South Australia is one of six states and two Territories of Australia. As it's name suggests, this state is located on southern side of Australia. South Australia was not initially settled as a penal colony. It After Federation in 1901, it became the State of South Australia. In the 2021 Census South Australia had a population of 1.8 million people, of which about 2.4% identify as Indigenous Australians. The capital of South Australia is Adelaide, home to 1.4 million people[1].
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History of South AustraliaHistory of South Australia
Indigenous HistoryIndigenous History
Evidence of Indigenous settlement in Australia goes back over 60 thousand years. Aboriginal Australians have a deep and abiding cultural connection to the land, with around 30 different tribal or language groups identified in South Australia[2]. In the 2021 Census, 43,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in South Australia. This represents 2.4% of the South Australian population[3].
Kaurna Aboriginal people are the Traditional Owners of the Adelaide plains in South Australia. Kaurna land extends north towards Crystal Brook, down the Adelaide plains, south along the coast to Cape Jervis and is bounded by the Mount Lofty Ranges to the east. The arrival of the European settlers disrupted the Kaurna way of life that relied on mobility within their defined territory. Within twenty years, many Kaurna had died from illnesses and diseases introduced by the settlers and the survivors were transported to a native settlement at Poonindie, near Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula.[4]
European SettlementEuropean Settlement
The first Europeans to explore the coastline of South Australia the crew of the Gulden Zeepaert, a Dutch ship commanded by Captain François Thijssen in 1627. In 1801/2 Frenchman Nicholas Baudin, aboard the Geographe and Englishman Matthew Flinders, aboard the Investigator, crossed each other’s paths at Encounter Bay in South Australia, as they traveled westward and eastward respectively, charting the southern coastline of Australia[5].
In 1829, Charles Sturt charted the interior of the continent from New South Wales and through Victoria, traveling along the Murray River, then south along the Darling River, down to Lake Alexandrina, where the river meets the sea. Today this massive system is called the Murray Darling Basin, and it's discovery opened up vast tracts of arable land for European settlement[6].
The establishment of South Australia was different to other colonies as it was a planned endeavour and not built on the back of a penal colony or convict labor. The British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, which set out the rules for land purchases. The Act defined the province of South Australia as being:
...that part of Australia which lies between the meridians of the one hundred and thirty-second and one hundred and forty-first degrees of east longitude, and between the southern ocean and the twenty-six degrees of south latitude, together with all and every the islands adjacent thereto, and the bays and gulphs[7]
The South Australian Company was set up to attract migrants and sell land.
The South Australian Company, formed in London in 1835, made a significant contribution to the foundation and settlement of South Australia. It was founded by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants. Its immediate purpose was to encourage the purchase, in advance, of land in the planned colony. The company continued until 1949 and contributed various infrastructure as well as establishing the Bank of South Australia.[8]
In 1836 South Australia proclaimed by Governor John Hindmarsh on December 28 at the Old Gum Tree, Glenelg.
This initial endeavour almost failed and so, with the passing of the South Australia Act 1842, the colony came under the full control of the British Crown[6]. The Province of South Australia finally gained self government with the ratification of the Constitution Act 1856.
Explorers ventured into the interior and discovered vast tracts of desert. But some areas were well suited to agricultural development. Livestock and European crops were imported. Large reserves of copper were also discovered.
One of the most significant groups of non English speaking early settlers to South Australia were from Germany. There were several waves of migration from Germany[9].
From 1836 to 1914, German settlers came to South Australia initially from the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, Silesia and Posen, and later from other states such as Hanover, Mecklenburg and Saxony. They were mostly farmers and tradespeople. After the revolution of 1848, a number of middle-class urban Germans came to South Australia from the city of Berlin and various Prussian provinces.[10]
Many of those early German migrants came as employees of The South Australia Company. The State Library of South Australia holds the original business records of the South Australian Company in their collection. Between 1838 to 1840 the South Australia Company funded the passage of 486 Lutherans from Brandenburg, under the guidance of Pastor Ludwig August Christian Kavel, who were escaping religious persecution in their homeland.
Throughout the 1840s and 1850s approximately 12 German settlements were established in the Barossa Valley. These townships included Langmeil, Lyndoch, Greenock, Nuriootpa, Seppeltsfield and Light’s Pass. In the late 1840s and early 1850s Germans from the Harz mining region were to be found among South Australian mining communities at Glen Osmond, Kapunda and Burra.[8]
Viticulture was one of the earliest industries established in South Australia.
Vines were planted by the South Australian Company during 1837 in Adelaide’s West Parklands, with the first private vineyards planted during 1837–38 by John Barton Hack and George Stevenson at North Adelaide. Hack’s vineyard was moved during 1839 to his property at Echunga in the Adelaide Hills where he produced his (and the province’s) first wine in l843. German settlers also planted wine-grapes at Hahndorf and Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills and in the Barossa Valley.[11]
Today, South Australian wines from the Barossa and Clair Valleys are some of the best in the world.
South Australia has always been a very progressive locality. With the ratification of its constitution on 1856, South Australia was at the forefront of democratic development. The new constitutions included Adult male suffrage - including for Aboriginal men - the secret ballot, did not require Members of the House of Assembly to own property and there was relatively low property qualification for Members of the Legislative Council.[12] South Australia was also the first electorate in Australia to grant women the right to vote, and the first in the world to grant them the right to stand as Members of Parliament, when Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act was passed on 18 December 1894[13] . Unfortunately it was over six decades before Joyce Steele (House of Assembly) and Jessie Cooper (Legislative Council) became the first women members actually elected to the South Australian Parliament in 1959.
South Australian politicians played a prominent role in the negotiations that led to the federation of Australia in 1901.
