Place Names of South Australia - G

Glenelg

Early Settlement

Landing at Holdfast Bay

(Taken from Geoffrey H Manning's A Colonial Experience)

During mid-November 1836 emigrants from the Cygnet, Rapid and Africaine came ashore at Holdfast Bay a little south of 'Sturt's River' (modern-day Patawalonga) and proceeded inland for about a mile where they pitched their tents and built temporary huts. Robert Gouger, the Colonial Secretary, 'determined on a spot shaded by large gum trees' one of which had been bent in the form of an arch by the prevailing south-westerly winds. His tent was partly supported on the southern side and upwards by this tree now called the memorial tree.

The surroundings were beautiful but, during the day, concealed many hazards. Swarms of mosquitoes sang, but under cover of night demanded a recompense. Poor Robert Gouger and his delicate wife, Harriet, whose days were numbered, were driven almost to desperation by mosquito attacks. Putting his hand out one night from the couch on which he lay, and touching the ground, he found his hand within an inch of a scorpion.

To add to these discomforts enormous ants and small frogs came inside the tent to make the acquaintance of the new arrivals. However, there were compensations for game was in great abundance. Not far from his tent were fresh water lagoons caused by overflows of the Sturt River and he could not walk but two hundred yards without stirring up quail, wild duck and water fowl. White cockatoos, parrots and parakeets of splendid plumage spent a merry time in the trees, not knowing, as yet, the fear of man.

Nearer to the beach was the tent of the Immigration Agent, John Brown. An early immigrant reminisced:

Christmas Day, 1836, was a Sunday and how conscious were the little band of pioneers to their changed circumstances. Instinctively their minds went back to the dear homeland, with its ice, snow and Yule log burning brightly. They now found themselves on the shores of an unknown country in which there was neither a street, store, church, nor permanent dwelling place. The day was intensely hot, about 100 degrees in the shade.

Though there was neither church nor ordained minister they gathered at George Kingston's tent where prayers were read and a sermon delivered dealing with the birth of Christ. Following the service the pioneers returned to their makeshift abodes:

After pitching our tents, at Glenelg, and landing our goods, myself, William [Everard] and our man proceeded to build a cottage, the one in which we now live, and a very comfortable one it is. The framework is of small trees, the walls of flags cut from the lagoon, the roof of reeds; the interior fittings are of deal, which on board were our bedplaces; the floor of clay rammed hard to make firm and covered partly with India matting, partly of oilcloths. We then dug up a bit of ground for a garden in which vegetables grew well. I had some delicious water melons from the seed of which I procured at the Cape... I have ten acres in the town, five of which were mine by priority of choice, the remainder I bought at a public sale and the average price was £5 - I would not sell one of my first five for less than £200.

Preparations were made for dinner and upturned casks substituted for tables and boxes did duty as seats. There was neither roast duck, goose, nor turkey, but salt pork, salt beef and parrot pie were attacked with gusto. After dinner, in the cool of the evening, the pioneers strolled down to the beach, looking at the few ships riding at anchor, the last visible links that connected them with Great Britain, thinking of a precious past and speculating to an unknown future.

The parched grass, known as kangaroo grass, grew in tufts about a foot apart and these harbored innumerable quail and many a brace was brought down. Parrots of gorgeous plumage flew from tree to tree, diversified by bronze-winged pigeons and screaming cockatoos and the new arrivals were startled by merry peals of laughter. At first 'it sounded like some old gentleman cracking his jokes over his wine, when a second by its cachination seemed to have discovered the joke, and then a chorus of loud laughter all round and on our stopping a general solemn silence took place. We subsequently discovered that all this mirth proceeded from those feathered Democrituses of the bush, known as the laughing-jackass.'

Early on the morning of Wednesday, 28 December 1836, the Buffalo, with Governor Hindmarsh aboard, came into the bay and anchored. At two pm of the same day His Excellency, accompanied by the ladies of his family and other officials, such as the Resident Commissioner, Mr J.H. Fisher, the Colonial Chaplain, Rev Howard, Mr Osmond Gilles, Colonial Treasurer, and Mr George Stevenson, the Governor's private secretary, came ashore to be welcomed by many of those who had fixed their temporary habitations on the plain.

By three o'clock in the afternoon the marines from the Buffalo were drawn up in a line and the whole of the colonists assembled in front of Mr Gouger's tent. Oaths of office were administered in the privacy of his abode and an announcement was agreed upon 'requiring all to obey laws and declaring the Aborigines to have equal rights and an equal claim to the white man upon the protection of the Government.'

Mr Gouger then stepped outside and read the commission in public when 'a feue de joie was fired by the marines, the white ensign hoisted, and a salute fired by the ships.' The official draft of the proclamation was then handed to Mr Robert Thomas for copies to be printed on the Stanhope Press housed a little distance away in a reed hut.

