Happy Birthday South Australia! 28th of December. The day that my beautiful homestate celebrates its birthday, and today it turns 180.

And while 180 is ancient in human terms, for the age of place it’s really only a baby. But even so, in those 180 years, the colony (and now State) has seen so many remarkable achievements throughout the years.

But first South Australia’s birthday is officially called “Proclamation Day“, and Wikipedia says …

“Proclamation Day in South Australia celebrates the establishment of government in South Australia as a British province. The proclamation was made by Captain John Hindmarsh beside The Old Gum Tree at the present-day suburb of Glenelg North on 28 December 1836.“

the Old Gum Tree at Holdfast Bay (now Glenelg), c1890

the Old Gum Tree at Glenelg, 2011

John Hindmarsh, who became the first governor of South Australia arrived in South Australia on the “Buffalo”, on 28th December 1836, and when he stepped ashore at Holdfast Bay (near the Old Gum Tree), he read the proclamation.

Each year re-enactments of the events of South Australia’s founding are still held on the same day, by the remains of the same Old Gum Tree. The proclamation calls upon the colonists to “conduct themselves with order and quietness,” to be law-abiding citizens, to follow after industry, sobriety, and morality, and to observe the Christian religion. By so doing, they would prove to be worthy founders of a “great free colony.” You can read the full proclamation on the Adelaidia site.

The People …
As with any place, South Australia has many men and women of ‘note’. Those who’ve made an impact on the State  in various ways, and you’ll find many of these mentioned in the 150 Great South Australians post (see links below), but obviously the list is confined to 150, with others who should make the list as well, but their achievements are incredible.

150 Great South Australians – Part 1 A-I
150 Great South Australians – Part 2 J-Z

The Events …
As for key events that have happened in South Australia, there’s so many … but here’s a small sampling for you.
1627 – First recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast.
1802 – South Australian coastline mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin.
1836 – South Australia proclaimed by Governor John Hindmarsh on 28 December at the Old Gum Tree, Glenelg.
1836 – Site for Adelaide chosen by Colonel William Light beside the River Torrens.
1837 – Adelaide’s first hospital opens on North Terrace.
1838 – The first Australian police force is formed in Adelaide, the South Australia Police.
1839 – The first road in South Australia, Port Road, is opened.
1840 – Royal Adelaide Show held for the first time.
1848 – Pulteney Grammar School established.
1850 – The forerunner to Harris Scarfe, G. P. Harris and J. C. Lanyon, opened on Hindley Street.
1858 – Melbourne-Adelaide telegraph line opened.
1858 – The first edition of The Advertiser newspaper is published.
1859 – A jetty of more than 350 metres in length is constructed at Glenelg.
1861 – East Terrace markets opened.
1861 – Copper discovered at Moonta, on the Yorke Peninsula.
1865 – Bank of Adelaide founded.
1870 – Port Adelaide Football Club established.
1872 – The General Post Office opened.
1873 – First cricket match played at Adelaide Oval.
1878 – First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in the city.
1880 – Telephone introduced in South Australia.
1881 – Coopers Brewery is established.
1883 – Adelaide Zoological Gardens opened.
1885 – The Adelaide Arcade opens.
1895 – South Australia was the first Australian colony to grant women the right to vote, and the first in the world to allow women to stand for Parliament.
1901 – Adelaide became a state capital upon the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.
1904 – Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange opens in the East End.
1914 – South Australian troops join their Australian comrades in Europe to fight in the Great War.
1915 – Liquor bars close at 6 pm following referendum, creating the six o’clock swill
1924 – Radio broadcasting begins.
1927 – Duke and Duchess of York visit.
1933 – First John Martin’s Christmas Pageant.
1935 – Many German place names, which had been changed during the Great War, are restored.
1937 – First permanent traffic signals installed.
1939 – Worst heat wave recorded with disastrous bushfires and highest Adelaide temperature of 47.6° Celsius.
1940 – Birkenhead Bridge opens.
1942 – Rationing of tea and clothing introduced.
1948 – Holden begins production.
1954 – Adelaide is hit by an earthquake causing much property damage but no loss of life.
1954 – Queen Elizabeth II makes first sovereign visit to Adelaide.
1954 – Mannum-Adelaide pipeline completed, pumping water from the River Murray to metropolitan reservoirs.
1955 – Adelaide Airport at West Beach opens.
1958 – First parking meters installed.
1977 – Late night shopping commences.
1982 – International air services begin at Adelaide Airport.
1989 – The Bicentennial Conservatory, referred to as “The Big Pasty”, opens at the Botanic Gardens.

