Place Names of South Australia - R
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
- Rivoli Bay
- Roach Town
- Robe
- Roberts, Hundred of
- Robertstown
- Robinson, County of
- Roby, Hundred of
- Rochester
- Rockford
- Rocky River
- Rocky Valley
- Rogues Gully
- Roper Reach
- Rosaville
- Rosebery
- Rosefield
- Rose Hill
Rivoli Bay
Nomenclature
Named Baie de Quiberon by Baudin in 1802; on Freycinet's published charts it is shown as B. de Rivoli. The Duke of Rivoli, an army associate of Napoleon Bonaparte in battles near Verona, Italy; alternatively it may celebrate a French victory at Rivoli in 1797.
General Notes
The district is described in the South Australian,
27 May 1845, page 2e,
Observer,
25 September 1858, page 8g.
Parliamentary Paper 55/1874 contains correspondence in respect of the sale of lands within the Hundred.
An editorial on Rivoli Bay is in the Register, of 17 April 1871, page 5a,
while Lt F. Howard's report on its survey appears on the same day at page 5f;
also see 27 October 1880, page 5f.
See 10 December 1902, page 4 for a report headed "Harbor for the South-East".
"Rivoli Bay Port" is in the Chronicle,
5 August 1876, page 12c, Observer,
31 October 1903, page 3a (supp.),
"The Rivoli Bay Jetty" in the Observer,
20 April 1878, page 11f.
Information on the railway to Mount Gambier is in the Register,
19, 20 and 24 May 1879, pages 6b, 6a and 6b.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Roach Town
Nomenclature
In 1858, Isaac Killicoat (c.1808-1886) gave this name to a subdivision of section 2071, Hundred of Kooringa probably naming it after Henry Roach, Chief Captain of the Burra Mine from 1847 to 1868.
General Notes
An obituary of Mrs John Roach is in the Observer,
29 February 1896, page 15a.
- One of the oldest residents of the Burra, Mrs John Roach died on February 22... She arrived in the colony with her husband in 1847 in the vessel Cressy and proceeded at once to the Burra... Mr Roach built the Burra Burra Mill and lived at Aberdeen until his death in 1881...
R
Place Names
Robe
Robe
Nomenclature
( Taken from an unpublished manuscript by Geoffrey H. Manning titled "A History of the Lower South East in the 19th Century")
The Town of Robe, the site of which was selected by Governor Robe on Guichen Bay, was surveyed in January 1846 under the direction of Thomas Burr, Deputy Surveyor-General and first offered for sale on 17 October 1846. George Ormerod and a Mr Calder were, ostensibly, the founders of Robe and they opened it up at the time when Grey Town was tried and condemned as a port. Mr Ormerod was the owner of the Naracoorte Run and sold it to Mr Magarey and started business as a storekeeeper, shipper of wool and general agent at Robe. For some time the new port prospered and nearly all - if not all - the wool from the immense pastoral properties stretching eastward to the Victorian border was shipped from there.
The Port of Robe was proclaimed on 18 February 1847 and Governor MacDonnell adopted it as a summer retreat in 1856:
-
[He], together with his wife and daughter, embarked on the Yatala for a visit to the South-East, but squally weather and light winds, followed then by rain, prevented the Guichen Bay Obelisk being sighted for several hours. Disembarking at Robe Town he was greeted with a 17 gun salute and welcomed by Captain Brewer, the Government Resident, Mr Seymour of Mosquito Plains, the Messrs Ormerod, Mr Melville, the Collector of Customs. Horses and equipage were provided by Messrs Seymour, Stockdale and Leake.
With the foundation of the private town of Kingston in 1858, by the early 1860s Lacepede Bay was competing with Guichen Bay as the outlet for the produce of the contiguous districts and a supporter for the latter made his feelings known in July 1860:
-
My object is not to dispute the importance of Lacepede Bay as a shipping place, or destroy the illusion of the Mount Gambier visionary, but simply to state a few facts in connection with Port Robe, ie, Guichen Bay, which will show that, however important other ports in the south-eastern district may become, Guichen Bay is at present the entrepot and outlet; in fact, the only port we possess where our wool can be safely shipped, and from which all our supplies have hitherto been drawn...