It was these settlers who made the first contact with the Aborigines and one day a passenger from the Africaine, Mr Williams, was out shooting near the lagoons when he came across two natives, a man and a boy, in the act of lighting a fire. They did not observe his approach so, looking to the priming of his gun, he advanced upon them. Startled, they seized their spears, but Mr Williams held out a biscuit, whereupon they came cautiously towards him.

They exchanged signs of mutual friendship and the white man induced them to go back to Holdfast Bay with him. Together they did a circuit of the settlement. The Aborigines peeped into tents and examined everything that met their eyes and as their confidence increased showed themselves highly delighted with what they saw. They were greatly astonished at the opening and shutting of an umbrella, nor could they understand the working of a lucifer match after the laborious fire-kindling to which they were accustomed.

They shook hands with everyone, male and female, without being at all abashed, in spite of the fact that they were both stark naked. Afterwards they were taken to the commissioners' stores and fitted out in trousers, flannel shirt and woollen cap. Before they left they slept for three nights before Mr William's camp fire on the bare ground.

From this visit may be dated the beginning of intercourse between black and white on the Adelaide plains.

The Township of Glenelg - 1839-1904

(Taken from an unpublished manuscript by Geoffrey H Manning's Glenelg - A Social History - 1836-1936 - copy in State Library)

Chronicle

The name ?Glenelg? honours Lord Glenelg, whose baptismal name was Charles Grant. Born in Bengal, India, in 1778 he went to England in 1790 and at the time of founding of South Australia was Secretary of State for the Colonies; he died in 1866.

In 1839 the South Australian Government called tenders for the purchase of 65 acres of land at Glenelg for one pound per acre. More than 1,000 tenders were submitted and the winner subsequently drawn by ballot. One barrel containing blanks (with the exception of one bearing the word ?Glenelg?) were drawn by the Colonial Chaplain, and a second barrel containing the names of the applicants by Mr (later Sir) John Morphett. William Finke was the holder of the lucky paper and one of a syndicate of six comprising Osmond Gilles (the Colonial Treasurer), Miss E. Blunden (Mr Gilles's ward), J. Oakden (Mr Gilles? nephew), H.R. Wigley SM, Matthew Smith, solicitor and Mr Finke, who was the Chief Clerk in the Treasury. The land grant was issued to W. Finke on 23 March 1839. This land was north of today's Jetty Road and an interested settler, John Bond Phipson was to recall:

On the occasion of the drawing at Glenelg - it was made a gala day - champagne flowed freely, the sun shone brightly, but brighter still were the black and blue eyes of the admiring fair ones who gave their fascinating attendance to add splendour to the scene; but, alas, in the afternoon showers came down in a deluge and so much wet was taken inside and outside by a majority of the gentlemen as to qualify themselves to be inmates of the cheerful and shady [inebriates?] retreat at Belair, had it been built...

In alienating the Glenelg section care was taken to reserve an acre for a Custom House for government purposes and, on the same day that Finke's tender for the section of Glenelg was formally accepted (9 February 1839), the contract for its construction was secured by Messrs East and Breeze who, by November 1839, were reported to have practically completed the work - the contract price was £340. It was at this time that Governor Gawler requested the proprietors to name the church 'st Peter's? and the public square ?Torrens?.

Close to the Custom House was a flagstaff serving as a Signal Station for the announcement of the arrival of ships. John Anthony, Customs Officer, had to hoist a flag whenever a vessel was sighted coming up the Gulf, and had instructions that at the same time he was to fire one or two guns. One gun signified the arrival of a ship from one of the other colonies, and two guns of a vessel from England.

A plan is held in the Lands Department showing the ?Township of Glenelg? as designed and surveyed by Messrs Light and Finniss and Co. in 1839 and approved by Governor Gawler; however, this plan only shows the road pattern and not the allotments and it covers only the land granted to Mr Finke. On 22 January 1855 a plan certified by R.B. Colley, Henry R. Wigley, Osmond Gilles and Matthew Smith, as being a correct plan of the Township of Glenelg, was deposited in the General Registry Office. This plan shows the allotments and covers the same area as Light's plan.

By the years 1841-1842 there were about half a dozen houses erected at the Bay, and any one of the owners could have turned out his horse at night and catch it readily next morning. There was at that time no bridge across the Sturt River and, when its waters rose, a resident of Glenelg had no alternative other than remain there until they subsided. Accordingly, Sir John Morphett, H.R. Wigley and a few others clubbed together to build the first wooden bridge at a cost of about £45.

As to the infant village and remnants of the original settlement, in correspondence to the Adelaide Observer in 1877, Mr W.H. Leigh provided extracts from a letter written in 1839:

The four families who had fixed their residences here when lo! the place of their rest was surrounded in the night by a torrent of four or five feet deep and all hands were forced to run for their lives. Dr Everard, who from being so utterly surrounded by water was unable to fly, got upon a table and with his family waited until daylight, when he turned out and dug a trench in the distance which carried off some of the flood. He had now a kind of embankment around his hut. On the right is a swamp, filling around the remainder of his dwelling, which swarms with mosquitoes and bullfrogs and keep up their music day and night. ?Oh?, quoth the doctor when I visited him, ?these are the beauties of emigration.?

