PROCLAMATION DAY IN 1836.
THE FIRST FLEET.
The vessel which has the honor of being the pioneer ship to South Australia—that is to say, the first to bring out colonists to our shores—was the Duke of York, one of the old fashioned, staunch honest old wooden crafts of a type honored in those days, some sixty years ago, but which would " look like a wherry to a whaler" compared with the big roomy iron clippers of our time, even as these appear insignificant alongside the floating palaces which now carry our mails. For those comparatively primitive days she was suitable, and it is a pity that we have not a sketch of her in her habit as she lived a life on the ocean wave.
Here are her particulars from the records of her day and generation, and the passenger lists of the rest of the first fleet.
At Kangaroo Island, 28th July, 1830.—Duke of York, 197 tons, Capt. R. G. Morgan, 38 passengers and 4 children.—Mr. Thomas Hudson Beare, Mrs. Mary Ann Beare, Miss Charlotte Beare, Misses Lucy, Arabella, and Mary Ann Beare, Messrs. William L. Beare, Thomas Mitchell, G. Massiney,
MR. W. L. BEARE Colonist of 1836. photo
Israel Mazey, Charles Powell, Robert Russell, Samuel Stephens, I). H. Scheyvogle, and William West.
At Kangaroo Island, July 30th, 1830.—Lady Mary Pelham, 200 tons, Capt. Robert Ross, 29 passengers.
At Kangaroo Island, August 10th, 1836.—John Pirie, 105 tons, Capt. George Martin, 28 passengers —Mrs. Capt. Martin, Capt. Henry Simpson, Mr. Henry Alford, Mrs. Elizabeth Collins.
At Kangaroo Island, August 18th, 1830; Rapid Bay, September 3rd, 1836.—Rapid, 102 tons. Capt. William Light, 25 passengers.- Lieut. W. G. Field, R.N. (on leave), Mr. W. J. K. Pullen. Mr. Wm. Claughton, Mr. Wm. Jacob, Dr. John Woodforde, Mr. Alfred Barker, Mr. William Chattfield, Mr. William Hill (4th officer), Mr. George Mildred, R.N. (on leave), Mr. Hiram Mildred, William Bradley, William Gandy, William Lowes, George Penton, James Freemantle, Miss Gandy, Mrs. Bradley. John Thorn, William Tuckey, William Bell. William Hodges, Robert Buck, Robert Buck jun., George Childs, John Duncan.
At Kangaroo Island, September 11th, 1836; Holdfast Bay, November 5th, 1836, Cygnet, 239 tons, Capt. John Rolls.—Mr. G. S. Kingston. Mr. B. T. Finniss, Mrs. B. T. Finniss, Dr. E. Wright, Mrs. Dr. Wright, Charles Wright, Thomas Wright, Robert Wright, Mrs. W. H. Neale, Mrs. Neale, Master Neale, Misses Neale (3), Capt. Thomas Lipson, R.N., Mrs. Lipson, Misses Emma, Eliza, and Mary Lipson, R. G. Symonds, John Cannon, Berry Lipson, Thomas Lipson, jnr., Alfred Hardy, Thomas Gilbert, John Morphett. Thomas Powell, R. G. Thomas, William Williams, Edward Parsons, John Goodman, Thomas Bell, Mrs. Bell and 2 children, Samuel Chapman, Mrs. Chapman, Mr. Green, Hugh Quin, Mrs. Green and 2 children, James Hoare, Mrs. Hoare, 8tephen Paris, Mrs. Paris, Robert Bristow, Mrs. Bristow and son and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, Mr. and Mrs. Adams. John Brinnan, and Wm. Adams, Selhy Brown, G. Friend, B. Stone, Charles Parrington, John Locket, Basil Sladden, Smythett Sladden, Isaac Sladden, Thomas Rogers. John Afford, A. Heath, Thomas Avery, E. Harrington, Edwd. Stubbington, John Corney, John Levey, Joseph Finch, J. Osborn. J. Welman, William Teesdale, and David Devine.