Many may not be aware that this harbour has given secure anchorage to as many as seven large vessels at once during a severe gale; and that, during the influx of the Chinese en route to Victoria, a varying in tonnage from 800 to 2,000 tons, entered this port... (number I have been credibly informed no less than 50)...
The abolition of ad valorem duties to those in business here must be a boon; they can now better compete with Portland settlers and those itinerant vendors - the hawkers - whose carts I have frequently seen in front of shops in Robe Town full of goods brought overland from Victoria, temptingly displayed to attract ladies, and take the cash from the more legitimate trader - the Customs authorities complacently viewing this legalised smuggling...
I have been informed that the good folks of Guichen Bay are about to have the services of Rev Mr. Reid as their spiritual adviser. A very pretty little church has some time been ready, but no resident minister to use it.
The Editor of the Border Watch also played no small part in undermining the future prospects of Robe as a major port as indicated in 1866 when Mr Umpherston, of Mount Gambier, and Mr Seymour, of Mount Benson, were opponents in a forthcoming parliamentary election:
-
The opinion prevails here that Mr Seymour stands solely in the interest of Robe... We will not do the good folk of Robe an injustice in supposing that there is some foundation for that opinion... The first law of Nature is love of self and Robe Town rightly takes the bull by the horns in order that it may hold its own. Mount Gambier is not likely to do any less and, while we do not for one moment mean to insinuate that either candidate would support the claims of his own end of the district to the injury of the other, it is quite natural that people should generally support the one they thought was the most versant with their affairs and most likely to be in favour of pushing ahead that portion in which their interests were vested... While we would urge that the utmost good feeling be maintained towards Robe, we would urge that every effort be made to give it a crushing defeat. [Mr Umpherston won with a majority of 144 votes.]
In 1869, after long years of complaining and petitioning the residents of Robe got a sum placed on the Estimates to erect a new jetty. Surveys were made in abundance and it was made perfectly clear that for the sum voted a jetty should be constructed to project sufficiently into the bay for the steamer Penola, and other vessels of moderate draught, to lie alongside and load and discharge. But then arose a battle for the site.
The Engineers' Department preferred it start from a point that did not suit the shippers, while the Marine Board favoured its erection contiguous to the old jetty. At last the latter carried the starting point, but the engineers put a bend in the jetty thereby making it unfit for the great purpose for which it was designed. This bend carried the head of the jetty away from the deep into shoal water so that vessels were compelled to adhere to the old method of loading and unloading by means of lighters. Thus £5,000 to £6,000 were thrown away.
Mesrrs Ormerod, the only shippers at the port, applied to have a lifting crane put up at the same distance from the shore as it was on the old jetty because they considered it better, when lightering had to be resorted to, to be able to work at that point than farther out. Thus, the remainder of the jetty became simply a useless parade.
A few months later in May 1869 the Marine Board issued a report on South East ports and in respect of the Robe jetty said:
- The jetty is - for all practical purposes as regards the class of steamers calling or likely to call there - entirely useless. The fact of having not more than 11 feet of water at highwater springs at the end of the wharf is condemnatory at once; and to have brought it into a draught of water commensurate with the requirements would have necessitated it being carried out in a straight line some 700 feet further than it has been previous to its trending away to the WNW... There is nothing I can recommend... To make a really safe harbour in all weathers woukd entail an enormous expenditure...
By 1880, its future was "bound in shadows" and in comparative obscurity. There is no doubt that it could have been the major port on the South East and could have had a railway but its residents, led on by Mr Ormerod, opposed it - presumably in the interest of the squatters. By the close of this decade there were three roads leading out of Robe, the first to Penola (62 miles), the second due north to Kingston (28 miles) and the third to Naracoorte. The mail route to Beachport (32 miles) was a bush track for the greater part of the way and was a picturesque drive for the most part alongside or near the lakes - George, St Clair and Eliza. and, as there was little traffic on it, wallabies and various kinds of native birds were to be seen.
