the beach and resumed her competition with the holder of a permit who had paid for the rights of sale. Hauled before the bench again she was rewarded with the imposition of a £5 fine with £2 costs; in default one month's imprisonment.
General Notes
The conduct of some citizens on 28 December 1874 prompted the Editor of the Register to Express concern at the "Outraging of Public Propriety" - "All night drinking, dancing and [indulgence] in scandalous immoralities". See
31 December 1874, page 4e and
7 January 1875, page 6c.
"Rough Visitors at Glenelg" is in the Register, 16 December 1876, page 6c:
-
Glenelg was visited by several cabloads of the most degraded of both sexes... Terpischorean performances resembling the war dances of the untutored savages, with intervals of noisy attention to the bottles of liquor... the awful arm of the law as represented by the ubiquitous Allchurch was in this instance conspicuous by its absence...
(Biographical details of Sergeant Allchurch are in the Register,
1, 22 and 25 October 1898, pages 5b, 5c and 3e,
18 November 1912, page 6.)
-
At the premier watering place deplorable sights may frequently be witnessed, and the Sabbath day has lost its old-time air of peace and restfullness...
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Public Buildings
A report on the laying of the foundation stone of the Pier Hotel is in the Register,
9 June 1856, page 3g; also see
18 January 1877, page 6f,
19 March 1910, page 5d,
3 June 1910, page 6f,
23 February 1911, page 4d,
18 March 1911, page 12i,
4 October 1912, page 6f,
23 November 1912, page 17f.
The "artistic talent" of J.D. Stone in the billiard room of the Pier Hotel is reported upon in the Register,
7 November 1876, page 6b.
The opening of its ballroom is reported in the Register,
26 May 1928, page 12a.
Information on Mr Magarey's proposed residence is in the Observer,
1 August 1863, page 4g.
The controversy surrounding the "Government Cottage" and its history are explored in the Register,
16, 17, 18 May 1872, pages 4e, 5d and 5d; also see
21 May 1872, page 5c,
21 May 1872 (supp.), page 10d,
27 and 28 May 1872, pages 4f and 6f,
15 and 17 March 1879, pages 6e and 4c-6f,
12, 14, 19, 20, 22, 24 and 26 July 1882, pages 5c, 6e, 4g, 6c, 1f (supp.), 6a and 7a,
Observer,
5 August 1882, page 37a,
Register,
5 October 1882, page 6c,
21 May 1889, page 6f.
Its history is to be found on
28 August 1883, page 7a.
A history of the cottage is at the end of this section
Building improvements during 1873 are discussed in the Chronicle,
10 January 1874, page 6c,
Advertiser,
8 January 1874, page 2e.
New buildings are commented upon in the Register,
1 January 1878, page 7c,
2 January 1880, page 5g,
Observer,
4 January 1879, page 5d,
10 January 1880, page 72c.
Mr W. Bickford's house is described in the Register,
18 July 1885, page 7b.
An article on an exhibition of "walking on the bottom of the sea" is reported in the Express,
20 January 1873, page 2d.
Foureur and Kritzner's Aerated Water factory is described in the Register,
12 January 1875, page 5c.
The subject of the local gasworks and the lighting of the town is discussed in the Register,
17 August 1875, page 6b.
Also see Adelaide - Lighting the City and Homes
A proposed aquarium is discussed in the Register,
13 December 1875, page 3g; also see
29 May 1876, page 6a and
13 June 1876, page 6a,
Express,
29 August 1876, page 2b,
Register,
13 March 1886, page 5c,
20 and 21 October 1893, pages 7f and 4g,
17 November 1893, page 5c,
3 February 1894, page 5b; also see
Register,
15 December 1921, page 6g,
29 March 1922, page 6e,
The Mail,
15 July 1922, page 6e (includes a sketch of the 1893 proposal).
Also see Adelaide - Entertainment and the Arts - Miscellany for an essay on Aquariums.
Information on a proposed Institute is in the Chronicle,
30 May 1874, page 7d;
the laying of its foundation stone is reported in the Register,
13 December 1875, page 5; also see
Chronicle,
15 January 1876, page 11b,
13 January 1877, page 6d.
Its opening in the Register,
22 October 1877, pages 5b and 6a; also see
23 October 1877, page 5g,
25 February 1884, page 5a (unveiling clock) - also see
20 January 1886, page 5f,
18 February 1886, page 7b.
A history of the Institute is at the end of this section
A presentation to the Institute's secretary, John Lee, is reported in the Register,
1 December 1877, -page 5f.
The impecunity of the Institute is discussed in the Register,
14 August 1885, page 6h; also see
11 December 1886, pages 5a-6h,
28 January 1887, page 7h,
22 March 1887, page 7c,
27 May 1887, page 5d,
10 and 15 June 1887, pages 7f and 7h.
For an entertaining letter from W.R. Wigley in respect of the defacing of the foundation stone see Observer,
11 December 1886, page 15b,
Register,
27 June 1887, page 7a; also see
29 June 1887, page 7h,
15 June 1898, page 6f.
Its reopening is reported on
12 March 1895, page 7e.
A new Institute is discussed on
29 March 1915, page 3i and
9 April 1915, page 7c. Also see
Register,
10 April 1915, page 3h.
The Glenelg Institute
By 1872 there were 63 Institutes established in the colony and Mr H.R. Wigley was of the opinion that it was a ?disgrace? that Glenelg had no such edifice. Accordingly, the Mayor, Mr J. Souttar, called a public meeting on 28 May 1874 at which Mr Rowland Rees, MP, recalled that three years previously he had taken, with others, steps to form one in the town, while he understood that, in 1856, Mr J.M. Mitchell had taken up the question.