At Kangaroo Island, October 5th, 1836 The Emma, 164 tons, Capt. Nelson.—Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Hare, Mr. Henry Douglas, Mr. and Mrs. W. Wilkins and child, Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Brisford and daughter, Mr. J. Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. O. Lines.
MR. J. A. HILL Colonist of 1836. photo
At Kangaroo Island, November 2nd, 1836; Holdfast Ba.y. November 8th, 1836.—The Africaine, 316 tons, Captain John Finlay Duff.—Robert Gouger, Mrs. Gouger, John Brown, Mrs. Brown, Dr. C. G. Everard, Mrs. Everard, Charles G. Everard, William Everard, John Hallett, Mrs. Hallett, Robert Thomas. Mrs. Thomas, William Kyffin, Frances, Mary, and Helen Thomas, Mr. and Mrs. I,ewis, Mr. and Mrs. Coltman, Mr. and Mrs. John Snoswell, Mathew Smith, Mrs. Mary Smith, Messrs. Robert Fisher, Andrew Jacobs, John Briggs, Daniel Cox, Alfred Warren, Benjamin Smith, Alfred Young, James Windebanks, Slater,
Drown, Masters, Ward, William Wiliams, Arthur Gliddon, H. Hill, Berry Wickham, Wickham, jun., Samuel East, Mrs. East, and 2 sons and 4 daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Callan and 3 sons and 1 daughter, Mr. and Mrs. W. Bushell, 1 son and 1 daughter, Mr. and Mrs. G. Parcills and 2 sons, Mr. and Mrs. Pollard, Messrs. John Cronk, J. M. Skipper, Wickhams (3), and Lillywhite, Mary Vincent, and Eliza Clark.
At Kangaroo Island, November 30th, 1836.—The Tam O'Shanter, Captain Freeman, 74 passengers.— John Stuckey, Mrs. Stuckey, William Phillips, Mrs. Phillips, and 3 children, F. Allen, Mrs. Allen, P. Lee, Mrs. Lee, J. Bell, Mrs. Bell, Forbes, Mrs. Forbes, and 2 children, Woods, Mrs. Woods, and child, Seaborne, Mrs. Seaborne, Captain Brom ley, Messrs. Catchlove (sen.), Catchlove (jun.), George White, John White, Henry Gilbert, William Fouke, William Nation, J. E. Barnard, W. Moseley, W. T. Skuce, Botting, J. Clarke, Wm. Jaques, Thos. Masters, William Guthrie, William Bailes, Wm. Hardington, Surflcn, Allen, jun., Josiah Rogers, R. Ross, R. A. Rogers, and W. T. Rogers, Mrs. Rogers, Mary F. Rogers, Fanny Rogers, Clara Rogers, Allen (2), Maria Catchlove and Jane Catchlove.