These lakes were a sportsman's paradise as they were covered with black swans and thousands of ducks, geese and smaller fowls. In the distant past all this country was underneath the sea.. The grass grew up through thick beds of shells, fast crumbling into flowery dust. The trees had a shallow holding and gales had blown down scores of them and the roots had brought up hundredweights of old oyster, cockle and mussel shells.
In 1880 a new road was mooted and it was proposed that it branch off from the Penola Road, 12 miles from Robe, and thence go east to Lake George and along the foot of the Woakwine Range to Beachport. The drifting sandhills were thus avoided.
There were few farms to be seen on this route and, except for a little hay and a small quantity of wheat for home use, there was no cultivation of wheat within about 10 miles of Robe. There were a few farmers in the Hundreds of Waterhouse, Bray and Mount Benson but, apart from wool and wattle bark, the hopes of Robe were with the fixture opening up of good agricultural lands some 12 or 15 miles inland at Mount Bruce, Clay Wells and but drainage was required before cultivation could commence.
Miscellany,
See under Place Names - South-East for an essay on Lower South East Ports.
In an editorial in the Register on 31 December 1845, page 3a it is said:
-
Major Robe's apologists says "he is the most experienced Governor in colonial business we ever had". Where, would we ask, did he gather his experience? In a slave-tainted atmosphere of Mauritius? - whilst parading the ramparts of Gibraltar - or in pacing the quarter-deck of the Elphinstone... When he received his appointment to succeed Captain Grey, he did not even know in which quarter of the globe South Australia was situated...
You, a wayward bachelor in easy circumstances, probably came hither to see a portion of the globe before unknown to you; the prospect of your short visit being rendered more agreeable by a liberal salary, and the unwonted title of Governor. We, on the contrary, in our self-expatriation, sacrificed European connexions and comforts in the hope of founding in a wilderness a free and prosperous community...
You have not one particle of a personal interest in [our] prosperity or adversity. Unfortunately, numerous facts attest that you are equally devoid of that mere human sympathy which might have been expected from any one calling himself an Englishman...
I have the presumption to think, Sir, that there are men amongst us who possess greater common sense, more principle, ability, and general information than yourself...
(Register, 21 August 1847, page 4a.)
25 and 28 August 1847, pages 2a and 2c,
29 September 1847, page 3a, 16 August 1848, page 4b.
His obituary is in the Observer,
10 June 1871, page 13e.
"Troubles of Governor Robe" is in the Chronicle,
27 June 1935, page 48.
Also see The Mail,
9 January 1937, page 4 (magazine).
The Tribulations of Governor Robe
(Taken from Geoffrey H Manning's A Colonial Experience)
Major Robe, whose administration lasted from October 1845 until August 1848, was in almost every respect a startling contrast to his predecessor. He was a blunt, honest soldier, well versed in his profession, but his manners were not prepossessing, nor had he those gifts and graces that tend to make men popular.
He was a poor public speaker and this in itself created a prejudice against him in many quarters. In an editorial in the Register late in 1845 it was said:
-
Major Robe's apologists says 'he is the most experienced Governor in colonial business we ever had'. Where, would we ask, did he gather his experience? In a slave-tainted atmosphere of Mauritius? - whilst parading the ramparts of Gibraltar? - or in pacing the quarter-deck of the Elphinstone?... When he received his appointment to succeed Captain Grey, he did not even know in which quarter of the globe South Australia was situated...
You, a wayward bachelor in easy circumstances, probably came hither to see a portion of the globe before unknown to you; the prospect of your short visit being rendered more agreeable by a liberal salary, and the unwonted title of Governor. We, on the contrary, in our self-expatriation, sacrificed European connexions and comforts in the hope of founding in a wilderness a free and prosperous community...
Governor Robe was well-meaning, but he had little administrative skill and he could not let well alone. Though a perfect stranger to the colony he thought he had all at once acquired a thorough knowledge of our true policy. He was obstinate and dogmatic and continually ran his head against posts. He was at once architect, a lawyer, colonial secretary and engineer. He worked hard and blundered harder, but always with the best intentions.
