Mid North and Clare Valley

Strange, Mr. Arthur

Kind-hearted and single-minded, 'Padre' Arthur Strange was the founder of the Helping Hand Centre.

Historical Person | By Rev. Keith Smith | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s

Taking Caudle, (baby, midwifery), Richard Dagley caricature, 1821.

19th Century Childbirth

When men and women married in the 1830s they generally assumed that children would follow promptly and regularly.

Historical Subject | By Margaret Anderson, History Trust of South Australia | early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

Image: group of stone buildings in outback

Aboriginal Land Rights

The 1834 British statute authorising the establishment of the colony of South Australia described the region as ‘waste and unoccupied’, making no mention of the Indigenous owners of the land.

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

Aboriginal Policy and Administration

South Australia’s Foundation Act, passed by the British parliament in 1834, made no reference to the Aboriginal peoples who owned and occupied the land that was being annexed from the other side of the world.

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

Image: Group of men standing in front of corrugated iron building

Aboriginal Ration Depots

The distribution of government rations to Aboriginal people, begun in the earliest days of European settlement, continued well into the twentieth century.

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

Image: A middle-aged bearded man wearing late-Victorian attire and holding an umbrella and stove-pipe hat poses for a photograph

Boas, Abraham

Abraham Tobias Boas was the first rabbi in South Australia, but so inclusive he was also called ‘the best Christian in Adelaide’.

Historical Person | By Jim Loudon | 1860s, 1870s, 1890s, 1920s

Adelaide Hospital Row

A long-running dispute over a senior nursing appointment culminated with a medical officers’ strike and the temporary loss of medical teaching at the Adelaide Hospital

Historical Subject | By Donald Simpson | 1890s, 1900-1910

Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of a young Caucasian woman dressed in an early twentieth century Girl Guides uniform with hat. She has light-coloured eyes and dark hair

Miethke, Ms. Adelaide

Prussian by descent, Adelaide Miethke was an educationist, and her School of the Air ‘bridged the lonely distance’ for outback children.

Historical Person | By Dr Helen Jones | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s

Image: A middle-aged, clean-shaven Caucasian man in a 1950s vintage pin-striped suit sits at a desk and writes on a piece of paper. He appears to be deep in thought as he writes

Schulz, Dr. Adolf

Adolf Schulz was an educationist with a brilliant grasp of philosophy and psychology, and the first Principal of Adelaide Teachers’ College.

Historical Person | By Anna Stirling Pope | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s

Image: Informal portrait of South Australia's new Governor, taken on the day of his swearing in. He stands, facing the camera, in full dress uniform including sword, plumed helmet and spurs. On his chest he wears an array of medals and orders.

Hore-Ruthven, Mr. Alexander

1st Earl of Gowrie and one time Governor of South Australia

Historical Person | By Dirk van Dissel | 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s

Ramsay, Mr. Alexander

As general manager of the South Australian Housing Trust, Alexander Maurice Ramsay was energetic and compassionate.

Historical Person | By Dr Susan Marsden | North Terrace | 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Image: A well-dressed man with a moustache poses for a photograph. His right arm rests on a table

Tolmer, Mr. Alexander

Alexander Tolmer was a Police Commissioner, initiator of the gold escorts, and by all accounts a colourful character with a thirst for action and adventure.

Historical Person | By Robert Clyne | North Terrace | 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

Image: Exterior view of Gerard and Goodman Ltd Building

Gerard, Mr. Alfred

Electrical merchant Alfred Gerard was also a concerned humanitarian, and a worker for Aboriginal welfare.

Historical Person | By Jason Hollamby | North Terrace, Rundle Street east | early twentieth century, mid twentieth century

Image: Black and white photograph of three trucks outside Alf Hannaford & Co store

Hannaford, Mr. Alfred

A manufacturer of agricultural machinery, Alfred Hannaford was also an inventor who devised a pickling machine.

Historical Person | By John Miels | North Terrace | early twentieth century, mid twentieth century

Image: A middle-aged clean-shaven Caucasian man wearing a suit and wire-rimmed spectacles sits in a chair next to a desk. On the desk is a large pedal-powered radio, the handset of which is held by the man

Traeger, Mr. Alfred

Alf Traeger was friendly but self-effacing, and is perhaps best known as the inventor of the pedal wireless.

Historical Person | By John Healey | North Terrace | 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s

Image: Three elderly Caucasian men in late Victorian-era attire pose for a photograph outside a bluestone building. Two are seated while another stands.

Simpson, Mr. Alfred

Not content with being the nation’s biggest metal goods manufacturer, Alfred Muller Simpson was prominent in public life too.

Historical Person | By Jim Loudon | North Terrace | 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

Image: head and shoulders portrait of a man with a beard

Tennant, Mr. Andrew

Andrew Tennant was the son of a Scottish shepherd who became a pastoralist and counted mining and the Adelaide Steamship Co. among his business investments.

Historical Person | By Dirk van Dissel | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

Image: head and shoulders portrait of a man with sideburns

Angas Family

George Fife Angas (1789–1879), described by his biographer Edwin Hodder, who was attracted to Angas’s nonconformist piety, as ‘one of the Fathers and Founders of South Australia’, helped shape South Australia’s institutions

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

Image: Archaeological excavation, Queen’s Theatre

Archaeology

Although originating with scientists and untrained laymen, archaeology has a distinguished record in South Australia.

Historical Subject | By DJ Mulvaney | 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Image: sepia image of seated man wearing hat

Watson, Prof. Archibald

An unconventional character who had an unconventional career

Historical Person | By Jennifer MT Carter | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s

Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of a middle-aged Caucasian man with dark hair. He is clean-shaven and wearing a 1930s-era suit and tie

Richardson, Dr. Arnold

An agricultural scientist and researcher, the genial Richardson was widely liked and admired.

Historical Person | By Yvonne Routledge | North Terrace | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

Image: Black and white photograph of young man with a moustache

Pelzer, August

The person responsible for the greening of Adelaide in the first decades of the twentieth century.

Historical Person | By Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia | Parklands | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s

Image: Sepia photograph of bald man standing in front of a chair and table

Short, Augustus

The energetic Augustus Short, South Australia’s first Anglican bishop, laid firm foundations for the growth of the Anglican Church in the new colony.

Historical Person | By David Hilliard | 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s

Image: A photographic head-and-shoulders portrait of a middle-aged man wearing a suit and wire-rimmed spectacles

Barr Smith Family

Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), the son of a Scottish clergyman and his wife Marjory, née Barr, migrated to Melbourne in 1854. Moving to Adelaide just as Thomas Elder’s brothers were leaving South Australia, he threw in his lot with Elder.

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

Beaches

With their carnivals and regattas, bathing-beauty competitions, amusements, sea and sand, beaches were one of the key gathering places for South Australians from the 1870s to the 1950s.

Historical Subject | By Marie Boland | 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s

Image: Man in turban standing with saddled camel

Dervish, Bejah

Camel driver Bejah Dervish, highly-regarded for his part in the Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition in 1896, became a familiar figure in South Australia’s far north.

Historical Person | By Valmai Hankel | North Terrace | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s

Babbage, Benjamin

Benjamin Herschel Babbage (1815–1878), an English engineer who superintended construction of the first Port Adelaide railway line, was employed by the South Australian Government in 1851 to search for gold. He led two official expeditions (1856 and 1858) that found no gold but surveyed the Flinders Ranges and Far North and established the extent of Lakes Eyre and Torrens.

Historical Person | By Carol Fort | early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

Adelaidia