At Port Lincoln, December 24th, 1836; Holdfast Bay, December 28th, 1836.—The H.M.S. Buffalo, Captain John Hindmarsh, R.N., 174 passengers.— Captain John Hindmsrsh, R.N., Mrs. Hindmarsh, James Hurtle Fisher, Mrs. Fisher, 3 sons and 2 daughters, Rev. C. B. Howard, Mrs. Howard, and 2 daughters, George Stevenson, Mrs. Stevenson, John Hindmarsh, Susan Hindmarsh, Jane Hind marsh, Mary Hindmarsh, Charles B. Fisher, James Fisher, Henry Morris, Elizabeth Fisher, Thomas B. Strangways, Giles Strangways. Emily Blundell, Richard Neville, William Hill, Osmond Gilles, George Ormsby, V. B. Hutchinson, A. F. Lindsay, P. M. Richards, William Malcolm, Henry Jickling, William Fergusson, Mrs. Fergusson, Robert Cock, Mrs. Cock and 4 children, Middleton, Mrs. Mid dleton and 2 children, Luke Broadbent, Mrs. Broad bent and 6 children, Isaac Breaker, Mrs. Breaker, Wm. Croxall, Mrs Croxall, and 1 daughter, Samuel Oakley, Mrs. Oaklev, and 4 children, Giles Abbott, sen., Mrs. Abbott aud child, William Adams, Mrs. Adams, and 2 children, J. Chittleborough, Mrs. Chittleborough, and 5 chiidren, George Roberts, Mrs. Roberts, and 3 children, John Sladden, Mrs. Sladden, Richard Sladden, Mrs. Sladden and 2 children, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, Mr. and Mrs. Pike, Mr. and Mrs. Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Prowitt, Mr. and Mrs. Norris, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, Mr. H. B. and Mrs. Savory. Mr. and Mrs. Coulthard, Giles Abbott, jun., John Abbott, Samuel Oakley, jun., Thomas Oakley, Messrs. Lee, Harvey, Wm. Irwin, W. Langley, W. Baron, W. H. Giles, S. Chapman, Fred Allen, Bean, Moore, Frank Potts, James Candy. Henry Bacon, William Hewitt, Stubbing, and Wheatly, Kate Oxenham, Eliza Oxenham, Isabella Sladden.
It may be interesting to note the officers and crew of H.M.S. Buffalo Captain, John Hind marsh, James Wood, master; James Bowler, second master; N C. Phillips, second master; Jos. Chegwden, senior master; T. F. Chessman, master's assistant; Jas. Jackson, surgeon; F. T. Pascoe,
THE BRIG " RAPID," 162 TONS, photo
in which Col. Wm. Light arrived in South Australia , September 3, 1836
From a Model made by a Seaman on board and in the possession of Mr. S. J. Skipper. assistant surgeon; Wm. Eales, clerk; Richard Adams, John Bamber, Cornelius Bean, George Beck, Henry Benham, Joseph Blandon, .lames, Bradding. George Brand, Thomas Brown, Hugh Bryan, Joseph Budden, Edward Burt, James Butt, Robert Camp, Joseph Chandler, George Charles, James Clinton, Charles Thomas Clark, John Col lett. Henry Colleys, Richard Cox, Joseph Davis, Samuel Davis, William Dowse, William Develly, George M. Ferguson, Joseph Field, James Fish, John Foster, John Fowles, Joseph Fowles, James Gardner, William Goldsmith, Henry Graves, Richard Gribb, Thomas Grabb, A. B.; William Haddion, James Henry, John Hill, George Hughes, Sam Humby, Henry Jacobs, D. Edward James, William Je?ron. James Johnston, George Jones, Alexander Kennedy, Henry King, James Knight, William Lavell, Richard l.oveder, Hugh Mack, Henry Meech, John Meredith, Richard Mew, Charles Moon, James Mountain, Thomas Murphy, Joseph Napper, William Neill (1), William Neill (2), Joseph Oliver. William Oliver, Thomas Pain, William Pain, Thomas Palmer, William Parsons, William Perrington. Stephen Pnrseter, S. W. Restorick, Ceorge Rix, John Rowlands, William Sanders, Robert Seager, William Seval, Charles Since, .lames Strugnell, William Stout, Tliomas Sullivan, John Wadcot, James Way, Robert Wesson, Frederick Weyer, William Wheeler, John Williams, David Wood, James Wood, and John Worley.
It was early in the year 1836 that the South Australian Company laid on a number of vessels in London to take colonists to this land of promise, the Duke of York being one of the earliest on the list of departures. She was the Mayflower of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Great South Land, and she anchored in Nepean Hay, Kangaroo Island, on July 27, 1836. according to the data furnished some years ago by the late Mr. Robert Russell, who lived long enough to see the Adelaide of huts grow into a city of stone mansions. Of her and the Lady Mary Pelham, which anchored the day after, and which had been practically her consort on the voyage out, more anon.
The year was only middle-aged, and before its close a fair number of emigrants found their way over the long, wide, weary waste of waters to the untried shores of Holdfast Bay, and a sturdy lot they were.