One good point with him, which covered a multitude of sins, was that, though authorised by the Act of Parliament to expend the Queen's moiety of the Land Fund independent of the Council, he uniformly submitted the expenditure to that body for their approval. He was eminently a man of acts of honesty and only wanted clear and sound ideas, and some knowledge of the colony, to make good governor. His forte was 'acts without ideas.'
A citizen of Adelaide was, apparently, in accord with my opinion of the governor's inherent incompetence:
-
You have not one particle of a personal interest in [our] prosperity or adversity. Unfortunately, numerous facts attest that you are equally devoid of that mere human sympathy which might have been expected from any one calling himself an Englishman... I have the presumption to think, Sir, that there are men amongst us who possess greater common sense, more principle, ability, and general information than yourself...
I often wondered what Colonel Light would have thought of the deplorable state of affairs then existing in the capital for which he had planned so much? It is difficult to imagine such conditions today when the City Council takes every precaution to keep up the high reputation of Adelaide for health and beauty.
However, there were certain events which may have directed ignominy away from the embattled Governor for, in 1847, it was hinted that the recent completion of the Napoleon Bonaparte Hotel, as the result of Mr P.B. Coglin's enterprise, was an event worthy of preservation in the metropolitan archives, whilst the opening of the new Exchange in December 1848 was spoken of as an infallible sign of the advances which the colony had made towards the refinements and luxuries of commercial life.
After the recall of Robe not a few, both in England and the colony, would have liked to have seen Colonel Gawler restored to the post; among others George Fife Angas was hopeful of this. The wish, however, was not gratified, but in the successor to Major Robe the colonists found an ideal governor and a man after their own hearts, namely, Sir Henry Fox Young, who in a famous speech said:
-
Let us whose mission it is a a legislature to nurse this infant community in its advance towards the rank of a nation, so act for the interests of the present and future time that our successors shall not be able to associate our proceedings with the origin of any short-sighted or illiberal measures. In this honourable and responsible aim it will be my pride cordially to afford you my best co-operation.
1 March 1934, page 37.
A history is in the Chronicle,
4 February 1937, page 2a.
Its school opened in 1857 - see Government Gazette, page 148.
Information on its schools is in the Register,
10 August 1868, page 3b,
23 March 1883, page 6g.
A schedule of Chinese arrivals in 1857 is in the Register,
13 May 1857, page 2d;
also see 14 May 1857, page 3d,
Observer,
11 July 1857, page 7h and
Advertiser,
8 October 1906, page 6e.
"Chinese at Robe" is discussed in the Register
on 14 May 1928, page 13e;
also see Chronicle,
12 March 1936, page 16.
Also see South Australia - Immigration - Migrants - Asian.
The reminiscences of Charles Savage are in the Advertiser,
16 June 1925, page 14h
and of Henry D. Melville in the Register,
19 August 1903, page 6g and 5 October 1908, page 7a;
they include information on the Chinese "invasion" during the 1850s.
- Mr Charles Savage came to South Australia with his parents in 1856 in the vessel Punjab... His father was a stone cutter and soon after his arrival was engaged to go to Robe to carry out building contracts... Robe was busy in those days. Many bullock teams were in use carting wool from the South-East country and Victoria to Robe where it was shipped by the local firm George Ormerod & Co. ...
23 January 1847, page 2c,
19 May 1866, page 2g;
also see 24 November 1880, page 6b,
21 January 1885, page 5e,
Observer,
5 April 1873, page 6d, Farmers Weekly Messenger,
8 January 1875, page 5c,
Observer,
23 January 1886, page 36b,
Express,
15 October 1886, page 2c,
Register,
15 January 1923, page 9f,
3 March 1928, page 5e,
Parliamentary Paper 66/1886.
"A Summer Resort" is in the Advertiser,
20 March 1901, page 6e,
"A Cool Retreat" in the Register,
15 December 1904, page 3i.
A regatta is reported upon in the Observer,
26 March 1859, page 8d,
Chronicle,
2 April 1859, page 2f
and the Guichen Bay Races on 21 January 1860, page 3a and 4 February 1860, page 5b;
also see Register,
13 January 1876, page 7b,
Chronicle,
12 January 1884, page 15b.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Horse Racing.
A proposed "Protestant Church" is discussed in the Register,
15 February 1859, page 2d.
Information on local Aborigines is in the Register,
3 January 1861, page 3d.
Also see South Australia Aboriginal Australians.