The foundation stone was laid on 11 December 1875 by Sir Henry Ayers ?during a lull in the prevailing showers of rain? and afterwards he made a speech from the balcony of the Pier Hotel. Glen Osmond stone was used at the front with cornices and other dressings, carried out in cement, with rusticated quoins; Mr E.W. Wright was the architect and the contractor, Mr David Miller erected it at a cost of £5,300 on land given by the government at the north-western corner of Jetty Road, immediately opposite the Pier Hotel. The opening took place on 20 October 1877 at which the Governor, Sir William F.D. Jervois, officiated.
As an adornment to the building a new clock presented by the Mayor, Mr T. King, MP was unveiled by the Mrs T. King, on 23 February 1884. It was the work of Messrs Thomas Baily & Company of Manchester, England and erected by Mr Harding acting for Mr J.W. Davis of Rundle Street.
By August 1885 the Institute was in ?unfortunate pecuniary circumstances.? The building had cost about £6,000, exclusive of £485 spent in the completion of the tower for the clock, and towards this, in donations and government subsidy, the committee had received £5,173 17s 1d.. Since its opening nearly £700 had been outlaid on furniture and library periodicals; all this had culminated in a bank overdraft of a little in excess of £173, while a loan of £3,000 was on the books in the Building Fund.
Further, the Mayor admitted that the library was poorly stocked with old literature and agreed with Mr Kemp that a better class of reading material should be obtainable, while Mr Billiatt suggested that the matter should be placed before the Minister of Education with a view of having the Institute transformed into a Town Hall, but the Mayor explained that such a course was impracticable because one member could upset any movement which aimed at the accomplishment of such an undertaking. After due consideration it was considered that the Institute committee should undertake a house-to-house canvass of the town.
A visitor to the town complained of the light on the clock being extinguished at night and, in response Henry Lee, the Secretary of the Institute, and Mr John G. Ark, offered the following comments:
-
The committee for some months past kept the clock alight until 11 o'clock each night, but finding the gas account too heavy gave orders to turn off the gas at 9 pm, thereby saving about £13 per annum... The Institute is burdened with a debt of £3,000... With regard to the departure of trains I presume the railway company prefers Adelaide to Glenelg time...
There are many luxuries which in the present state of the colony cannot be afforded. On the absence of which ?Occasional Visitor? complains about, is the lighting all night of the clock. The pockets of the ratepayers ought to be considered. A necessity, not a luxury, is the light vessel at Glenelg, which the Government with the regard to economy intend removing... As to train starting... Has not the company gone to the expense and trouble of having a first class bell, which rings five minutes before each train leaves.
In 1884 the Institute was mortgaged to George Main to secure £3,000 at 7 per cent and due for repayment in August 1885. Income was insufficient for the day to day conduct of the body and, at a meeting of ratepayers on 10 December 1886, it was said that £108 interest was due and Mr Main's attorney had issued writs against the trustees to recover the amount due and that it would be a ?lasting disgrace to Glenelg if the property of the trustees were confiscated, or if they were arrested.?
To the problems confronting the citizens of Glenelg the Adelaide press was to opine that the reading public at Glenelg was either very small or else very illiberal, while very few seemed to ?care a jot whether the Institute paid its way or not.? and that it would be a disgrace to the town in which the colony was proclaimed if, on its jubilee year, the trustees were incarcerated.
Unperturbed, the irrepressible Mr W.R. Wigley, with tongue in cheek, addressed his fellow citizens:
-
On the 1st of this month ?a Victoria by the Grace of God?, as a writ of summons from the Supreme Court is headed, was served upon the Rev T. Field, Rev Charles Manthorpe (whom I trust will see where ?the grace of God? comes in, for I don?t), Sir John Morphett, the Corporation of Glenelg and myself... This means if we don?t pay up in eight days all our earthly possessions can be sold, or we can, with the exception of the corporation, who has no body to be kicked or soul to be damned, unless our worthy Town Clerk will consent to join us, be sent straight off to Mr Howell's comfortable house of detention on the banks of the Torrens...
It is enough to make the very foundation stone, which was laid by and bears the name of one of the richest and most worthy of our colonists, burst from its position. I shall consider it a great advantage to my soul and a delectation to my body to pass some time of my life in such godly society as my fellow trustees. As to the latter, I am promised a good supply of the very best Port wine. to which clergymen, as a rule, do not object, and for our amusement we can enjoy some rubbers at whist... [It will] be a lasting disgrace to Glenelg's inhabitants if they allow us to suffer by loss of our property and perhaps imprisonment.
-
It is not amiss to point out that in acquiring the Institute land and buildings the corporation, already heavily weighted with the Patawalonga Creek business, will be unable to pay its way unless extra taxation is decreed. To this fact the ratepayers will not have been blind and it does them great credit that they have released the trustees from their engagements at the expense of themselves...
-
In its place a marble slab has been fixed advertising that the building was the Town Hall and that W.F. Stock was the Mayor. Whether the building is used as a Town Hall or Institute, or both, surely it is no disgrace to have it publicly recorded that the foundation stone was laid ... by Sir Henry Ayers... I am informed that even the workman who was engaged on the work admitted that he was ashamed to be seen doing it... (The aftermath is discussed at length in Historic Glenelg, pp. 208-212)
In 1898 its financial position was improved substantially by a donation from Sir Thomas Elder. The council then entered into a bargain with the Institute committee that the latter should spend £300 on a building to form part of the Town Hall, in return for which they should have a lease for 30 years at a peppercorn rental. In 1908, mainly through the efforts of the then Mayor, Mr H.W. Varley, the government made them a grant to purchase land on which a new Institute was erected and duly opened on 8 April 1915.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Masonic Hall is reported in the Register,
27 July 1903, page 6g;
a photograph is in the Observer,
1 August 1903, page 26,
26 December 1903, page 24.
Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Freemasonry
The Glenelg and Marion Abattoirs
A proposed abattoirs is discussed in the Register,
9 October 1909, page 6h; also see
28 January 1911, page 11f,
4 February 1911, page 12g,
6 and 8 March 1911, pages 6f and 5c.