Nathaniel Hailes visited the incipient village in 1842 and recalled that:

I spent may pleasant hours in observing denizens of the aqueous world beneath me. I spent one whole afternoon in watching an innumerable and apparently interminable shoal of mackerel, tier above tier, flitting in one continuous mass beneath the keel of the vessel...

By the spring of 1843 it was declared that the pleasant little watering place of Glenelg could truly be called a growing township, although its advances were not made with such ?rapid strides as anticipated by its founders.? It was said that two or three additional bathing machines were to be provided for the ensuing season and that a new host and hostess would greet visitors at the Glenelg Hotel:

Within six months this ?pleasant marine township? was becoming a favourite resort for sea bathing. There were upwards of 20 houses in the township and immediate neighbourhood, chiefly occupied by ?respectable families both from town and country.? Taking advantages of circumstances, Mr Green has established himself in that ?large and handsome inn and boarding house called the Glenelg Hotel.? This building was well situated and commanded a beautiful view. Mr Green, the licensee, had a number of boarders and many visitors and a great name for ?liquors and vivres (food), accommodation, attendance, and above all, for reasonable charges.?

Within a further two years many houses were available for rental purposes and, during the summer months of 1845, all available places were engaged for the summer and some of them even taken for a year; accordingly, some holidaying families were obliged to board at the hotel. At this time the permanent residents of the village included the families of Messrs Mundy, Giles, Birrell, H.W. Phillips, King (Gawler Town), Bickford, Fleming, J. Stephens and Mrs Howard. In an effort to extol the attractions of the resort a roving reporter opined that ?we believe no shark has been seen since the foundation of the colony.?

In September 1849 it was reported that the invalids of Adelaide were taking advantage of the 'salubrious air of this delightful marine township?, while shooting, fishing, bathing, boating, drives and strolls, ?enabled one to pass away the time most agreeably.? The township was extended during the preceding year, having been embellished with several most substantial edifices. Further, it boasted of a chapel, boarding school, three small stores and two large inns.

By 1851 the town consisted of sixty houses and more than 200 inhabitants, while a new township called New Glenelg was being laid out to the south of the existing one. Within ten years the mere township of former days had become a corporate town and the 'splendid pier erected at the public expense being the point of arrival and departure for the English mails and of passengers to and from the ocean steamships?. A Custom House has been established and Captain Duff appointed Harbour Master and Collector of Customs:

Visitors to the Bay in March 1857 would have observed a huge machine opposite Government Cottage and a quantity of heavy timber lying adjacent thereto. The machine was driving piles for a bridge to lead over the creek at St Leonards, while the telegraph line from Adelaide was ?quietly opened? on 3 September 1859 when messages were exchanged between the Governor and Mayor of Glenelg. William Jewell became the resident superintendent and conducted telegraph services continuously, except between 10 pm on Saturday and 2 am on Sunday.

In 1858, the extensive plain that stretched away from the sandhills was dotted over with neat and comfortable homesteads, long lines of hedgerows and regular fencing, with green patches of fruit trees, vines and grass, that indicated an order of things which 22 years before would not have been imagined. The wurleys of the nomadic Aboriginal had given way to the settled home of the white man and pretty cottages and elegant mansions were to be seen at frequent intervals for the entire distance between the Glenelg creek and the rocks below Brighton, ?affording promise that the dry and sandy beach would become one long site of several flourishing villages.?

By October 1863 many new buildings, comprising large residences as well a several of the cottage order, had been completed. The style of these buildings was a great improvement on those of their predecessors for in the early days of the colony mud walls were predominant, a few cottages being of wood and still fewer of inferior bricks. Later, a 'sort of soft stone? found in the immediate neighbourhood was commonly used. Its appearance was good and some of the houses thus constructed had an imposing look; but there was evidence to show that it would soon decay.

For example, the walls of two promenades above the beach gave evidence of this as the stones were seen to be ?absolutely retiring from the mortar.? The same was the case with those of several large buildings, in the construction of which ?economy rather than utility had been consulted.? But some houses then being erected construction were, in more than one case, being built of Glen Osmond stone and even cottages had walls of that material 18 inches thick.

Fish and oysters were abundant at Glenelg, but the supply was ?fitful and uncertain.? To meet this difficulty, the landlord of the principal hotel provided himself with a large floating reservoir, divided into eight compartments in which he kept several varieties of fish, including crayfish and oysters; this was moored to the jetty - the oyster and fishing industries are discussed in another chapter. Other requisites of life were well furnished - the meat, bread and milk were excellent, while vegetable carts traversed the streets daily with garden produce as good as could be bought in Adelaide.

A fierce gale struck Glenelg on 13 May 1865 and the earthworks at the entrance of the jetty were washed away, while the sea made havoc among the bathing houses, several of which were destroyed. Some had been completely turned around and stood with their doors open facing the promenade. The large boathouse near the pier was ?wholly beaten down?, but the Argus boats in it received no injury. In Jetty Road the water rose as far as the steps and nearly reached the front doors of the Pier Hotel.