A meeting of Volunteers is reported in the Register,
9 March 1861, page 3e.
A letter about the "Robe Cavalry" is in the Register,
10 July 1868, page 3b;
also see 2 February 1869, page 2f.
Also see South Australia - Defence of the Colony - Miscellany.
An election day is reported upon in the Observer,
18 March 1865, page 2h.
Also see South Australia - Politics - Elections.
"A "tramway meeting" is reported in the Register,
26 July 1867, page 3g.
The laying of the foundation stone of the Institute is reported in the Register,
6 October 1868, page 3g
and its opening on 2 March 1869, page 2e.
Information on the Guichen Bay Boiling-Down Works is in the Register,
17 February 1868, page 3d,
7 April 1868, page 2f,
4 and 15 May 1869, pages 3f and 2e.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Farming - Boiling Down.
Building improvements are discussed in the Chronicle,
30 January 1869, page 12b.
Information on the meat preserving works is in the Advertiser,
5 December 1896, page 10c.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Meat.
The reminiscences of H.D. Melville are in the Register,
19 August 1903, page 6g.
"A Cool Retreat" is in the Register,
15 December 1904, page 3i.
"The Robe Sea Wall" is in the Register,
4 July 1906, page 4g.
A photograph of local flooding is in the Observer,
18 August 1906, page 28,
of the last two members of the Robe tribe of Aborigines in the Chronicle,
2 May 1908, page 30,
of members of a Mothers' Union on 27 April 1912, page 31,
of drain digging on 28 September 1912, page 29,
Observer,
23 May 1914, page 33.
"Robe Libel Case" is in the Observer,
27 April 1912, page 44b.
Information on a war memorial is in the Register,
27 May 1921, page 5f,
22 June 1923, page 11d (opening of hospital).
Also see South Australia - World War I - Memorials to the Fallen.
"Romance of Early Robe" is in The Mail,
6 June 1925, page 17d;
also see 27 June 1925, page 18d.
The reminiscences of Rev F. Slaney Poole are in the Observer,
31 October 1925, page 19a.
An article on the town by Ernestine Hill is in the Advertiser,
1 August 1936, page 11g.
Robe - Obituaries
An obituary of E. Stockdale is in the Register,
18 March 1869, page 2g,
of James G. Smith on 8 January 1894, page 5b,
of John Payne on 5 September 1896, page 5c.
An obituary of John Payne is in the Observer,
12 September 1896, page 15c,
of Andrew Dunn on 21 December 1901, page 33d,
of Charles Gell on 16 September 1905, page 38c,
of Mrs E.T. Lea on 4 March 1916, page 39b,
of Mrs Elizabeth Barrowman on 22 September 1917, page 43d,
of Mrs Mary E. MacKenzie in 30 March 1918, page 19a.
An obituary of F.J. Peirce is in the Register,
21 April 1906, page 8i,
of Mrs Elizabeth Barrowman on 18 September 1917, page 4g,
of Mrs H.J. McConville on 27 March 1919, page 6g.
An obituary of Mrs William Anderson is in the Register,
31 March 1926, page 14f.
An obituary of Joseph Hooper is in the Register,
30 June 1866, page 2g.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Roberts, Hundred of
Nomenclature
Also see South Australia - Politics.
E.A. Roberts, MP (1896-1908). Following his service in the SA Parliament he was elected as the Member for Adelaide in the Federal Parliament. He died in Queen's Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne in December 1913 from a heart attack.
General Notes
"Among the Farmers" is in the Register,
17 October 1911, page 3b.
- There are fully 40 farmers in the Hundred and a number of them, especially Messrs A.T. Cowley ( one of the first if not the first in the district), McCallum, Smart, Nankivell, McCord, Beames & Sons, Sexton, Batland & Co, T.J. Whyte & Son and Sanderson, have made big strides. This year they seeded altogether 6,000 acres.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Robertson, Hundred of
Nomenclature
John Robertson, who took up the Mosquito Creek run in the South-East from 24 July 1845.