"No Abattoirs for Glenelg" appears on
22 July 1911, page 16g; also see
9 August 1913, page 15d,
8 and 31 October 1913, pages 13e and 6f,
5 November 1913, page 14a,
15 November 1920, page 6e.
Also see Adelaide - Public Health - Slaughterhouses and Abattoirs
Owing to the difficulty of obtaining a meat supply for Glenelg and district from Gepp's Cross abattoirs, both local butchers and residents objected strongly to becoming incorporated with the metropolitan abattoirs scheme. It was during the mayoralty of Mr H.W. Varley in 1908 that the matter was taken up. On 19 April 1909 the Glenelg corporation was urged to take action and conferences followed until 1913 when a public meeting was held. largely as a result of the efforts of Councillor Olifent, when the council was directed to take immediate action to provide a local slaughterhouse. A poll followed on 1 November 1913 which favoured the proposition; three proposals were considered and the one put forward by local butchers was adopted and these men then proceeded to erect an abattoirs close to the Oaklands railway station on 15 acres of land. The entire cost was borne by the butchers who, for the following 21 years, paid the Marion council a peppercorn rental for the property in order that the latter would have legal control at the end of that term. It was formally opened on 23 February 1915.
"New Picture Palace" is in the Express,
24 August 1917, page 3d,
"Remodelled Picture Theatre - The Strand" in the Register,
8 July 1927, page 10g.
The opening of a new theatre is reported in the The News,
21 August 1936, page 9.
Also see South Australia - Entertainment and the Arts - Moving Pictures and Television
The Anzac Hostel
"The Anzac Hostel" is in the Register,
7 June 1920, page 8g.
In 1920 Glenelg was proud of the fact that it had been selected as the site in South Australia for an ?Anzac Hostel? The house selected for the purpose fronted The Mall with Bate Street on the south side and Margate Street at the rear. It was formerly the residence of Mr Jury who ?parted with it for a moderate sum as an earnest appreciation of the men who had placed their all at the service of their country. He had already given a son to that country and his name should be perpetasted as one of the patriots of South Australia.? Matron O?Donnell, author of ?Letters of an Australian Army Sister?, was put in charge and had as assistants, Nurses Stacey, Perrin, Magarey, Jackson and Dorsch.
The Anzac Hostel provided special accommodation for men suffering from the effects of war service who did not require hospital treatment. About 20 men were kept there for some time, but, owing to deaths and other causes, that number was reduced to six for which a staff of eight was required. It closed as from 31 July 1929.
A photograph of the laying of the foundation stone of the Soldiers' Memorial Hall is in the Chronicle,
13 October 1923, page 45a and
of its opening on
29 November 1924, page 37.
Also see South Australia - World War I - Memorials to the Fallen
Glenelg Soldiers? Memorial Hall
Glenelg residents were proud of the fact that the district sent about 1,000 men to the front during the Great War of 1914-1918 and how to adequately commemorate the services of those soldiers exercised the minds of the municipal authorities. In February 1920, when the Town Hall had become totally inadequate for the requirements of Glenelg, it was decided to enlarge it. However, at a public meeting held on 18 May 1921 the Mayor, Mr Frank Smith, advised the audience that the proposal had been delayed because the corporation had been unable to obtain a piece of land to the east of, and adjoining the Town Hall and, accordingly, the whole proposition needed to be reconsidered.
By June 1921 it had been decided that a memorial building would be erected on land at the rear of the Town Hall and abutting Colley reserve and the Mayor was pleased to advise that ?already applications have been received fro the leasing of the new hall and a large kiosk which was to be erected on the ground floor.?
In February 1922 a fund raising event in the form of a cooking competition was held when members of the ladies? committee approached the proprietors of Anchor Self-raising Flour. G. Wood, Son & Co. Ltd who kindly donated £25 in prizes. By this and other means £3,000 were raised, culminating in a Chinese Fair in Moseley Square in January 1923. On 7 October a memorial tablet was unveiled by the Governor-General, Lord Forster, in the presence of a large number of citizens and on 22 November 1924 it was opened by Mrs G. Heithersay, ?a lady who sent more sons to the front than any other lady in the district.?
The opening of a new town hall is reported in the Register,
5 June 1925, page 14g.
Government Cottage
When Glenelg was laid out two acres were reserved for the Church of England and for public buildings of the township. The Church site was conveyed to trustees and the government was allowed the use of the other acre, where it put up buildings for the use of the governors, ?who took a delight in ozone, iodine and sea bathing? and its only title to the property was a possessory one, which was no title at all, because time neither ran for or against the governments. There is no doubt that the government received one pound for it because the land was measured by a competent surveyor.
(Register, 8 October 1886, p. 7, 21 May 1889, p. 6.)
The alienation of several reserves within the township of Glenelg in 1839 has been discussed in Chapter 4, but there is one important fact that should be noted, namely, that on the survey made in the 1850s, 65 acres were found to be comprised within the section, including the reserve, and as was mentioned in the grant, £65 had been paid for that number of acres. If this contention is correct it can be seen that the government had received £1 for the acre known as the Government Cottage acre, just as it had done for the other portion of the section.
After these arrangements had been entered into with the proprietors the government desired to establish a Custom House at Glenelg and, with the consent of the trustees of the acre, it was permitted to erect a small cottage on it. Afterwards it was used by various governors as a summer residence where stables were erected for their convenience. It might be said that the burgesses of Glenelg had allowed the land to go to the government by permitting this to be done, but the fact was that corporation was not in a position to erect a Town Hall and they felt it was a good thing for the place that a governor should reside there during the summer.