In 1836 the total tonnage of the shipping was 2,592. During 1838 102 vessels arrived, and the largest tonnage was 600. Between 1838 and 1842 it had mounted up to 48,725, and from 1843 t0 1847 came to 34,546; from 1848 to 1852 the figures were 155,768; and from 1873 to 1877 the tonnage was 617,232; while in 1895 the figures were 1,483,440; and for the first nine months of 1896, 1,186,070. In 1895 1,106 vessels arrived, and during the first nine months of 1896, 931.
Leaving England the Lady Mary Pelham started first, but fell in company with the Duke of York near the end of the voyage, and anticipated reaching the wished for haven before any other ship, as, in parting company, she flirtfully signalled the Duke, " Do you want a tow ?" but the Duke sighted Kangaroo Island on July 26th, and anchored first, to the huge delight of all on board, as the island was believed to be the mainland. Mrs. Beare's infant girl was taken ashore in the arms of a sailor (Robert Russell), who, wading through the water to the beach, planted the child's tiny feet in the sand so that it might be the first to set foot on the new land. The veteran Robert Russell, before his death at a ripe old age, was wont to give a graphic account of the voyage and the first landing, and he described the Duke of York as "a Falmouth packet, a good sea-boat and fast ; built with bulwarks man o' war fashion."
MRS. W. HOSKEN, Highbury photo
Colonist of 1836.
Respecting the arrival at Kangaroo Island, Mr. W. L. Beare says: "The vessel anchored directly off what is now known as Queenscliffe, and the first tents were pitched there. Our instructions were to land directly on the point known as Kingscote, but there was no clear space on which to pitch a tent until it was cleared. All hands, ship hands particularly, were anxious to get the cargo out of the Duke so that they could get to work whaling, for which the crew and officers engaged on what was then termed 'lays.' By about the middle of September the ship was ready for sea, but the night before a man named Massey and four or five others left the ship and got into the bush. The captain could not go without these men as he could not man enough boats, so he, with some others, started off to find them. This he managed to do, but then both parties got lost. As they did not return for a day or two Mr. Stephens got one or two of the Islanders, as they were called, to go for them. They came up to the lost ones some time after dark and found that they were all on their knees at prayers. They came on them so quickly that none heard them before they dropped on their knees beside them. All the Islanders wore moccasins in those days."
After leaving Kangaroo Island, the Duke left on a whaling cruise—after transhipping her passengers—and was wrecked near Keppel Island, which the crew succeeded in reaching in boats.
FIRST CHRISTMAS DAY IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. [By the Rev. John Blacket.]
If cannot actually sweep out of existence our surroundings, we can imagine them as nun-existent. We must go back to the genesis of our Commonwealth. Adelaide has not yet come into being; South Australia is in her primeval condition. Where Adelaide now stands gumtrees are growing, and flocks of kangaroos are feeding. The river; from which a tribe of natives are drinking are drinking from a chain of waterholes, each connected by a tiny streak of water. The bed of the river is covered with reeds, and its banks with various native shrubs. There are no farms or gardens. There is no clatter of hoofs or rumble of wheels. Save the 'coo-ee' of the blackfellow, the laugh of the jackass, or the screech of the cockatoo, no startling sounds are heard. The vast solitudes of South Australia have never been disturbed by the vandalism of civilization; they are the resting places of the eternal. But a change is about to take place, in Holdfast Bay one or two vessels are riding at anchor. The Africaine is there— the vessel that brought some noted pioneers to our shores. _ About a mile inland, under the shade of some trees, here are about 40 tents and rush huts. Yonder is the tent and hut of Robert Gouger, soon to be visited by death. The wife of this grand pioneer is not destined to see many days in the new land. Not far away is the tent of John Brown, the first immigration agent, and outride stand the coffee mill and roaster. In another direction is the tent of Dr. Everard, not far from a lagoon. Robert Thomas, the pioneer printer and one of the founders of The Register,' has pitched his tents and built his hut. On the beach stand the type and oldfashioned press, from which the proclamation of the province will soon be issued.