Further south, the stone pillar at the corner of Mr Jaffrey's land (occupied later by Mr J.B. Neales) was carried away. The sandhills were cleared off for a considerable distance and, instead of sloping gently to the strand, they formed perpendicular cliffs, in some instances about ten feet high. A bathing house recently erected a little beyond Mr Scott's road was broken up and its fragments lodged on the south sea wall near the Pier Hotel. The creek rose to an unusual height and the little footbridge over the watercourse near the Town Hall was carried away entirely.

David Shepard, son of Captain Thomas Shepard of the South Australian Company, spent his boyhood at Glenelg in the pre-railway days; served for a time on Warcowie sheep station; was a midshipman on Sir Thomas Elder's ship Collingrove and in later life owned pleasure boats on Torrens Lake. In his reminiscences he mentions no dates, but does provide us with this clue - He and a friend briefly impersonated the Royal Princes Albert Victor and George at their arrival on Glenelg jetty, which suggests that the writer was in his late teens at the time of the Royal Visit in 1881:

There were three hotels - The Pier, St Leonards and the Berkshire - south-east of the Berkshire and facing Sandison's paddock stood a little chapel with a porch entrance to it. Never in my memory was it open for service - at the back of it, fenced in, was about fifty tombstones over graves. The front and back doors and windows were covered with cobwebs, and the porch with swallows? nests.

Then there came the time when some big horses came down from town and carted those tombstones away and it was rumoured in the town that the bodies were taken also and buried in one big hole in West Terrace - whether that was true I am not in a position to say, but I do know that many things were done then that would not be allowed now.

There were only three shops; Hitchcox, whose shop was the Post Office and chemist shop combined - he sold groceries also. Next to this was Temple's grocery and drapery; then came Mrs Humphries bun shop - that was the shop us boys knew best. Oh! how many times did we look with longing eyes at the buns and lick the steam off the window.

As I said before, Glenelg was so different to the Glenelg of today. There was no sea baths. The old creek had not been sheet piled or lock gates put across the mouth which proved such a white elephant to the town folk and killed the natural channel into the bargain. The bridge was a narrow footbridge.

By the end of 1865 the ?utter failure of the commercial anticipations once entertained with reference to the port of Glenelg?, forcibly suggested the desirability of undertaking to render it increasingly attractive as a watering place. It was being realised that Glenelg could not wrest away the marine trade from Port Adelaide while, conversely, Port Adelaide could not compete with Glenelg as a watering place and summer retreat for the citizens of the metropolis and its suburbs - that is supposing justice was done to Glenelg, and an irate ?Glenelgite?, with lingering doubts on this subject, cast some of the blame squarely upon the shoulders of council members:

With the absurd regulations prohibiting bathing at a bathing place and what with sharks, which now appear now and then to cooperate with [Police] Sergeant Badman, Glenelg is virtually shut up. Only think of a bathing place where you must not take a dip, except in the dead of night; of a bathing place where there is no protection against sharks in the water, and no ?bobbies? on shore. A fine idea of a marine retreat! People who want sea bathing must provide themselves with bottles and carry home the precious fluid for dressing room ablutions...

Glenelg had, however, improved much in previous years in spite of cold neglect and want of enterprise in certain quarters. There were good shops, good inns and good lodging houses, handsome churches and good schools. The township had improved, but it was the beach that was neglected and yet it was to the beach that the township had to look for progress:

Either by private enterprise or by corporate funds proper bathing grounds should be laid out and every inducement offered to visitors, tired of the heat and dust of the city and longing for a cool invigorating plunge, secure alike from the bite of a shark or the grasp of a peeler...

A decade of expansion followed, but in its wake came the spoliation of the environment, coupled with an increase in noxious odours and outbreaks of fatal diseases. In June 1875 Glenelg was turned into a watering place in an extremely unpleasant sense of the word for much of the municipality was converted into a large lagoon in which houses, fences and other permanent objects stood out like dreary landmarks, roughly indicating the course of the streets, the boundaries of properties and serving as indices of the depth of the water.

Many residents had to seek shelter elsewhere, houses being permanently injured and the roads seriously damaged. But this was not the worst of the evil for there was an alarming prospect of the watery visitation proving a further source of danger to the community. The presence of so much stagnant water must have ?eventuated to the generation of miasma highly prejudicial to the health of the citizens.? Mr H.R. Wigley was of the opinion that the only remedial action available was to remove obstructions out of the way of the free course of the water down the River Sturt and ?this work the Corporation cannot perform... The matter should receive prompt attention at the hands of the government.?