In course of time, when Glenelg was declared a corporation its jurisdiction only extended to the old township, but then it was found that the whole of the roads, reserves and ways and rights were vested in the gentlemen already mentioned. It was then arranged that a survey should be made after which all the parties concerned agreed to convey the streets, reserves, etc., to the corporation. This was done and a plan lodged in the General Registry Office.
By 1845 the occupant of the cottage, John Anthony, had been transferred to Port Adelaide and in 1846 tenders were invited for the lease of the residence, the successful applicant being John Hance at an annual rental of £12. By March of 1849 the cottage was occupied by the Governor Sir Henry Fox Young, as did his successor Sir Richard MacDonnell. In 1855 it was let for a period, free of rent, to Edmund Levi and a friend and it was said that ?these two gentlemen thoroughly appreciated the governor's hospitality and made themselves quite at home.? In the 1860s Sir Dominick Daly was 'so pleased and satisfied? with the cottage that after a few additions and alterations he and his wife were regular visitors.
Upon the arrival of Sir James Fergusson it was 'soon discovered? that it was too small and too insignificant a structure to be dignified with the title of a vice-regal marine residence and therefore, with short intervals of nurses and children it remained empty until 1871 when it was let, but not rent free this time, to Mr Charles Fisher. A year later an impecunious government attempted to sell it on the plea that His Excellency did not like it, although it had been a favourite with his three immediate predecessors.
It was at this time that Mr John Chambers, Mr Finke's agent, agreed to convey the land to the corporation if it would pay the expense of the deed, so that it was clear that any claim from the government was a myth. However, the Chief Secretary, Sir Arthur Blyth, brought in a Bill to allow the government to sell the cottage and the facts he mentioned were embodied in a petition which was signed by the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Boucaut, and upon enquiry Sir Arthur did not hesitate to say that if the government had any title at all it was simply a possessory one.
The morning press were less then impressed with the government's intentions and opined that:
-
There is no more reason for disposing of the cottage at Glenelg because Sir James Fergusson does not approve of it as a residence than there would be for selling Government Farm should the next Governor entertain an unconquerable dislike for a life in the country... The objection, therefore, that it is in close proximity to a malodorous creek is answered by the fact that it has rarely been occupied and at the present time is tenanted by a gentleman holding a good position in the colony... We think the Parliament will do well to pause before passing a Bill to effect the object contemplated by Mr Blyth.
-
When the township of Glenelg was laid out and sold there were three reserves for public purposes for the good of the inhabitants, namely, the acre in dispute, the piece of land in front of it and the piece of land between the creek and the jetty, and these reserves became vested in the corporation by their proclamation in trust for the burgesses and upon the acre to be sold I contend our corporation can erect any public buildings the township may require.
No portion of those reserves was even set apart or intended for a Governor's residence but, as stated by the Hon. Captain Hart, a small cottage was put up by the government for a Custom House in the early days of the colony, and afterwards the present cottage was added at the request of Governor Young [and] subsequent governors.
This was not objected to by the inhabitants, but they fail to see that in consequence of permitting the acre to be used for this purpose the government have the right to sell their property and pocket the money... It should be handed to the corporation to whom it legally and equitably belongs.
At the meeting presided over by the Mayor, Mr R.B. Colley Mr W.R. Wigley traversed the history of the property and in conclusion fired a shot across the bow of the governor:
-
I am sorry to say anything against the present Governor, as that gentleman was not in the same position as many others who could write out a cheque and spend their summer months in some other colony, as he was compelled to remain in the colony. He was fond of yachting and during the summer months went back and forwards to Robe more for the sake of yachting than because he considered the accommodation at Glenelg insufficient...
-
An agreement was prepared by the Crown Solicitor to that effect and it was verbally understood that we were not to let either Finke's representatives, the Glenelg Corporation, or anybody else into adverse possession of the cottage as against the Government. Mr Reid and myself let the cottage to the corporation on exactly the same terms and put the Town Clerk in possession he allowing, I think, £20 of his salary for residing there and the corporation held their meetings in the cottage until their offices were built in the Institute.
The next tenant was Mr E.C. Gywnne on the same terms as we held it for the government, but at a rent of £100... When the corporation applied for an order for the rent I waited upon the Chief Secretary, informed him how the matter stood, that the cottage was badly in want of repair, that we intended to send an architect to make an estimate of costs, and then await the Government's decision as to what we should do with the cottage...
-
From first to last the proceedings in this matter have been conducted on a singularly loose and unsatisfactory basis and we cannot altogether hold the corporation free from blame, albeit the present members of that body have apparently endeavoured to place affairs upon a more regular and businesslike footing.
-
In all justice this acre should be sold by the corporation and pay the proceeds to Mr Wishart. It would bring about £3,000 and save the rates to that extent. What is the use of the property now? It is let to a gentleman [Mr Billiatt] for a private school at an insignificant rent; and although I have no doubt he repairs it as far as he is bound by his lease, still it is fast becoming a ruin and an eyesore. If sold doubtless a large family hotel would be erected thereon and would pay handsomely for the site is admirably suited for such purpose. The comes the question, how can this be done? The answer is to let the ratepayers in a body, say once a week, deputate the proper minister and urge upon him their rights... If this fails we are not represented in parliament by two of its ablest members who would be only to pleased to advocate our cause in that place, especially on the eve of a general election.
-
But at present the rent was in arrears to the extent of £77. [I] have already informed the corporation that if the land were not required for government purposes I will assist in transferring the property for the benefit of the Glenelg people as a recreation ground... but recently the Treasurer informed me that the land is required for government purposes...