South Australia's politicians saw many advantages for a small colony in being part of a Federation. ... South Australia elected some of its most senior and experienced politicians as delegates to the Conventions and its delegation was considered one of the most capable. The first session of the first Federal Convention was held in Adelaide. All the members of South Australia's delegation made important contributions and a number played a prominent part in the Convention's debates.[14]
After federation South Australia clocks up more accolades[15]:
- In 1908, Adelaide High School, is founded - the first free secondary school in the British Empire
- In 1915, Father and son physicists William Henry and William Laurence Bragg share Nobel Prize for work in X-ray crystallography
- In 1920, the Archives Department for the Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery, the first public archives in Australia, opens in Adelaide.
- In 1937, In response to the polio epidemic, the first portable iron lung, is developed by Edward and Donald Both, so polio sufferers who need constant breathing assistance can be cared for at home, rather than in hospital.
- In 1945, Adelaide’s Lance Hill designs the first commercially successful rotary clothes line, the Hills Hoist.
- In 1951, Max Schubert produced the first bottles of Penfolds Grange for friends and colleagues. Despite being told not to make any more of this wine he kept developing it in secret. In 1999 Grange was named one of the top 12 wines of the 20th century.
- In 1966, Several South Australian Acts of parliament become ‘firsts’ in Australian legislation:
- Prohibition of Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination by race, colour, or country of origin;
- Aboriginal Affairs Act repeals many restrictions of Aboriginal civil liberties; and
- Aboriginal Lands Trust Act, the first major recognition of Aboriginal land rights, provides land ownership and compensation for dispossessed Aboriginal people.
- In 1975, South Australia becomes the first Australian state to make sex discrimination unlawful, and to decriminalise homosexual relations between consenting adults in private.
Government in South AustraliaGovernment in South Australia
South Australia is divided into seats represented by state parliamentarians. The South Australian State government is responsible for areas of public administration such as schools, hospitals and public transport. They also manage the State Library of South Australia and State Records of South Australia, which holds the state archives.
Local Government Areas (LGA's), also known as local councils, are responsible for issues that relate to a local area, sometimes referred to as the 3-Rs - Roads, Rubbish and Recreation. Councils are also responsible for local libraries[16].
Demographics of South AustraliaDemographics of South Australia
Around 30% of South Australia's residents were born in overseas. The 2021 Census[1] included a question on ancestral background. The top ancestral backgrounds in South Australia are:
- English 38%
- Australian 32.5%
- Scottish 8.4%
- Irish 7.6%
- German 7.6%
The top countries of birth of residents in South Australian residents were:
Most popular surnames in South AustraliaMost popular surnames in South Australia
Researching your family history in South AustraliaResearching your family history in South Australia
Records relevant to family history research for South Australia can be found in collections at a national, state and local level. As a British colony, some very early records may also be found in The National Archives in the UK.
The primary sources for genealogical records in South Australia are Government agencies, archives and libraries.
Genealogy SA has a comprehensive searchable index for Birth, Marriage and Death records held by the South Australian government registry. Privacy restrictions apply, with access to data for births from 1842-2028, marriages between 1842-1948 and deaths between 1845-1983 accessible. This index also holds information for records from local newspapers, cemeteries, churches, schools, asylums and some shipping lists. While you can search for free, the returns are basic. To access more information you may need to pay to order a lookup or join the society. From the free index you will be able to glean enough information to confirm if you want to order a certificate. You can then order digital images of historical BMD certificates from the South Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages Registry (NB: this website does not have an online index).
The State Records of South Australia, holds a good selection of records related to family history. This includes passenger lists, records from schools, hospitals and welfare institutions, law enforcement and coronial documents and aboriginal records.
The State Library of South Australia has a series of guides with links to websites and resources for family historians.
Trove, managed by the National Library of Australia, is an extraordinary free resource that aggregates content, including digitised newspapers, magazines, images, diaries and letters, and other material, dating from the establishment of the colony, from collections around Australia.
Military Archives from around the country are predominantly held at the Australian War Memorial (AWM). The collection includes millions of items relating to individuals, units and conflicts, including digitised service records.
In regional areas and small country towns, local history and genealogical societies are a great source of local records. Many regional towns in NSW have a local history society, and/or a local library and museum. The Federation of Australian Historical Societies has a searchable index where you can find contact details for a society in a specific town or locality, or simply do a web search for the town name plus historical society.
And of course, MyHeritage holds a large number of records for NSW.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about South AustraliaExplore more about South Australia
- South Australia - Catalog Collection at MyHeritage
- Using South Australia Land Records at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Snapshot of South Australia | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Tue, 28/06/2022 - 10:00. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ↑ "About Aboriginal heritage in South Australia". Attorney-General's Department. 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ "South Australia: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population summary | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Fri, 01/07/2022 - 11:30. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ↑ Russell, Suzy. "LibGuides: Aboriginal people of South Australia: Kaurna". guides.slsa.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ Matthews, Sarah. "Research Guides: Victoria's early history, 1803-1851: Timeline". guides.slv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wikipedia - History of South Australia
- ↑ "Documenting Democracy". www.foundingdocs.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "LibGuides: South Australian History: South Australian Company". guides.slsa.sa.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ Wikipedia - German Settlement in Australia
- ↑ "Germans in South Australia | SA History Hub"
- ↑ Viticulture - SA History Hub
- ↑ www.parliament.sa.gov.au https://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/About-Parliament/Timelines-for-SA-Firsts. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "National Museum of Australia - Women's suffrage". www.nma.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ www.parliament.sa.gov.au https://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/en/About-Parliament/Federation-and-the-Parliament-of-South-Australia. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Sutori". www.sutori.com. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
- ↑ "The responsibilities of the three levels of government - Parliamentary Education Office". peo.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-07-24.