More Information …
For further information on South Australia’s history, be sure to check out the following:
Wikipedia Timeline of South Australia’s history
South Australia’s Timeline: The First Hundred Years of Colonisation

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“Adelaide set for hottest Christmas Day since 1945 as heatwave conditions hit South Australia”. That’s the headline on the ABC News website, and yet it’s not even the hottest Christmas Day that Adelaide’s had.

temperature for Adelaide Christmas Day 2016, as shown on Bureau of Meteorology website http://www.bom.gov.au/sa/forecasts/adelaide.shtml

A quick check on Trove lead me to an article in The Advertiser, dated 26 December 1945, part of which is below.

The Advertiser, 26 December 1945, p.6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48683583

This says that the top temperature in Adelaide on:
Christmas Eve, 24 December 1945 was 104.6F (40.3C)
Christmas Day, 25 December 1945 was 105.3F (40.7C)

But even these aren’t the highest. Go back further as we find even hotter Christmas Days.
Christmas Day, 25 December 1941 was 106.2F (41.2C)

And according to Dick Whitaker, on Dick’s Blog, the all-time top Christmas Day temperature record for an Australian capital city goes to Adelaide back in 1888, when the mercury soared to 107.9F (42.1C).

So while it’s not a regular occurrence, it’s not unheard of having a 40C+ Christmas Day temperature. But it’s still not fun for those who have to travel during the day, or who had planned an outdoor Christmas do. So my advice for those who are in Adelaide for Christmas in 2016, stay inside (as much as you can), stay cool, and try not to bake, roast or fry (yourself that is, not the Christmas dinner)!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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What was the first car in South Australia? Or why not make that Australia? If your answer was anything to do with Henry Ford, you’d actually be wrong.

In fact the honour of the first car in Australia actually is an Australian built one and goes to a gent from Mannum, which is a small country town along the River Murray …

Below is a portion of an article from Adelaide’s ‘The Mail’ newspaper, dated 10 July 1926. You can read the full article on the Trove website.

Well known in South Australia as a manufacturer of farm implements, Mr. David Shearer, of Mannum, River Murray,can claim to be Australia’s first inventor of a motor car. In the early nineties he designed and built a power-propelled vehicle, which, a few years later, astonished all Adelaide as it chugged its way through the streets at 15 miles an hour. Special permission from the Mayor had to be obtained before the car could be driven through the streets.

Designed 10 years before Henry Ford’s first models, little is known today of the South Australian’s invention, but farmers, who lived a quarter of a century ago in and around Mannum remember how Mr. Shearer worked day and night on his “automobile,” and they relate today to the younger generation, how Mannum might have been the Detroit of Australia.

England’s first car, which made its appearance two years after Mr. Shearer’s, had a speed of 10 to 12 miles an hour, while the South Australian car actually travelled at 15 miles an hour.

Australia’s First Motor Car – Mr Shearer with his family and relatives about to set out on a run in his car.

Anyway this post isn’t going into the deep history of “Australia’s first motor car”, as I have something exciting to share with you.

It was 1906 when registration for cars and motorbikes (known back in the day as “motor cars” and “motor bikes”) came into effect in South Australia, and I have found a listing of about over 1400 of them. This list is featured in a book that came out in 1908, and while I’d love to list them all here, I can’t, so I’ve chosen to list just the first 50 of both motor car registrations and motor bike registrations. Each entry gives the registration number, name of owner and address (suburb or town), as shown below.

So where did I find this information? In a title called “Tourists Road Guide: South Australia 4th Ed 1908“. This is a title that has been digitised by Archive Digital Books Australasia, and is available on both CD or as a ebook download.

MOTOR CAR REGISTRATIONS
Number, Name, Address
1 Hargreaves, W.A. Woodville
2 Waite, Peter Glen Osmond
3 Gunson, Dr. J.B. Angas Street
4 Cudmore, Dr. A.M. North Terrace
5 Swift, Dr. H. Victoria Square
6 Ayers, F.G. Waymouth Street
7 Morgan, Dr. A.M. Angas Street
8 Ayers, A.E. King William Street
9 Waterhouse, A. East Terrace
10 Rymill, E.S. East Terrace
11 Rymill, A.G. Glenelg
12 McFarlane, A. Wellington East
13-14 Lendon, Dr. A.A. North Terrace
15 Harris, F.J. Gawler
16 Florey, J. Malvern
17 Smith, T.E. Barr Currie Street
18 Scarfe, A.A. Burnside
19 Marsden, Dr. W.C. Willunga
20 Meikle, Dr. A.J. Yankalilla
21 Smith, Drs. O.W and A.A. Clare
22 Pilkington, C.G. Marryatville
23-24 Ralli, S.S. Adelaide
25 Knox, N.A. Burnside
26 Brown, A.P. Mintaro
27 Gebhardt, L.W. Mount Bryan
28 Gebhardt, Albert G. Kooringa
29 Fooks, Dr. E.V.R. Gawler
30 Crank, Peter Unley Park
31 Hayward, Dr. W.T. Norwood
32 Borthwick, Dr. T. Kensington
33 Marten, Dr. R.H. North Terrace
34 Walker, J.R. King William Street
35 Summers, A.C. Parkside
36 Souter, Dr. C.H.J. Adelaide
37 Bollen, Dr. P. Semaphore
38 Walker, J.W. Mannum
39 Glynn, Dr R. McM. Riverton
40 Rogers, G.J. Wallaroo Bay
41 Main, Hugh Mintaro
42 Shearer, D. Mannum
43 Shearer, J. Mannum
44 Sangster, Dr. J.I. Kooringa
45-46 Reissmann, Dr. C. Norwood
47 Broad, A.S. Unley
48 Davidson, W.L. Hackney
49 Wilksch, E.H.E. King William Street
50 Lavers, Dr. R. North Adelaide