Sources
Register, 16, 17, 18, 21, 27 and 28 May 1872, pp. 4, 5, 5, 5-10 (supp.), 4 and 6, 15 and 17 March 1879, pp. 6 and 4-6, 28 August 1883, p. 8, 8 October 1886, p. 7, Historic Glenelg, Birthplace of South Australia, pp 24-28.
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Churches
The opening of the Independent Chapel is reported in the South Australian,
10 March 1848, page 2c.
A history of the Independent Chapel by William Hitchcox is in the Register,
20 September 1899, page 6h,
Observer,
30 September 1899, page 33a.
The opening of St Peter's Church is reported in the Adelaide Times,
31 March 1852, page 3e; also see
Express,
19 January 1881, page 3c;
its consecration in the Register,
21 May 1883, page 5g; also see
Express,
21 January 1889, page 2d.
The installation of a stained glass window is reported upon in the Register,
13 May 1905, page 7b; also see
7 June 1913, page 14h for information on a memorial window.
A history appears on
1 March 1924, page 6; also see
The News,
23 October 1928, page 6c.
The opening of a Primitive Methodist Chapel is reported in the Register,
19 September 1856, page 3d.
"The Roman Catholics at Glenelg" is in the Register,
16 February 1858, page 3c.
A proposed Congregational Chapel is discussed in the Register,
17 March 1859, page 3a and
its opening on
6 and 9 December 1859, pages 3d and 3g; also see the
Express,
17 February 1864, page 2c.
The laying of the foundation stone of a Congregational Church is reported in the Register,
28 October 1879, page 6e - its plans are described on
23 September 1879, page 5a.
A history appears
5 January 1924.
"Congregationalism at Glenelg" is in the Advertiser,
20 April 1893, page 7g; also see
27 August 1924, page 15f,
The News,
28 February 1928, page 8c.
Its diamond jubilee is reported in the Observer,
23 October 1909, page 46a.
Register,
8 November 1909, page 6e.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
13 November 1909, page 30.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Wesleyan Church is reported in the Register,
6 June 1876, page 6d and
its opening on
4 January 1877, page 6c;
a sketch is in Frearson's Weekly,
7 September 1878, page 215; also see
Chronicle,
6 May 1882, page 6f,
Register,
30 August 1924, page 4,
The News,
1 January 1929, page 6g.
An obituary of Rev A Sells is in the Register,
2 January 1888, page 5a,
of Canon Green on
25 July 1904, page 6d.
The laying of the foundation stone of St Mary's Hall is reported in the Register,
29 January 1894, page 3g,
Express,
29 January 1894, page 3e.
A soldiers' memorial chapel is reported upon in the Register,
26 and 29 March 1920, pages 6g and 3e,
"A Unique Memorial" is in the Register,
3 December 1920, page 6g.
A photograph of a combined churches outdoor service is in the Observer,
10 December 1921, page 25.
Opening of Our Lady of Victories Church is reported in the Register,
17 November 1927, page 10g,
21 November 1927, page 12f.
Photographs are in the Observer,
26 November 1927, page 35.
The laying of the foundation stone and the opening of Our Lady of Victories Church is reported in the Register,
4 October 1926, page 15c,
17 November 1927, page 10g,
21 November 1927, page 12f.
Photographs are in the Observer,
26 November 1927, page 35.
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names
Glenelg
Coach Services
Also see Anzac Highway and Adelaide - Transport - Cabs and Omnibuses.
Cruelty to horses engaged on public conveyances is reported in the Advertiser,
8 February 1864, page 3c.
A complaint about the coach service from Adelaide is in the Register, 22 February 1866, page 2f - "... In order that they maintain their former prestige they must take greater care of their axles... As regards passengers they must:
-
Handle them tenderly,
Take them with care,
Providing not slenderly
Space for each fare."
15 March 1866, page 2d,
while an article on "Overloading Omnibuses" appears on
23 January 1872, page 5b; also see
30 January 1872, page 5c.
Reckless coach driving is the cause for complaint in the Register,
6 July 1868, page 2f.
An editorial on coach services is in the Advertiser,
22 January 1872, page 2e; also see
31 January 1872, page 2f.
Complaints from a passenger in respect of smoking on omnibuses and the prevalence of dirty boots is set out in the Register, 20 April 1874, page 6e.
Glenelg - Obituaries
An obituary of a former Mayor, J.J. Barclay, is in the Register,
22 May 1867, page 2c;
also see 28 May 1867, page 2h, 12 June 1867, page 2f.
An obituary of John Howard is in the Register, 5 February 1869, page 2f,
of T. Sheppard on 2 September 1890, page 3c,
of Henry Measday on 29 November 1890, page 5c,
of Mrs E.W. Andrews on 26 April 1892, page 5b,
of E.M. Martin on 5 June 1894, page 5c,
of T.G.F. Magarey on 7 August 1894, page 5b,
of James Brouard on 13 June 1895, page 5b,
of Mrs Elizabeth Lyle on 13 June 1895, page 5a,
of James Virgo on 15 February 1899, page 5a.
An obituary of William Sanders is in the Register, 4 August 1880, page 5a,
of W.M. Letchford on 14 December 1880, page 5b,
of John McDonald on 16 September 1884, page 5c,
of Elias Salom on 18 February 1885, page 5b,
of William Hill on 12 September 1885, page 5b,
of J. Hanlin on 3 May 1888, page 5c,
of Dr James Dunlop on 5 July 1888, page 4h,
of Mrs Philip Lee on 24 October 1888, page 5a,
of Edwin Sawtell on 23 October 1889, page 6g.