General Notes
Its school opened in 1888 and became "Bool Lagoon" in 1925;
it closed in 1965.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Robertstown
Nomenclature
John Roberts laid it out on sections 120-22, Hundred of English 22 kms north of Eudunda in 1871. He was its first postmaster from March 1874 and its operation remained within the family until 4 March 1926.
General Notes
An alleged discovery of gold in the district is reported in the Register,
25 January 1886, page 5d;
also see 29 January 1886, page 5h.
The district's "silver fields" are described on 27 May 1886, page 6f.
- With regard to the alleged discovery of gold bearing quartz at Robertstown we have been informed that the place lies to the back of the township towards the Burra Creek range of hills... As the alleged discovery has been made on private land, the Warden has received no intimation of the fact and unless the new Mining Act is interpreted to read that subsidies shall be paid for the discovery of gold on private lands the government will have no jurisdiction.
Its school opened in 1890;
Robertstown West School opened in 1923 and closed in 1943;
see Register, 27 August 1892, page 5c.
An Arbor Day is reported in the Chronicle,
1 September 1894, page 12f,
24 August 1895, page 12a,
14 August 1897, page 14d. Also see South Australia - Education - Arbor Days
A sports day is reported in the Register,
30 September 1905, page 11d.
The town and district are described in the Advertiser,
13 April 1886, page 5e;
also see Register,
19 July 1910, page 9b.
"The Bright Asbestos Property" is in the Register,
2 March 1894, page 3e,
Observer,
10 March 1894, page 12e.
Also see South Australia - Mining - Miscellany.
A patriotic demonstration is reported in the Chronicle,
24 March 1900, page 15b.
Information on a railway is in the Register,
19 July 1910, page 9b, 27 February 1911, page 9h, Observer,
4 March 1911, page 51a,
Register,
10 December 1914, page 11b.
Also see South Australia - Transport - Railways - Miscellany.
A photograph of the committee of the racing club is in the Chronicle,
10 February 1912, page 31.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Horse Racing.
A flood is reported in the Observer,
7 March 1914, page 44b.
Also see South Australia - Natural Disasters - Floods.
Early farming experiences are traversed in the Chronicle,
13 April 1933, page 6.
Robertstown - Obituaries
An obituary of John Mosey is in the Register,
29 February 1912, page 4g,
of Mrs Anna M. Hameister on 15 May 1914, page 10b.
An obituary of James Farley is in the Observer,
4 March 1916, page 39b,
of Mrs Elizabeth Phillips on 22 January 1927, page 44b,
of W.W. Mosey on 24 December 1927, page 14d,
of George F.O. Schirn on 2 June 1928, page 45a.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Robinson, County of
Nomenclature
Sir W.C.F. Robinson, Governor of South Australia (1883-1889).
General Notes
Also see South Australia - Governors and Ancillary Matters.
"The Governor's Patronage" is in The Lantern,
20 March 1875, page 6c.
Biographical details of the Governor are in the Register,
12 December 1882, page 6g,
Observer,
10 February 1883, page 33b.
Sketches are in Frearson's Weekly,
24 February 1883, page 42.
His poem "Unfurl the Flag" is in the Register,
5 February 1883, page 5c
and his obituary on 4 May 1897.
Sketches of him taking office are in the Pictorial Australian in March 1883, page 45.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Roby, Hundred of
Nomenclature
In the County of Buccleuch, proclaimed on 30 March 1899 and named by Governor Buxton without any reason being given. There is a parish of Roby in Lancashire, England.
General Notes
A school of this name opened in 1919 and closed in 1937.
Rivoli Bay, - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Rochester
Nomenclature
In November 1869 and February 1870 Edward Smith bought part of sections 347-48, Hundred of Hart, 6 km east of Brinkworth, which he sold to John Brodie Spence who, in 1873, laid out the village of Rochester 20 km north-west of Clare. However, it would appear that the village emerged during Edward Smith's occupancy of section 348 because the Rochester Post Office opened in 1869. Edwin Smith, no doubt, named it after his native place in Kent, England.