It is Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25, 1836—seventy-four years ago. The heat is rather trying, 100 deg. in the shade. A number of immigrants, dressed in their best, and carrying their seats with them, are on their way to the rush hut of George Strickland Kingston. There is no clergyman among the pioneers, but it is Christmas Day, and Sunday, so divine service must be held. The 'gun' has already been fired intimating that the time for the service to begin has come. About 25 persons are present.
—Strangers in a Strange Land.—
The service is now over, and the pioneer fathers and mothers, with their children, walk back to their tents. The sun is shining, and the birds are singing, but everything seems so strange. The previous Christmas was spent as every other Christmas had been— in the dear old motherland. It was cold and gloomy; but the yule log crackled and sparkled in the fireplace, one the old home was decorated with holly, They had their Christmas dinner surrounded by the comforts of civilization. This This Christmas they are on the shores of an unknown country, living in tens and reed, huts, with the heat 100 deg. in the shade. There is neither horse nor cart in the land; no baker nor butcher shops; no streets, houses, gardens, or churches. What the future has in store these resolute men and women cannot tell. They have come to try a great experiment— to colonize a land which for ages has been shrouded in gloom. We talk of our hardships to-day: but look at the founders of our State sitting down to their Christmas dinner in 1836. They are destitute not only of the luxuries, but of the very necessities of civilization. The table is an extemporized one; the seats are boxes and packing cases; tin pannikins do duty for cups and saucers. There are no roast geese or turkeys; no Christmas tokens, or glad family reunions No; in place of these there is the thought of a land and of loved ones far away— a land whose streets perhaps they will never again tread, and loved one's whom probably they will not again see. Said one of our lady pioneers:— 'It was sometimes very hard to forget all that we had left in the old country, and particularly friends, and to determine to make the best of our surroundings; but all managed to put up with the roughness, and be contented... No one appeared.. to fear for the future, although, of course, no one could anticipate what the future would bring forth.' Let the girls and boys who read this sketch think of the children who lived in the tents and reed huts at Glenelg 74 years ago. Think of, the children who sat down to their first Christmas dinner then. For a moment we will take our places with them. There are no shops or stores from which father and mother have been able to buy books or toys. No fruit or lolly shops from which to purchase sweets. No trains, no traps, no horses, no streets, no gardens, no houses. They are living in tents and rush huts on the shores of what Col. Light has called Holdfast Bay. They have just returned from church service, conducted in a rush hut. Time for dinner has come. The table is fixed up— perhaps a few boards, laid upon cases. The cloth is spread. The tin plates and pannikins are brought in. Mother carries in some ship's biscuit and salt, pork: perhaps father has been able to secure a few parrots or cockatoos, and mother has been able to make a parrot or cockatoo pie. Some have been fortunate enough to secure a piece of the cow that fell into the lagoon and had to be killed, and some perhaps have a piece of kangaroo. boxes and cases are drawn up to the table for seats; grace is said: and father carves and serves out the salt ship's pork. the parrot pie, or the kangaroo. There are no French beans, peas, or cabbages, no cherries, apricots, or peaches. After dinner there are no Sunday, school gatherings, with hearty singing and bright speeches. Even a long walk is quite out of the question, for there are blacks in the locality, and there is also the danger of being lost in the bush. Such was the first Christmas Day in South Australia. Let the girls and boys who read these lines remember that the fathers and mothers who came to found South Australia 74 years ago, and who sat down to their first Christmas dinner in this land, were splendid men and women, the pick of Old England. They were really heroes and heroines, they were bold, determined, brave, resourceful. They had come to subdue a wilderness, to colonize an unknown land; they felt that their strong arms, determined wills, and faith in God would carry them through. There was no Government to which they could run when they wanted a house built, a road made, or a bridge constructed. No; they felt that they were equal to all the difficulties of the position, and proved themselves to be so. They kept the blackfellows in check, laid the foundations of the City of Adelaide, forded the rivers, cleared the forests, built their houses, planted their gardens, worked 14 and 15 hours a day, and were as happy as the bees who made sweet music in their gardens, or the birds that sang in their trees. The girls and boys who sat down to that first Christmas dinner were like their fathers and mothers, so they successfully laid the foundations of this beautiful and prosperous State in which we have been born. The lesson which they have handed on to us is— 'Girls and boys, be bold, brave, self-reliant, determined; mindful of your duty to God and to your fellowmen and you will break in pieces the gates of brass and cut asunder the bars of iron.'