An obituary of Mrs Veysey is in the Register, 26 September 1882, page 4g,
of Daniel Fisher on 3 June 1884, page 5c,
of Mrs Hamilton on 4 May 1886, page 5e,
of Dr Hugh Ferguson on 27 June 1887, page 5b,
of J.A Kirkpatrick on 2 August 1889, page 5c.
An obituary of W.R. Wigley is in theRegister, 7 May 1890, pages 5h-6e,
of Mrs T.H. Bowen on 25 July 1890, page 4h,
of James Hooper on 14 April 1891, page 5a,
of James Crook, builder, on 11 May 1893, page 5b,
of William Phelps on 21 December 1893, page 5c,
of William Sanders on 30 January 1894, page 5b,
of Mrs T.U. Scrutton on 6 November 1894, page 6h,
of Charles Day on 14 October 1895, page 6e, 18 November 1895, page 6c,
of Mrs Alfred Day on 21 October 1895, page 5b.
An obituary of Mrs A. Atkinson is in the Observer, 3 December 1892, page 31a,
of E.M. Martin on 9 June 1894, page 30c,
of H.J. Moseley on 14 July 1894, page 43d.
An obituary of F.J. West is in the Register, 2 September 1895, page 5a,
of James Liddle on 14 April 1896, page 5b,
of W.G. Cooper on 21 April 1896, page 5c.
1 An obituary of Robert C. Castle is in the Observer, 20 June 1896, page 44a,
of Mrs Amand Wright on 15 August 1896, page 15c,
of J.H.C. Eitzen on 31 July 1897, page 16d,
of Mrs Sarah Sparks on 8 January 1898, page 30b,
of James Virgo on 18 February 1899, page 15a,
of Samuel Milbourne on 10 June 1899, page 15d.
An obituary of Miss E.B. Sabine is in the Register, 23 February 1901, page 7c,
of Charles Wyld on 15 June 1901, page 4h,
of S.B. Church on 29 August 1901, page 5a,
of W.J. Clark on 24 March 1902, page 5c,
of Mrs James Beckwith on 5 May 1902, page 5b,
of Dr Henry Wooldridge on 15 July 1902, page 5b,
of M. White, builder, on 6 September 1902, page 7a,
of P.H. Burden on 7 October 1902, page 5b,
of W.B. Sells on 31 October 1902, page 5a.
An obituary of Mrs Ann Francis is in the Observer, 1 March 1902, page 27e,
of T.C. Arthur on 20 September 1902, page 37b,
of Mrs M.A. Edwards on 14 March 1903, page 22e,
of Rev Whitmore Carr on 23 May 1903, page 34e,
of George Hambidge on 21 May 1903, page 33b,
of Mrs Arthur Hardy on 25 June 1904, page 34b,
of W.S. Bickford on 17 December 1904, page 44e,
of William Maddern on 2 September 1905, page 38b.
An obituary of Mrs M.A. Edwards is in the Register, 13 March 1903, page 5a,
of J.F. Yuill on 1 April 1903, page 5a,
of A.B. Lakeman on 18 July 1903, page 7c,
of Mrs W.S. Whitington on 7 October 1903, page 5a - Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Steamships for information on her husband.
An obituary of A.A. Atkinson is in the Register, 21 December 1903, page 5a,
of William Lapthorne on 5 January 1904, page 6f,
of C.A. Bleechmore on 25 April 1904, page 5a,
of George Hambridge on 16 and 17 May 1904, pages 4f and 3c,
of Samuel Cook on 20 June 1904, page 4g,
of W.S. Bickford on 14 December 1904, page 5b.
An obituary of T.U. Scrutton is in the Register, 3 February 1905, page 5b,
of Mrs Odgers on 24 February 1905, page 5b,
of William Maddern on 25 August 1905, page 4g,
of R.N. Colley on 18 September 1905, page 5b,
of T.J.C. Mann on 3 October 1905, page 5b.
An obituary of Samuel Summers is in the Register, 13 June 1906, page 4i,
of John F. Tidmarsh on 12 November 1906, page 6f, of
J.A. Charlton on 5 October 1907, page 9b, of
E.H. Bayer on 21 October 1908, page 8h.
An obituary of William Clutterbuck is in the Register, 30 November 1907, page 9f,
of Robert Cooper on 21 April 1908, page 4g,
of M.B. Jenkins on 21 May 1908, page 5a,
of Mrs Ellen Thompson on 25 May 1908, page 6g,
of Francis J. Whitby on 13 January 1909, page 7a,
of J.A. Muller on 9 March 1909, page 7a,
of Edward Simms on 2 September 1909, page 4f.
An obituary of Francis J. Whitby is in the Observer, 16 January 1909, page 38a,
of W. Comley on 4 February 1911, page 39a,
of S.T. Rugless on 11 May 1912, page 41a,
of Robert Buchanan on 31 August 1912, page 41a,
of George Bishop, hotelier, on 19 October 1912, page 41a.
An obituary of Henry J. Trew is in the Register, 7 April 1910, page 4g,
of Walter Bermingham on 12 September 1910, page 4g,
of William Storrie on 23 December 1910, page 4g.,
of Frederick Doswell on 7 December 1911, page 6g,
of J.A.N. Thieus on 7 June 1912, page 6i,
of Robert Buchanan on 24 August 1912, page 15a.,
of George Bishop on 12 October 1912, page 15b.
An obituary of R.L. Massey, baker, is in the Observer, 3 May 1913, page 41a,
of M. MacCallum on 14 June 1913, page 41a,
of John Fidge on 4 October 1913, page 41a,
of C.H. Oliver on 20 December 1913, page 41a,
of E.V. Fischer on 5 September 1914, page 46a,
of Benjamin Hooper on 14 November 1914, page 42a,
of Mrs Mary Giles on 9 October 1915, page 46a,
of Mrs Mary Virgo on 13 November 1915, page 46a,
of Henry Partridge on 25 December 1915, page 44a.