General Notes
The town is described in the Register,
30 October 1875, page 7a
and a fire at the hotel in the Observer,
8 February 1879, page 11e.
- The village has little to boast of either in situation or appearance. It lies in a hollow and the few houses look right into the opposite hill. There is a public house, not quite finished, and a store but the storekeeper was gone to town and his wife out on a walk. A blacksmith hard at work represented the active industry of the place and the balance of the visible population consisted of a small boy who told us we had better go three miles further if we wanted accommodation for the night. We were disappointed with Rochester for we had seen in a Clare newspaper an account of a monster cauliflower that had been produced there and which had perhaps unduly raised our expectations...
18 February 1876, pages 7d-2g (supp.).
Also see South Australia - Sport - Horse Racing.
Its school opened in 1880 and closed in 1940.
A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
2 January 1886, page 22b.
An obituary of John Smith is in the Register,
10 September 1915, page 6h.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Rockford
The Register of 25 August 1891, page 5b describes it as "a township between Aldgate and Echunga." This article has information on a proposed school.- The Minister of Education ( Hon. J.G. Jenkins) drove to Rockford - a township between Aldgate and Echunga - for the purpose of consulting the blockholders on the question of opening a new school there...
29 February 1896, page 25a.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Brewing.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Rocky River
Nomenclature
Near Crystal Brook was discovered by E.J. Eyre in 1839 and so named because of its rocky bed.
General Notes
It and the surrounding district are described in the Register,
3 November 1875, page 6a.
The drowning of Mr Summerton is reported in the Register,
30 March 1877, page 5a.
Its school opened in 1877 and closed in 1878;
it reopened in 1891 and closed in 1921.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Rocky Valley
A photograph of school children is in the Chronicle,12 July 1924, page 38.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Rogues Gully
Nomenclature
In the Hundred of Muloowurtie south of Ardrossan. In 1929 the names were changed to 'Rogers' in honour of William Rogers, a pioneer pastoralist of Yorke Peninsula. Of interest is the fact that William Sharples took up pastoral lease no. 232 in July 1851, its location being described as at 'Rogue's Gully'. In 1940 a plan was located which ante-dated Mr Rogers' occupation and showed 'Rogues'; accordingly the names reverted to their original designation. It has been suggested that they were so named because Inspector Tolmer arrested escaped convicts there in 1848. By a strange coincidence, the leader of the escaped Tasmanian convicts was a Mr Rodgers (sic), his henchmen being Messrs Reilly, Lynch and Reynolds.
General Notes
See South Australian, 17 October 1848, page 2f for an account of the recapture of the escaped convicts and Observer, 25 January 1879 for reference to a reward paid to Inspector Tolmer.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
R
Place Names
Roonka
Nomenclature
The name is applied to an archaeological site of international significance near Blanchetown. The word refers to moth grubs, relished by the Aborigines which abound among the root systems of trees. The 'Roonka Roonka Station' was established by Lachlan and Alexander McBean in the mid-1840s under occupation licence.
General Notes
The export of Angora goats to New Zealand from Mr E.A. Scammell's farm is reported in the Register,
8 August 1902, page 4g;
also see 9 September 1902, page 8b,
13 February 1903, page 7h.
- The one-time industry of rearing the Angora in South Australia appears to be reviving and enquiries which are continually coming to hand for rams and ewes must be encouraging to Mr Scammell. The Federal flock was founded at Roonka some years ago by Mr Scammell on careful selection from Sir Samuel Wilson's flock in Victoria and the Castambool (sic) flock of South Australia, originally owned by the late Mr Price Maurice. Elder, Smith & Co Ltd have shipped... to the Department of Agriculture, Wellington, New Zealand, 20 Angora ewes and five rams at satisfactory prices...