The aftermath of this inundation came in the form of a warning given to the citizens of Glenelg in September 1875:

Glenelg will have to look to its laurels. It has been frequented in summer because of its salubrity, and for nothing else.. Even the acknowledged benefits of the railway and jetty will not suffice to overcome prejudices created by one or two severe local epidemics. At Glenelg as at the Reedbeds and elsewhere along the coast, there has been received for centuries the drainage of the hills and if nothing is done to prevent the accumulation of water, the chief watering place of the province will become absolutely unhealthy in proportion as population increases... It is enough for us to know that under the various names of bronchitis, scarlatina, typhoid and other fevers, we are visited by summer epidemics that appear to be becoming intensified in their character... Thorough drainage for Glenelg seems to imperatively called for...

Four years later an enterprising Editor of the Register assigned one of his reporters to visit the villages stretching along the coast from Semaphore to Marino and in respect of Glenelg and near environs he said:

The same may be said of the various groups of allotments between Somerton and the further end of Brighton and of Victor, adjoining the Thatched House Tavern; though at several points the Corporation of Brighton are cutting approaches through the sandhills to the line of railway which runs along the beach. This line, which is convenient enough for casual visitors inclined to spend a day on the sea coast, or to explore the hitherto almost inaccessible ?rocks? to which locomotion now extends, is undoubtedly constructed at an inconvenient distance from the main portion of Brighton. As a consequence we find that the old line of conveyances maintain their footing and supply the main requirements of residents.

The long established (on paper) townships of Shoreham, New Brighton and Marino have not as yet shaken the lethargy of years. Building sites of convenient sizes, an in many cases of choice position, are in plenty; but population, permanent or migratory, is conspicuous by its absence, The delightful slopes of the Adelaide range, as it dips into the gulf at this point, are tenanted by a few appreciative spirits; and even the newly opened railway has, up to the present, caused no influx of residents. The absence of any hotel accommodation at or near the terminus of the line is inconvenient for casual visitors, who, unless forewarned and providentially forearmed, are fain to take an early opportunity of availing themselves of the earliest means of return to the centre of civilisation and beer.

We may yet look forward hopefully to the time when the enterprise of the projectors of the coast line may be rewarded by settlement of the strip of land abutting on the railway, and on this part of the Gulf, and by the appearance of ample attractions, in addition to those of nature, for the holiday public. If the track survives the rough winter, which we are promised during the forthcoming season, another summer will probably direct more attention in this direction.

It was at this time the ?Health of Towns? became the subject of parliamentary debate until, finally, it was realised that the public health was paramount and that no private interests ought to stand in the way of extensive reforms. At that time Adelaide and environs, including Glenelg, were the scene of fetid gutters, putrefying rubbish heaps, stagnant pools, stinking cellars, noxious trades and disease producing food. Further, many school rooms were ill-ventilated, while many dwellings were unsuitable for the climate, for they protected their inmates neither from winter cold nor summer heat.

The strongest objection against sanitary reforms was the cost, for they could not be accomplished without considerable expenditure, which meant increased taxation. Unfortunately, people had a great impatience of taxation and, undoubtedly, this was the one reason above all that prevented the carrying out of some grand scheme of drainage in Adelaide and suburbs.

The ratepayers dreaded the cost and, so long as disease and death kept a distance, they were willing to stand on the brink of danger which could break out at any moment, rather than tax themselves to a moderate amount to avert that danger. It was well known that nothing was more expensive in a family than sickness and the cost of one attack of fever might be more in pounds than a sanitary rate would be in pence. For the public to shut their eyes, generally, to remedial action was the greatest of all follies.

The best system for Adelaide was a matter for experts and professional men to determine, but the consensus of opinion at the time was for the implementation of a system of deep drainage, than with mere scavenging. All other systems were dirty and offensive, but any would have been an improvement over the apology for the one then operating.

During following years the importance of sanitary improvement was impressed upon the people, together with the fact that the soil upon which houses and shops were built was being permeated and poisoned by noxious refuse which, instead of being removed, was allowed to sink into the earth. Accordingly, it was to the credit of the government that the question was taken up for there was not a more important question to claim the attention of the legislature.

At Glenelg and elsewhere there were slaughterhouses to be met with, which were merely wooden sheds and had not been cleansed for years past. Yet they abutted upon streets used by residents and discharged their impurities, without gutter or drainage of any kind, upon the public roads. Pigsties were also to be seen in the same unwholesome state and there were localities where, on account of these causes, property was considerably depreciated in value.

There was no excuse for such nuisances because land existed in the vicinity that was readily available for the proper carrying on of every trade and where no one needed to be a source of trouble and inconvenience to his neighbours. But, since there were persons who would not do this, it was necessary for the corporation to interfere and thus prevent the neighbourhood from obtaining a bad character in sanitary matters and to prevent continued injury to the inhabitants.

By 1875 the death rate in South Australia was substantially above the average for the preceding ten years with infant mortality being the largest single contributor - it reached the staggering total of 1,113, ie, 30% of all deaths in the colony. This death rate was the worst in the Australian colonies and at this time and ?in the City of Adelaide [it] was more than 40 per cent greater than in the remainder of the colony? - mute evidence of the wanton neglect of Parliament and Councils in framing and enforcing an adequate Health Act.