An obituary of W. Comley is in the Register, 27 January 1911, page 5a,
of J.S. Prockter (Procktor?) on 26 October 1911, page 6i,
of Patrick Gay on 31 October 1911, page 6g,
of Samuel T. Rugless on 4 May 1912, page 12i,
of R.L. Massey on 26 April 1913, page 17c,
of Mrs Rebecca Foale on 9 May 1913, page 4h,
of C.P.H. Nalty on 21 May 1913, page 12i,
of M. MacCallum on 6 June 1913, page 12g,
of Mrs E.J. Acraman on 23 August 1913, page 14h,
of John Fidge on 26 September 1913, page 6a,
of C.H. Oliver on 12 December 1913, page 14a.
An obituary of Benjamin Hooper, "the founder of Glenelg's first drum and fife band and a founder of the Holdfast Bay Yacht Club", is in the Register,
6 November 1914, page 4g.
An obituary of E.W. Howard is in the Register, 21 January 1915, page 4g,
of John McCann on 1 March 1915, page 6h,
of Dr J.I. Sangster on 14 June 1915, page 6i,
of Edwin Austin on 21 August 1915, page 8h,
of Mrs Mary Giles on 2 October 1915, page 8h, of Edward Hennigs on 21 October 1915, page 4h, of Alfred J. Roberts on 6 December 1915, page 7.
An obituary of Mrs Ruth Rugless is in the Observer, 5 February 1916, page 46b,
of John Newitt on 6 May 1916, page 33c,
of H.H. Wright on 23 September 1916, page 35b,
of J.B. Chapman on 25 November 1916, page 21a,
of G.A. Bradford on 7 July 1917, page 19c,
of James C. Stone on 24 August 1918, page 19a,
of James Oliver on 28 December 1918, page 19a,
of Thomas Ferris on 28 December 1918, page 19a,
of Mrs Frances J. Winwood on 25 January 1919, page 34a,
of Thomas Griggs on 22 March 1919, page 13d,
of J.T. Kither on 17 May 1919, page 14a,
of George Jones on 6 September 1919, page 14a,
of Mrs Mary E.L. Wigley on 20 December 1919, page 24b.
An obituary of Mrs Laura M. West is in the Register, 16 February 1914, page 8a,
of John T. Kither on 20 April 1914, page 10b,
of E.V. Fischer on 29 August 1914, page 13a,
of Henry Partridge on 22 December 1915, page 4g,
of John Newitt on 1 May 1916, page 4i,
of J.B. Champion on 22 and 25 November 1916, pages 6h and 5e,
of John Inverarity on 15 May 1917, page 4e,
of William Collins on 13 October 1917, page 6f.
An obituary of Edward Sawyers is in the Register, 12 June 1918, page 6g,
of James C. Stone on 16 August 1918, page 6g,
of J.H. Gurr on 18 October 1918, page 4g,
of Thomas Ferris on 23 December 1918, page 6g,
of James Oliver on 24 December 1918, page 6g,
of J.G.L. Garthwaite on 30 December 1918, page 4e,
of Mrs Frances J. Winwood on 22 January 1919, page 6g,
of Thomas Griggs on 15 March 1919, page 6g,
of Mrs Mary Hamilton on 20 March 1919, page 6g,
of John T. Kither on 13 May 1919, page 4e,
of George Jones on 30 August 1919, page 9a,
of Hugh J. Pearce on 4 November 1919, page 6g.
An obituary of Edwin A. Mayfield is in the Observer, 10 April 1920, page 27a,
of H.W. Hedger on 3 July 1920, page 13a,
of Mrs Emma Pinnington on 24 July 1920, page 12a,
of A.W. Baker on 7 August 1920, page 12b,
of Richard Harry on 7 August 1920, page 12b,
of Patrick Healey on 21 August 1920, page 12d,
of F.B. Andrews on 28 August 1920, page 12d,
of James Creasey on 2 October 1920, page 31a,
of John Mack on 18 December 1920, page 43b,
of B.W. Jelley on 25 December 1920, page 13a,
of H.R. Fenton on 19 February 1921, page 34c,
of A.F. Weaver on 30 April 1921, page 34b, 7 May 1921, page 31d,
of J.P. Bickford on 11 June 1921, page 34b.
An obituary of Mrs T.A. Hicks is in the Register, 13 May 1920, page 7a,
of John Morris on 8 June 1920, page 7a,
of H.W. Hedger on 29 June 1920, page 4h,
of Mrs Emma Pinnington on 21 July 1920, page 7b,
of Alfred W. Baker on 3 August 1920, page 5b,
of Richard Harry on 4 August 1920, page 8d,
of Mrs E.E. Bode on 10 August 1920, page 4h,
of F.B. Andrews on 24 August 1920, page 4h,
of G.G. Wollaston on 16 September 1920, page 4b,
of James Creasy on 25 September 1920, page 4h,
of H.B. Perryman on 6 December 1920, page 6h,
of John Mack on 11 December 1920, page 10e,
of B.W. Jelley on 21 December 1920, page 8f.
An obituary of Harry R. Fenton is in the Register, 17 February 1921, page 6g,
of W.C. Medlyn on 28 February 1921, page 9d,
of Alfred F. Weaver on 28 April 1921, page 9a,
of C.B. Warnes on 7 June 1921, page 6h,
of John P. Bickford on 9 June 1921, page 6i,
of Mrs Catherine J. Garrett on 31 December 1921, page 8e,
of John Heithersay on 24 June 1922, page 6i,
of Walter W. Berry on 28 October 1922, page 8f,
of Mrs John Tassie on 5 February 1923, page 6f,
of Albert C. Weir on 27 February 1923, page 8h,
of Joseph A. Warncken on 5 May 1923, page 8i,
of Charles Irwin on 20 August 1923, page 9d,
of Mrs Elizabeth A. Glandfield on 21 August 1923, page 8h,
of Mrs Eliza M. Smyth on 1 September 1923, page 8h,
of Frank Bonython on 27 September 1923, page 6g,
of Dr Paul Guinand on 17 October 1923, page 11f,
of Colonel Henry Hampton on 27 October 1923, page 10g,
of Mrs Elizabeth A. Ferris on 5 November 1923, page 8g.