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
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Place Names
Roper Reach
The Register of 3 March 1894 at page 6f talks of a village settlement being founded at this place "on the River Murray between 5 and 10 miles below Lyrup..."- Another scheme is on foot for a village settlement at Roper Reach... between five and ten miles below Lyrup. Mr A.J. Brocklehurst is Chairman, Mr J.W. Rawnsley, Secretary and Messrs G. Bennett, A.G.. Illman and G. Attle the Committee. A numerously attended meeting was held at the Selbourne Hotel... It was decided to form an association and also apply for 10,000 acres...
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
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Place Names
Rosaville
Nomenclature
A subdivision of section 12, Hundred of Blanche in 1863 by Edwin H. Derrington (1830-1899), who named it after his second wife, the former Elizabeth Rosa Ekers; now included in Mount Gambier.
General Notes
Parliamentary Paper 26/1875 shows this school in Mount Gambier being conducted by Josephine Holdsworth with 97 enrolled pupils; the school opened circa 1864 and closed in 1875.
The village is described in Parliamentary Paper 66/1886 and
Advertiser, 19 August 1886, page 3d.
- Dr Powell, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Mount Gambier, reported that he had visited Rosaville and other places where diphtheria had made an appearance... Isolation was not perfect as the occupier of the house where the patients were treated was constantly with the patients and went about amongst his neighbours as usual... Seven children in [another] family were attacked and three died...
29 October 1892 (supp.), page 1c and
his obituary on 16 October 1899, page 6e;
also see Observer,
19 January 1924, page 16a.
An obituary of F. Knight is in the Register,
11 April 1912, page 4i.
A photograph of a football team is in the Chronicle,
5 September 1935, page 46.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Football.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
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Place Names
Rosebery
Nomenclature
According to Rodney Cockburn it was named after the Earl of Rosebery, who visited South Australia in 1884; it must be noted, however, that the subdivision predated his visit.
General Notes
Sketches of Lord Rosebery's visit to Adelaide are in Frearson's Weekly,
19 January 1884, page 703.
Information on a football team is in the Express,
28 March 1895, page 3e.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Football.
A proposed crematorium is discussed in the Express,
4 June 1897, page 3c,
8 July 1897, page 2e,
Register,
22 July 1897, pages 4e-6g. (Also see South Australia - Miscellany - Burying the Dead and South Australia - Miscellany - Cremation.)
- A meeting of ratepayers of the district of Prospect was held at the Windmill Hotel for the purpose of protesting against the establishment of the proposed crematorium at Rosebery. Mr Robert Lewis presided over a large attendance... The Chairman said it seemed to him that the crematorium committee intended to ignore the Board of Health in the carrying out of their project...
27 November 1905, page 4h.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
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Place Names
Rosefield
Nomenclature
William Ferguson (1809-1892) arrived in the Buffalo, together with his wife, Rosina in 1836 and built a house in the area called 'Rosefield'.
General Notes
The opening of Jeffries Memorial Church is reported in the Register on
21 August 1922, page 5h.
Photographs are in the Observer,
26 August 1922, page 26,
of Mr George White's property in the 1870s on
18 August 1928, page 38.
- The William Jeffries Memorial Methodist Church, Carlton Street, Rosefield , was opened in the presence of a large assembly... [It] is well designed and beautifully constructed of brick, stone and wood, almost entirely of Australian origin... The church is designed to 350, but a congregation of 500 filed in to attend the opening service... The total cost was £2,100...
30 January 1923, page 6d,
of H.C. Taylor on 3 July 1924, page 8g,
of Walter W. Leaver on 28 December 1925, page 6e,
of Robert McDonald on 16 July 1928, page 11b.
Biographical details of Mrs Elizabeth A. Jacobs are in the Observer,
24 November 1928, page 34b.
Rivoli Bay - Rose Hill
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Place Names
Rose Hill
The Chronicle of 29 September 1866, page 2f (supp.) reports the opening of a Bible Christian Chapel at this place near Harrogate.- On 23 and 24th inst. the new Bible Christian Chapel at Rose Hill (Harrowgate (sic)) was opened for divine service... The Trustees intended to have the chapel plastered immediately and then it will be used for a day and Sabbath school as well as for divine worship. A vote of thanks was passed to Mr Inglis for superintending the building...
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