The Pioneers of 1836.
Although the early settlers of South Australia were in no sense exiles from their native land, they had many hardships to encounter, besides perils of one kind or another in sufficient measure to cause them a good deal of anxiety. Many of them had voluntarily left comfortable homes and good prospects to come hitherward to a strange land — in fact to a veritable terra incognita. How they surmounted all obstacles and struggled against disheartening calamities we can hardly now adequately realize. Of their pluck and of the patient endurance of their wives and children one hears nowadays with wondering admiration. The first of the white settlers is believed to have been George Bates, who, in 1824, had landed in Dash-wood's Bay, but long before his advent Kangaroo Island had been occupied by a number of adventurous men, mostly sailors, who had run away or arranged to be landed from whaling ships. The first settler was Thomas Whalley, who left a whaling ship named the General Gates in the year 1816, and landed at Bew's Point (now called Roll's Point), immediately beneath where the telegraph station now stands. Two years after he induced a man named Billy Day to leave a whaler that anchored there and join him in his Robinson Crusoe life. Mr. Bates is 87 years of age, and was living with the natives in 1827 from Cape Jervis to Adelaide, and was also associated with Mr. Kent in the search for Captain Barker, who was killed on the Murray. Bates was born in the year 1800 at Old-street, St. Luke's, London. He is allowed rations by the government, and lives in a stone hut at Hog Bay on the island. On July 27, 1836, arrived the barque Duke of York, bringing 38 immigrants. She anchored in Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island, and a few days subsequently the barque Lady Mary Pelham, with 29 passengers, also arrived. There were already inhabitants on Kangaroo. Island, who greeted the fresh arrivals with great enthusiasm. On that occasion the captain of the Duke of York, who seems to have been of a romantic turn of mind, resisting all the importunities of the passengers to allow one of them to have the honour of first setting foot on the land, decided in favour of Baby Beare (the infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Beare) who was thereupon rowed to the shore by a willing boat's crew, and carried to land by a stalwart sailor, Robert Russell, who planted her little feet in the wet sand amid the hurrahs of the people on board. Russell is still a resident of South Australia — a hale, hearty old man of 83. The Duke of York was a Falmouth packet, and her career was speedily brought to a close by her striking and going to pieces on Keppel Island on her return from a whaling cruise. Her crew, of which Russell was one, took to the boats, and on landing at Moreton Bay two of the crew were killed by the natives, Even as late as 1838 the state of the colony was by no means of an enticing character. Thus in July, 1838, we find in a letter from a lady to her friend in England the following doleful statement : — " There is only one mangle in the colony. A stocking costs a penny to mangle, and other articles are dearer as their size increases. How surprised you would be to see the holes they call houses, and well-dressed ladies looking out of the low, mud doorways. The Governor's house is built of mud and looks comfortable." The site of the City of Adelaide, the metropolis of South Australia, was fixed by Colonel Light, than whom none of the old Australian notables deserve more special mention. His energy and self-reliance amid almost insuperable difficulties and opposition seems to have been wonderful. His memory is held in such high esteem that every year the City Council drink to it in solemn silence as part of a municipal ceremony. With him alone rested the serious responsibility of selecting the site and arranging the plan of Adelaide as the capital of South Australia, and how wisely and well he carried out that duty we all know. It has been said that if the site of Adelaide had been half a mile to the west, north, south, or east, it would have been unsuitable. Colonel Light with rare judgment pitched upon precisely the position best suited to the requirements of such a city. In a letter to his friend, Mr. William Jacob, dated October 5, 1838, quoted in Worsnop's " History of Adelaide," Colonel Light says: — " I never felt sanguine on any point but one, and that was the eligibility of the site of Adelaide." To use his own words, he " felt the well-being of thousands was connected with and might in a