An obituary of Mrs Catherine Garrett is in the Observer, 7 January 1922, page 33c,
of W.E. Fuller on 29 April 1922, page 19b,
of E.T. Measday on 8 July 1922, page 20c,
of Mrs Lavinia Aunger on 2 September 1922, page 20a,
of Mrs John Tassie on 10 February 1923, page 35b,
of A.C. Weir on 3 March 1923, page 35b,
of Joseph Warncken on 12 May 1923, page 35c,
of Enoch Comley on 12 May 1923, page 35c,
of Charles Irwin on 25 August 1923, page 38d,
of Mrs Elizabeth A. Glandfield on 25 August 1923, page 39c,
of John Brunton on 9 February 1924, page 45b,
of B.D. Colvin on 22 March 1924, page 39c,
of William Rowe on 5 April 1924, page 45d,
of W.J. Player on 24 and 31 May 1924, pages 45c and 60d.
An obituary of John Brunton is in the Register, 6 February 1924, page 8h,
of Mrs Mary Melville on 7 February 1924, page 6g,
of William W. Andrews on 25 February 1924, page 8f,
of B.D. Colvin on 15 March 1924, page 8g,
of William Rowe on 31 March 1924, page 8h,
of Mrs Johannah Roache on 15 May 1924, page 8h,
of W.J. Player on 20 May 1924, page 8g,
of Miss Mabel Hardy on 18 July 1924, page 8g,
of John Davidson on 16 August 1924, page 8g,
of Miss Emily Edwards on 1 September 1924, page 6g,
of Charles A. Bayer on 13 September 1924, pasge 9e,
of F.W. Wilbraham on 19 and 20 December 1924, pages 15c and 13e.
An obituary of Hugh McColl is in the Observer, 31 January 1925, page 43d-e,
of G.S. Hall on 20 June 1925, page 43b,
of Mary A. Measday on 29 May 1926, page 28c,
of E.C. Haddrick on 18 September 1926, page 39d,
of G.P. Morris on 1 January 1927, page 36d,
of Mrs Annie O. Padman on 19 February 1927, page 45e,
of Mrs Hannah White on 29 October 1927, page 48b,
of Tom Liddle and Patrick Feeney on 4 February 1928, page 49b,
of Charles Tucker on 30 June 1928, page 49b,
of A.H. Middleton on 7 July 1928, page 49c,
of Thomas Howard on 28 July 1928, page 49a,
of Alfred Martin on 4 August 1928, page 49a.
An obituary of Clement Phillipson is in the Register, 4 February 1925, page 11d,
of Alexander Wald on 18 April 1925, page 14h,
of Henry V. Moyle on 18 May 1925, page 6g,
of George S. Hale on 15 June 1925, page 6h,
of Miss Blanche A. Wright on 8 September 1925, page 12e.
An obituary of John C. Cairns is in the Register, 4 February 1926, page 8f,
of Mrs Helen Gillies on 15 March 1926, page 8g,
of Frank Olifent on 18 May 1926, page 15a,
of Mrs Mary A. Measday on 26 May 1926, page 11b,
of R.A. Sanders on 9 June 1926, page 10h,
of John Hayles on 11 June 1926, page 10c,
of Mrs Elizabeth M. Kildea on 29 June 1926, page 8h,
of Edwin C. Broomhead on 7 July 1926, page 8g,
of Miss J.C. Finlayson on 10 July 1926, page 13e,
of E.C. Haddrick on 14 September 1926, page 11d,
of M.M. Middleton on 11 August 1926, page 10b,
of Charles Colyer on 20 and 22 December 1926, pages 11d and 10d,
of Mrs Oceana Cock and George P. Morris on 23 December 1926, page 8g.
An obituary of Thomas Gregory is in the Register, 18 January 1927, page 10b,
of James F. Kildea on 25 January 1927, page 12e,
of Mrs Emilie McKittrick on 27 January 1927, page 13h,
of Mrs Annie O. Padman on 11 February 1927, page 8f,
of William E. Weeden on 5 March 1927, page 12c,
of H.W. Varley on 29 March 1927, page 12f,
of Mrs Selina Mankey on 27 April 1927, page 8g,
of Henry W. Tickle on 4 May 1927, page 20a,
of Albert F. Lee on 12 July 1927, page 11c,
of Mrs Hannah White on 24 October 1927, page 11b,
of William Rufus on 8 November 1927, page 15c,
of Mrs Laura Anstey on 21 November 1927, page 12b.
An obituary of Mrs Ada R. Laycock is in the Registrer, 17 January 1928, page 8h,
of Tom Liddle on 28 January 1928, page 17d,
of Patrick Feeney on 30 January 1928, page 8h,
of Mrs Harriet Terry on 6 June 1928, page 6c,
of Augustus H. Middleton on 3 July 1928, page 11a,
of Richard J. Oliver on 5 July 1928, page 3c,
of Thomas Heward on 19 July 1928, page 11f,
of Alfred Martin on 28 July 1928, page 11b,
of William Green on 9 August 1928, page 11c.
An obituary of Julian Ayers is in the Register, 15 January 1929, page 13f.
An obituary of Samuel J. Jacobs is in the Advertiser, 5 January 1937, page 16a.
Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G