1. Ivarityi

    Kaurna People

    The original people of the Adelaide Plains are still here - and once again speaking the Kaurna language.

    Historical Subject | By Lewis Yerloburka O'Brien & Mandy Paul | Aboriginal Country pre-contact, early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  2. Image: Collection of seven tin and stone cottages at Murtho, South Australia

    Labour Settlements

    Labour settlements were created during the 1890s to trial collective ownership, new farming technology and the high unemployment created by the Depression.

    Historical Subject | By Brendan Moran | 1850s, 1890s

  3. Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of a young Caucasian man wearing a late-Victorian era suit (without tie). He is sporting a large, luxurious handlebar moustache

    Wells, Lawrence

    Explorer and surveyor Lawrence Wells survived gruelling expeditions but died after being struck by a railcar.

    Historical Person | By Rod Cramer | North Terrace | 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s

  4. Image: Seven bewigged and robed supreme court judges, seated and posing for photograph, 1915

    Legal Profession

    The evolving profession in South Australia retained some centuries-old practices.

    Historical Subject | By Peter Moore | 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1980s

  5. Image: Old document in browning ink with large wax seal attached at bottom

    Letters Patent

    South Australia's founding document is once again the source of intense political and legal debate.

    Historical Subject | By Mandy Paul, History Trust of South Australia | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  6. Blue background with yellow green and blue blow and dashed lines spiraling across the blue.

    Lithuanians in South Australia

    Lithuanian migrants came to South Australia as early as the 1840s, numbers expanded significantly following the Second World War. 

    Historical Subject | By Migration Museum | 1840s, 1930s, mid twentieth century

  7. Logic (Pinba)

    Logic (Pinba), a convicted murderer, was described in the Advertiser of 12 December 1885 as ‘one of the most popular men in the colony’. 

    Historical Person | By Robert Foster | early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

  8. Image: A photographic portrait of a moustachioed middle-aged Caucasian man wearing wire-rimmed spectacles and a mid-20th century suit and tie

    Scammell, Mr. Luther

    Manufacturing chemist Luther Scammell prepared compounds, saved a struggling business, and coined the name ‘Solyptol’. 

    Historical Person | By Peter Donovan | North Terrace | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

  9. Magazines

    The first South Australian magazine to focus on local content was the South Australian Magazine, first published in 1841. Other magazines published during the nineteenth century include: Illustrated Adelaide Post, Pictorial Australian, Observer Miscellany, Adelaide Punch, Lantern, and Quiz.South Australian magazines published in the twentieth century include: Pheonix, Chapbook, and Angry Penguins. ‘Street press’, free newsprint magazines, began appearing in the last decades of the twentieth century with such titles as dB and Rip It Up . 

    Historical Subject | By Anthony Laube | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century

  10. Image: black and white photo of man in suit wearing white turban

    Allum, Mahomet

    Mahomet Allum was described in glowing testimonials as 'the wonder man' and by his adversaries as a 'quack'. 

    Historical Person | By Vedrana Budimir & Catherine Manning, History Trust of South Australia | Central Market | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s

  11. Image: wedding party

    Marriage and divorce

    Marriage and divorce rates have fluctuated according to social mores and legislative imposts. 

    Historical Subject | By Margaret Allen | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  12. Warnes, Mrs. Mary

    Deeply affected by the isolation and loneliness of her early married life, Mary Jane Warnes strived to improve conditions for her fellow countrywomen by founding the South Australian Country Women’s Association.

    Historical Person | By Nancy Robinson Flannery | North Terrace | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s

  13. Image: Black and white headshot of woman wearing a fascinator

    Lee, Mary

    Suffragist and social reformer Mary Lee was jubilant when, in 1894, South Australia became the first Australian colony to grant women the vote.

    Historical Person | By Dr Helen Jones | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910

  14. Image: A portrait of a young woman wearing a nun’s habit. She is holding a bible and a crucifix

    MacKillop, Mary

    An educationist and co-founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Mary MacKillop is now famous as Australia’s only Catholic saint.

    Historical Person | By Sister Marie Foale | Central Market, North Terrace | 1900-1910, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

  15. Image: bearded man seated with book

    Moorhouse, Dr. Matthew

    Matthew Moorhouse, a medical practitioner, arrived in South Australia from Staffordshire, England, in June 1839 to take up appointment as the colony’s first permanent protector of Aboriginals. 