great degree depend upon the correctness of his decision." The portrait of Colonel Light hangs upon the walls of the City Council Chamber. It was presented in 1877 by Colonel Palmer, of Nazing Park, near Waltham Cross, in England, through Mr. (now Sir) Samuel Davenport. The same gentleman also gave the portrait of Colonel Gawler, our second Governor. The donor, Colonel Palmer, was one of the Commissioners under the Act of 1834 for founding the colony. Governor Hindmarsh was the first of South Australia's rulers. He has been described as a stiff-necked man, and it is said that officials in those days, i.e. between 1836 and 1846, used to quarrel with great bitterness. The Governor disliked the site of the city " and Colonel Light's life was," says a contemporary, " made burdensome to him. A year or two later he died, while still the friction had not ceased. Governor Hindmarsh is dead, too, and so are nearly all the others who so fretted and chafed here a half-century ago. Meanwhile the place went to work under its untried Constitution as best it might. It was divided against itself. Captain Hindmarsh was Governor assisted by a nominee Legislative Council of four. The Resident Commissioner (James Hurtle Fisher) was, however, almost as great an authority, having virtually unlimited powers. These two sections had minor factions. Before long the office of Resident Commissioner was abolished and discipline improved." In October, 1838, Colonel Gawler succeeded Hindmarsh. He came, it is said, at a time when the people sadly needed a leader, and in the Colonel they had a man with an independent mind, and plenty of energy and courage. He had to fight against the effects of the influence of convicts who had migrated hither from the other colonies, and to this end he established a costly Police Force. He found the place sadly depressed. He saw that some people in this country of boundless resources were absolutely destitute, and that the settlers were working upon no definite method. Their energies were as limitless as the wealth of their country, but they as a whole knew no channel into which their powers could run. When Colonel Gawler came scarcely anything whatever was known of the country beyond Adelaide. Nearly all that had been done was gambling in town lands, of which possession had only just been given. The new Governor acted promptly at least, and rose to the occasion. Even his enemies admitted that, though they say he soared beyond it. He first put down the Civil Service disorganization with a firm hand ;and then, whilst promoting exploration with great energy, he started large schemes of public works. The local effect of his bold policy was to rapidly increase the population. Adelaide was as busy as a beehive. It even took unto itself the dignity of a Corporation, one of the earliest instances of local self-government in Her Majesty's colonies. Still little was done in the way of production. The stable was being erected when it was problematical whether a horse could be got to occupy it. The money went chiefly in bricks and mortar for public buildings. Labourers could " earn enough in two days to keep them drunk for a week." It is recorded that in a few cases specially skilled artisans were paid as much as 30s. a day. Still there was no proportionate production, and if wages were high, food was dear. None the less true is it, however, that the bold policy of the Governor of the new colony had a good effect outside. But Colonel Gawler's Commissioners decided to remove so extravagant and reckless a Governor, and so, on May ' 15, 1841. he was superseded by Mr. Grey, now Sir Geo. Grey, who walked into the Governor's office, and handed the Colonel his discharge, and a notice that its bearer was his successor. Forthwith out walked Governor Gawler ; and Governor Grey began to reign in his stead. The newcomer had been ordered to perform a most unpleasant duty, and he did it unflinchingly. Some of his traducers even avowed that he was an anatomical monstrosity — that he had no heart . The position of his little kingdom of 14,000 people, with about 2,500 acres under cultivation, was perplexing to the strongest man. The people were affected by an absolute panic. They were like affrighted, sheep, crowding together in a disorganized flock — a simile whose point consists in the fact that most of the enterprises were then centred in Adelaide alone. The dishonouring of the bills caused a great lack of money and of faith. The public treasury was absolutely empty. Even the salaries of the Civil servants had not been paid, and everybody was alike poor