Where sewers were not connected, the cemented and watertight cesspits were a menace to the public health and the authorities suggested that these pits should only be cemented at the sides, leaving the bottoms free. The liquids could then escape and the free use of dry earth, wood ashes, dry slack lime or even carbonised sawdust would be a great preventative of ?unpleasantness?.

One of the most dangerous customs of the day practised in some households was the habit of throwing the dirty water, etc., into the backyard. The recommended plan was to have a series of holes into which it should be emptied, and the hole frequently covered in and fresh ones provided. In the case of large gardens, where there was no underground drainage, the water was conveyed over the garden by drains made of brick and tarred over.

Further, it was recommended that all kitchen refuse be carefully collected and burned or carted away. With reference to milk and water it was absolutely necessary that all milk be boiled and water either boiled or filtered; boiled water was potable for two days only. The ordinary filters used in households consisted of alternate layers of sand, gravel and charcoal, the water having first passed through a sponge; unfortunately, many householders failed to clean the filters regularly with the result that they became ineffective.

No positive action was taken at Glenelg until 23 June 1879 when a meeting of citizens was held. Previously, the government, following a request from the council for an appropriate sum be placed on the Estimates, had refused to subsidise any expenditure spent on drainage works at Glenelg. The government was adamant and it appeared that the only alternative would be to secure the cost of such a scheme against the rates of the township. However, an editor of the Adelaide press had certain misgivings as to the capabilities of council members:

On the other hand, it is certain if the existing sanitary neglect is continued Glenelg will speedily get a bad name which will keep away intending visitors and probably frighten out of the town some of the present inhabitants. This of course would quickly lead to a diminution of trade and to a very serious fall in the value of property... A scheme has, it will be remembered, been prepared by Mr Chamier which... would meet the requirements of the case.

Judging from the past the members of the local council are not all of one mind in the matter and continued dissension may seriously prejudice..., if not absolutely prevent, the accomplishment of the undertaking... It is high time that the sanitary requirements of the colony were recognised as they should be.

At the public meeting Mr Chamier said the scheme would cost about £7,000 and Mr Nicholson moved that the council ?take immediate steps to provide for the drainage of Glenelg? because eminent medical men had given evidence that Glenelg was in an unhealthy state from defective drainage and, as health was of paramount importance, it ?behoved everyone to do what was in their power to support the scheme.? Mr H.R. Wigley then rose to his feet and said that the unhealthy condition of Glenelg was caused mainly by the overflow of the Sturt River which the doctors said caused much ill health and, further, it must not be forgotten that the ?government had been most liberal in the past in keeping back its waters that inundated the place on an annual basis.?

Finally, it was decided that a copy of Mr Chamier's report be furnished to all ratepayers and that the matter be reconsidered at a later date which, in respect of a deep drainage scheme, turned out to be some 21 years later! - namely, 22 February 1900, when Mr F.W. Ralph moved that ?although the present sanitary system is satisfactory, a committee be appointed to enquire as to the advisableness of introducing deep drainage.?

An outbreak of typhoid fever occurred in May 1884 and ?it was very prevalent around the district.? The outbreak was attributed to the fact that, while watercourses carried all excess water from North Glenelg to the sea via the Patawalonga, at South Glenelg flood waters were trapped behind the sandhills, thereby creating stagnant pools. ?In an endeavour to alleviate the problem a scheme was presented to clear the Sturt drain and to form two main drains running along St Ann's Terrace to Spencer Terrace and along Adelaide Road to Osmond Terrace. From these it was planned to lay sub-radial drains 18 inches wide to Pasquin Street; the main drains to be 24 inches wide, with an outflow to Patawalonga Creek.?

In January 1885, at a meeting of the Glenelg Local Board of Health, the subject of a ?closet system? was discussed as a means to 'supplement the system now in vogue in the town.? Mr Sabine thought that a dry earth system should be introduced and made compulsory, while the Chairman suggested that all existing cesspits be examined and any faulty ones be condemned and converted to the dry earth system at a cost from 15 shillings to £4.

It was resolved that as soon as 50 householders signified their intention to adopt the new system the Local Board of Health would take steps to cause such a system to be adopted. The Dry Earth Closet was invented by Henry Moule and he took out a patent for it in 1873 in England. ?This was a compact neat wooden structure with a removal bucket. Concealed within a frame at the back of the seat was a container for dry earth which was released into a bucket by a lever system operated by the right hand.?

In an interregnum, from 1885 until 1900, letters from Messrs Wigley, Lee and Dr Ferguson give an interesting and amusing insight into the opinions of Glenelg citizens as to the oversight of the town's general health environment:

However, there is no denying that the matter from the creek makes splendid manure for crops and I have often pondered whether the iodine and hydrogen was the cause of the parsley beds in its vicinity being so prolific. But joking aside, let us see how far Dr Ferguson is supported. Dr Whittel, in his evidence before the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on November 5 last on the Patawalonga Improvement Bill, said that he had frequently noticed an offensive smell arising from it - ?even at my residence, which is a mile distant, we have to close the doors and windows to shut out the smell.? The creek nuisance has been notorious for ages... [we should] get rid of that which is not only a private but a public cause of unhealthiness in our midst.

