1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. Archives

    Archives in South Australia have grown and changed in the years since Professor Henderson's 1915 report to the South Australian government.

    Historical Subject | By Peter J Crush | North Terrace | early twentieth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. Childhood

    The history of childhood in South Australia has been characterised by the assimilation policies practised by the state and the Christian churches throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and also changes in infant mortality, and the introduction of compulsory schooling. 

    Historical Subject | By Ian Davey | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century

  11. Closer Settlement

    Settlers believed that using land intensively maximised its value and civilised its occupants, and that holdings should be small to allow people to hold land

    Historical Subject | By Bill Gammage | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  12. Cornish

    South Australian mineral discoveries of the 1840s (especially at Kapunda and Burra in the Mid North) and extension of the farming frontier, were a magnet to the Cornish.

    Historical Subject | By Mel Davies | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  13. Distance

    Geographical position and distance have strongly shaped the European history of South Australia.

    Historical Subject | By Geoffrey Blainey | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  14. 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

  15. Exploration

    The early heroic phase of South Australia’s exploration by Europeans was plagued by difficulties.

    Historical Subject | By Philip Jones | early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century

  16. Film

    In October 1896, within one year of the Lumière brothers’ first public screening of film in Paris, the first public film screening in South Australia occurred at the Theatre Royal in Hindley Street

    Historical Subject | By Dylan Walker | 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s

  17. Floods

    Paradoxically, the only parts of South Australia to experience occasional serious disruption of by flooding are the far distant sparsely populated deserts around Lake Eyre

    Historical Subject | By CR Twidale, University of Adelaide | River Torrens | 1840s, 1860s, 1870s, 1890s, 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 2010s

  18. Germans

    The German born community have left a strong cultural legacy in South Australia, evident in many areas today.

    Historical Subject | By Ian Harmstorf | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century

  19. Higher education

    Higher education has expanded to provide a range of benefits to all.

    Historical Subject | By Alison Mackinnon AM | early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  20. History and Historians

    Historians of South Australia have asked one question above all others: how is South Australia different?

    Historical Subject | By Robert Dare | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  21. Horseracing

    Reputed to be Australia’s third-largest industry, horseracing contributes to the national economy and state government revenues through direct employment and also through primary production, transport, tourism, media, entertainment and gambling.

    Historical Subject | By John Mannion | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  22. Improved sewerage system for Adelaide

    In 1881 Adelaide became the first Australian capital city to be connected to a water-borne sewerage system. 

    Historical Subject | By Corinne Ball, Migration Museum | 1870s, 1880s, 1890s

  23. Jewish People

    Small in number over time, Adelaide’s Jews have contributed significantly to the professions, especially medicine, and are well represented in academia, industry and commerce. 

    Historical Subject | By Bruce Rosen | early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century

  24. 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

  25. Kindergartens

    Based on the philosophy and understanding of child development of the German educator and philosopher Friedrich Froebel, kindergartens in South Australia began for both educational and humanitarian reasons.

    Historical Subject | By Dr Helen Jones | early twentieth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century

  26. 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

  27. 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

  28. 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

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