and despondent and distrustful. The Governor's first forced step intensified the troubles of the people. He reduced official's salaries and workmen's wages to the lowest living point. Ordered to rigidly economize, he at once reduced the expenditure more than one-half, and in some other years to one-sixth of what it had been, though later, to relieve workmen on the verge of starvation, he borrowed £3,000 from New South Wales, to be applied to public purposes. This and the grant of assistance by the Imperial Government subsequently loosened the extraordinary financial strain. Bye-and-bye people began to wonder whether the seeming disaster was not a rich blessing in disguise. The new policy gave them the alternative of going out into the country or starving. Hitherto nine-tenths of the population had centred in Adelaide. Governor Grey drove them out to till the soil, and to rely upon their own resources ; and in doing that he laid the foundations of many happy homes tenanted to-day by prosperous people within 25 miles of this city. At the end of 1842 one-third of the private houses in Adelaide were empty, and twenty-three of the sixty- seven public-houses were shut up. Then began the achievement of a triumph of providence and of industry. Gardens were laid out and farms were cultivated, chiefly at Mount Barker and Gumeracha and in the South. In the same locality and in the intermediate country the squatters, then nomadic, not confined by fences, pastured their flocks like Australian Abrahams. Even in the year of Governor Grey's arrival £35,000 worth of wool was exported. Early in 1842 that good colonist, John Dunn, of Mount Barker, after a display of perseverance and of toil almost heroic, provided for the settlement its first flourmill. It was his own design — his own workmanship. It was worked by wind, and it was erected at Hay "V alley, near Nairne. The greater encouragement was given to the growing of wheat by the testimony of experts that the South Australian grain was by reason of climatic conditions superior to all others. A few years later, at the great London Exhibition of 1851, it bore off the prize from all the world's competitors.
Jubilee Commemoration Day.
Tuesday, December 28, 1886, was the fiftieth anniversary of the day on which South Australia was proclaimed a colony, and by general consent it was kept as a strict holiday. The morning was a cold one, but at noontide and during the afternoon the weather proved exceptionally pleasant. The demonstration of the day was at Glenelg, where an immense crowd assembled. There were yacht and rowing races, besides land sports and an evening pyrotechnic display. As respects the City, it may be mentioned that the Albert Bells in the Town Hall pealed forth some not easily recognizable melodies by way or announcing that Adelaideans were holding high holiday. The railways and the coaches were all liberally patronized, as were also the amusements in the evening. But of course it was at Holdfast Bay, otherwise known as Glenelg, that the chief attractions were to be found. It is par excellence the great historical centre of public interest and particularly so on the 28th of December. For here, under the venerable gums of the Patawalonga Creek did the early pioneers assemble on that day, in the year 1836 while the proclamation ceremony was being enacted. In a few years hence the last of these patriarchs will have left the scene, and it is therefore only fitting that the events of the period should be recorded and their memory in some shape or other perpetuated for the benefit and information of generations yet unborn. There were thousands of people assembled, all in holiday garb, and all as orderly and good-humoured as South Australian crowdB always seem to be. A noticeable feature of the passenger railway traffic on that day was the absence of overcrowding and confusion, and this is the more remarkable, when we come to consider that approximately there were 48,000 passengers carried on the Victoria-square line, and 35,000 on the North-terrace line ; i.e., of course, including the return journeys of all the passengers. The road too was largely patronised, hundreds of vehicles of all descriptions being observable wending their way to " the Bay." The outsides of the hotels and shops were decorated with bunting, the whole making a pleasing panorama. The Mayor of Glenelg (Mr. W. F. Stock) treated 250 old colonists to rest and refreshment at the Institute. During the afternoon the balcony was largely availed of, for from that point of vantage a glorious view is to be had both landward and seaward.