I [Dr Ferguson] saw the first case of typhoid fever in Gawler Place, St Leonards on April 7... With regard to the Patawalonga Creek all products of decomposition, specially if in large quantities, must be injurious to health, in spite of what Dr Bayer has said. The late Dr Gosse and Dr Whittel and other competent medical men are of the same opinion as myself that the sulphuretted hydrogen given off from the creek is inimical to good health, and the sooner the decomposing seaweed is removed the better it will be for all who live in Glenelg and its neighbourhood...

Mr Wigley has lived thirty years on the shores of the Patawalonga and yet survives. Doubtless the infirmities of age begin to crowd upon him, and perhaps to this and not to the ?creek's foul smells? must be attributed the lamentable weakness of intelligence manifest in his reply to Mr Hitchcox.... Re the Patawalonga - the dangerous smells are all bunkum. You may smile, Sir, but I [John Lee] tell you as an absolute fact that I know a gentleman who, before going to bed, goes into the open air and takes a good, hearty smell of this selfsame smell...

Mr Wigley has reared a large family in its vicinity; a fashionable boarding house is situated within its immediate influence; our keen-witted and progressive Judge Boucaut daily inhales its perfume; the controlling genius of one of our largest shipping lines (Mr S. Cornish) lives in the thick of it; and our gigantic Rounsevell, whose utterances have often made governments tremble, nightly feeds upon its aroma. Do these suffer? No, the men are strong and keen-witted and the children healthy and graceful and the mothers all that could be desired...

If it can be shown that the Patawalonga is injurious to health, I presume the government would be obliged to subsidise the damming, or undertake the job itself, but we need not damn the bay to dam the creek. There can be no doubt that if the Patawalonga weeds are not soon cleared away they will become the (as the population increases and drainage drifts that way) receptacle of many germs to life most deadly; but at the present time Glenelg still continues the sanitarium of South Australia.

A poll was held on 1 December 1902 when ratepayers authorised a scheme, but nothing eventuated until July 1903 when 183 ratepayers wrote to the Commissioner of Public Works requesting that the necessary work be undertaken without any further delay. Subsequently, a public meeting was held when Mr H.D. Gell spoke out against it and said that Glenelg was one of the three healthiest towns in the State, while Mr Thomas Pickup moved for its introduction - this motion was carried by 56 votes to 25, with Mr Gell and five other ratepayers demanding a poll. The Mayor ruled this demand out of order as the ?question had been decided on 1 December 1902 at a poll.? Work commenced in April 1904, when it was expected that ?the drainage scheme would be completed within twelve months.?

And so we come to the end of Glenelg's 65th year and, perhaps, a fitting close to this chapter could be a citizen's eulogy delivered in 1906 and an opinion of the town rendered in 1908:

We want this town for ourselves - a quiet. clean, orderly residential palace; not a hurdy-gurdy pleasure resort for every Tom, Dick and Harry. There are plenty of places along the gulf for the holiday crowd. Let us keep the place for ourselves.

Sources
Observer, 12 August 1843, p. 5, 8 September 1849, p. 2, 27 March 1858, p. 8, 14 April 1877, p. 12, Southern Australian, 2 February 1844, p. 3, 11 February 1845, p. 3, Register, 18 May 1839, p 4, 11 March 1857, p. 2, 10 October 1863, p. 2, 15 May 1865 p. 2, 28 June 1875, p. 5, 11 September 1875, p. 4, 8 May 1878, 8 May 1879, p. 5, 23 June 1879, p. 4, 23 March 1880, p. 1 (supp.), 30 April 1884, p. 7, 1 and 10 May 1884, pp. 7 and 5, 24 January 1885, p. 4, 11 and 21 July 1903, pp. 7 and 4, 9 and 14 April 1904, pp. 11 and 4, 12 February 1908, p. 7, Advertiser, 5 September 1859, p. 2, 24 February 1860, p. 3, 1 August 1864, p. 2, 15 November 1865, p. 3, Express & Telegraph, 13 October 1873, p. 2, The Critic, 1 August 1906, pp. 13-19. Dulcie Perry, The Place of Waters, reminiscences of David Shepard, MLSA ref. D 4888 (L).

Launching of the Vessel OG at Glenelg

A start to colonial shipbuilding was undertaken at Glenelg on behalf of the South Australian Company when the OG, named after Osmond Gilles, the Colonial Treasurer, was erected and launched. An eyewitness has left us with the following account of the proceedings:

The time to separate at length came, or rather the proper time for proceeding homeward had long passed. Still the sky was one ebon mass, the earth a shallow lake and as for the big, round, cold raindrops, the popular comparison of ?cats and dogs?, give no adequate idea of them. Eventful were the occurrences of that night as a too bright morning rendered evident. Horses arrived at their stables riderless, and some of their owners reached the same neighbourhood a few hours afterwards. Vehicles were discovered unaccountably stuck in holes, lodged against fallen trees, lying on their sides or backs, or in any other position inconsistent with progress, while their previous occupants and the unhappy quadrupeds which had been associated in the dilemma had slid, waded or scrambled somewhere or other.

