1. Image: a man sits cross legged on a chair, holding a newspaper

    Elder Family

    Elder Family of Scots merchants and ship owners saw the infant South Australia as an opportunity to expand their business interests. Alexander Lang Elder (1815–1885), the pioneer, arrived in 1839 and established a trading business. 

    Historical Subject | By Carol Fort | North Terrace | 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

  2. Image: man stands next to building made of logs

    Forestry

    With few areas of high rainfall, South Australia lacks abundant native forests. 

    Historical Subject | By Rob Robinson and Peter Johnston | early twentieth century, Great Depression, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  3. Image: The body of a tug boat upside down in the process of being constructed, numerous people, ropes and ladders surround the boat

    Perry, Mr. Frank

    Frank Tennyson Perry (1887–1965) was born in Gawler and educated at Prince Alfred College before joining his uncle’s engineering business in 1903. 

    Historical Person | By Carol Fort | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s

  4. 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

  5. Image: group stand in front of a tavern building with four women standing on a balcony in the tavern

    United Trades and Labor Council

    Carpenters, tailors, bakers, carriers, cordwainers and coachmakers had formed unions within ten years of European settlement of South Australia, and by the 1870s there were thousands of union members in the colony.

    Historical Organisation | By Tom Sheridan | 1890s, 1910s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s