MOTOR BIKE REGISTRATIONS
Number, Name, Address
1 Bannigan, J. Malvern
2 Rymill, E.S. East Terrace
3 McFarlane, G.H. Wellington East
4 Woods, Dr. G. Clarendon
5 Doudney, Rev. H.W. Prospect
6 Parker, V.H. Ovingham
7 Bruce, D.W. Norwood
8 Torode, W.C. Fullarton
9 Hancock, F. Moonta
10 Jenkins, C.J.A. Adelaide
11 Rowland, J.M. Adelaide
12 Smith, Dr. A.A. Clare
13 Fidge, E.L. Aldinga
14 Osborne, jun. E.A. Prospect
15 Taylor, R.Y. Payneham
16 Pearce, R.J. Paradise
17 Hall, V.F. Parkside
18 Potts, R.V. Langhorne’s Creek
19 Sanders, J.B. Woodchester
20 McTavish, G. Callington
21 Segar, F. East Adelaide
22 Allnutt, W.A. Wayville
23-24 Wagener, W. East Adelaide
25 Anderson, A.T. Halbury
26 Diamond Brothers Adelaide
27 Lowry, E.J. Gawler
28 Magee, C.C. Penola
29 Shepherdson, G.A. Mount Gambier
30 Nicolls, J. Nantawarra
31 Rooney, R.J. Bute
32 Joyner, O. North Adelaide
33 Dunlop Rubber Company Adelaide
34 Lee, W.A. Gumeracha
35 Collett, L.A. Highbury
36 Trengove, J. Bute
37 Netter, N. Adelaide
38 Gault, A.H. Lower Mitcham
39 Mullins, M.M. New Mile-End
40 May, S.H. Kilkenny
41 Griggs, W.L. Balaklava
42 Import Company Adelaide
43 Davidson, E.S. Hackney
44 Souter, J.F. Uraidla
45 Ambrose, W.S. Mitcham
46 Bettess, W.S. Bute
47 Tidswell, H.R.K. Unley
48 Bond, F.T. Modbury
49 Adamson, H.J. Forestville
50 Eaton, G.W. Medindie

The registration details are only a small portion of what this book actually includes. The title I feel is rather misleading, as it makes it sound rather boring. But if you take the time to look at it, you’ll not only you’ll find the 1400 or so motor vehicle registrants (530 for motor car, and 878 for motor bike), but a heap of maps, times and distances to get to places, together with routes, places you can buy petrol, car clubs, the motoring laws, a heap of adverts that relate to cars. So you’ll find adverts for tyres, mechanics, oils, and even new cars.

Buy now on CD – $16.50
Buy now as a download ebook – $9.95

[Please note I have been given permission from Archive Digital Books Australasia to reproduce some of the detail, in this list]

At present Adelaide is the middle of another heatwave, we’re melting on our third day of over 40°C. It is one of those “burn-the-moment-you-step-outside” type of heatwaves. The “burn-yourself-on-the seatbelt” type heatwaves. On the plus-side this weather is absolutely fabulous getting your washing dry, though you will get sunburnt while you’re hanging it out.

While South Australia usually gets one or two heatwaves a summer, they usually hit later in summer. So to say that is has hit us all rather unawares, is an understatement!

For those who come from the colder parts of the world (ie. everywhere else), I just wanted to claify what a “heatwave” is defined as. The Bureau of Meteorology define it as “three or more days of unusually high maximum and minimum temperatures in any area”. Which is similar to my understanding of it, which is that it was a run of three consecutive days with the temperature 35°C or higher.

But hot weather in Adelaide is nothing new. A quick look on Trove comes up with numerous articles which mention the “record breaking” weather.

And while it hit 45°C the other day, it has been higher than that back in 1939!

News 10 January 1940
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131551907

A quick check on the fahrenheit to celsius converter tells me that 116.9°F is 47°C. So yes, that’s most certainly M-E-L-T-I-N-G weather!!

And just think … back in 1939 they wouldn’t have had all the comfort that we do with air conditioners in our house, car, workplace, shopping centres etc. So think what it would have been like back then.