    Historical Person | By Robert Foster | early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

  16. Image: An image of Thistle Anderson

    Anderson, M.C.

    MC ‘Thistle’ Anderson was a Scottish born actress turned writer. Best known for her pamphlet Arcadian Adelaide; she also published poems and short stories. 

    Historical Person | By Anthony Laube | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

  17. Image: woman in nursing uniform working

    Nursing

    On-the-job experience was the only training for the earliest nurses, but the profession is now part of the higher education sector

    Historical Subject | By Joan Durdin | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  18. Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of a young man wearing a late-Victorian era suit and sporting a dark, handlebar moustache

    Nesbit, Mr. Edward

    Barrister, intellectual and proud hedonist, Paris Nesbit was an early starter who allegedly read Milton at three and translated Goethe at ten.

    Historical Person | By Peter Moore | North Terrace | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s

  19. Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of an elderly Caucasian man wearing an early twentieth-century suit and wire-rimmed spectacles. He is balding, but has a full beard and bushy moustache

    Waite, Mr. Peter

    A pastoralist who built an empire on sheep and cattle runs, Peter Waite was also a major philanthropist.

    Historical Person | By Yvonne Routledge | North Terrace | 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s

  20. Philanthropy

    ‘South Australia’, wrote the early twentieth-century author of The Cyclopedia of South Australia, ‘owes its existence to a movement which had its origins in philanthropy’. 

    Historical Subject | By Rob Linn | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  21. Image: Black and white portrait photograph of the upper body of a man dressed in formal attire

    Playford Family

    A Baptist minister and Waterloo veteran with a dragoon’s pension, South Australia’s first Thomas Playford arrived in 1844 to claim an inherited original town acre. Thomas’s eldest son, Thomas Playford (1837–1915), was a successful orchardist at Drysdale, Norton Summit, in the Adelaide Hills. Thomas’s grandson, Tom Playford (1896–1981), also went into parliament, becoming Australia’s longest-serving premier.

    Historical Subject | By Carol Fort | early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  22. Image: Black and white photograph of an Aboriginal man

    Booboorowie, Mr. Poltpalingada

    From the 1880s Tommy Walker, or Poltpalingada Booboorowie, was a leading figure among the community of Aboriginal people who lived on the fringes of white Adelaide society.

    Historical Person | By Robert Foster | early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

  23. Image: group of people standing together on steps

    Population

    South Australia’s demography is in many ways the most distinctive of all Australia’s states, but the wealth of historical population data available for both the colony and state remains under-analysed.

    Historical Subject | By Graeme Hugo | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  24. Image: A two-storey octagonal stone tower set within a high wall with a crenellated parapet.

    Prisons

    Although South Australia was proclaimed a free settlement, colonial officials soon found they needed a gaol to house lawbreakers. 

    Historical Subject | By Patricia Sumerling | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  25. Image: Head and shoulder shot of bald man wearing suit

    Bragg, Prof. William

    Professor William Bragg had an extraordinarily active scientific career in Adelaide. 

    Historical Person | By John Patterson | 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

  26. Image: men standing in front of building

    Pubs

    JM Freeland characterises Australian pubs as among ‘the most socially significant, historically valuable, architecturally interesting and colourful features of Australian society’ (Freeland 1977, p. 1). South Australia’s pubs are no exception. 

    Historical Subject | By Patricia Sumerling | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  27. Image: protesters on King William Street

    Radicalism

    Radicalism has been inherent in South Australian history from its founding as a free settlement.  Based upon the English radical liberal thought of its founders, the State's reputation grew as a progressive colony and the first to entirely separate church from state.

    Historical Subject | By Brendan Moran | 1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1930s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s

  28. Image: two bumper stickers

    Refugees

    In general refugees have enriched and diversified South Australia’s religions, universities and schools, food, the arts, newspapers, clubs and sports.

    Historical Subject | By Kate Walsh | 1830s, 1840s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  29. Image: large stone building

    Responsible Government

    South Australia gained a radical, and democratic, Constitution on 24 October 1856.

    Historical Subject | By Craig Middleton, Centre of Democracy | North Terrace | 1850s

  30. Image: crowds of people, dressed fairly formally, in front of shop awnings

    Retail Trade

    In the early years of European settlement the distinction between retail trade, wholesale trade and importing in South Australia was unclear, with many businesses combining all three functions.

    Historical Subject | By Martin P Shanahan | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

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