The vessel OG was a 28 foot cutter of nine tons; it was altered to 35 feet and 12 tons in 1845 and wrecked at Poole's Flat, near Second Valley, in 1854.

General Notes

"The First Immigrant Landed at Holdfast Bay" is in the Observer,
26 December 1868, page 4f.

George Stevenson's journal is reproduced in Royal Geographical Society Proceedings Volume 30, page 55 and it says, inter alia - "Saturday, December 31 [1836]:

The beautiful plains on which the tents are pitched had no name. I proposed that they should be called Glenelg, which was adopted by acclamation. "Whence Glenelg Got Its Name" is in the Advertiser,
28 December 1937, page 8h.

A public meeting in respect of the colony's 21st birthday is reported upon in the Observer,
5 December 1857, page 6f; also see
2 January 1858, page 6a.

An interesting poem concerning the "proclamation" and the Old Gum Tree is in the Observer,
20 February 1886, page 25e.

"Proclamation of the State" is in the Observer,
25 April 1914, page 33a.

"The First Proclamation Day" is in the Advertiser,
30 December 1907, page 7d.
Reminiscences of Proclamation Day in 1836 are in the Advertiser,
28 December 1910, page 10c,
Register,
28 December 1923, page 8g,
"Memories of Early Commemorations" on
28 December 1922, page 9a,
"The First 28th" on
23 July 1925, page 12e.

An old colonist's thoughts in 1836 are recorded in the Register of 12 April 1877 at page 5a:

The situation of this place as a settlement will never do unless immense expense be incurred by draining... The four families who had fixed their residences here were planted pleasantly under the gum-tree, when lo! the place of their rest was surrounded in the night by a torrent of four or five feet deep... On the right is a swamp... which swarms with mosquitoes and bullfrogs that keep up their music day and night. Information on the log of HMS Buffalo is in the Register,
19 and 26 February 1927, pages 12a and 9e.

"Glenelg in 1837 - An Interesting Letter", by Therese Chauncey dated February 1837, is reproduced in the Advertiser,
28 December 1897, page 5f.

"Holdfast Bay in Olden Times" is in the Register,
23 March 1880, page 1g (supp.),
Observer,
3 April 1880, page 567c.
Reminiscences of early Glenelg are in the Register,
8 October 1886, page 7f.

"Historic Glenelg - Interesting Past Recalled" is in the Advertiser,
21 August 1915, page 16a; also see
23 July 1928, pages 8-11.

"The Cradle of the State - Its Foundation and Development" is in The Mail,
16 January 1915, page 7.

An informative article headed "The Birthplace of the State" is in the Advertiser,
12 November 1924, page 8c.

"Growth of Glenelg" is in The Mail,
26 March 1927, page 17a.
Sketch of the 1830s are in the Observer,
21 December 1895, page 2 (supp.),
of the 1870s in the Chronicle,
30 April 1936, page 32, also see
Pictorial Australian,
July 1875, November 1877,
April 1879, June 1880,
March 1883, September 1883,
June 1886, pages 88-89.

A proposal for a commemoration monument is in the Chronicle,
22 December 1883, page 5b;
a proposed memorial to pioneers is discussed in The News,
4 and 15 May 1936, pages 3g and 7f;
its opening is reported in the Advertiser,
28 December 1936, page 11h.

Foundation Day photographs are in the Chronicle,
2 January 1904, page 42,
7 January 1905, page 28.

"Old Memories" is in the Register,
3 August 1918, page 9e.

Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names

Glenelg

Education

Examinations at the Albert House Academy are reported in the Register,
8 April 1856, page 3e.

Information on a proposed school is in the Register,
3 July 1858, page 3b.

The first examinations at the public school are reported in the Register,
27 November 1860, page 3g; also see
28 May 1861, page 3e.

Information on a school is in the Register,
28 May 1861, page 3e,
Observer,
1 June 1861, page 3c,
Register,
12 February 1863, page 3d,
29 September 1863, page 2g.

The proposed erection of a schoolhouse is discussed in the Register,
29 September 1863, page 2g. See
Observer,
21 May 1864, page 4a,
18 June 1864, page 1g (supp.),
Register,
14 June 1864, page 2h for its opening and
4 January 1865, page 3e.
A public meeting in respect of a school is reported in the Observer,
24 September 1864, page 3b; also see
Express,
4 January 1865, page 3b.

Examinations at the Glenelg Preparatory School are reported in the Register,
25 June 1868, page 2h.

Letters in respect of local schools are in the Register,
8, 9 and 13 December 1869, pages 3b, 3g and 2h.

Information on the hulk Harriet Hope is in the Register,
27 September 1876, page 3g,
Observer,
30 September 1876, page 8b,
17 March 1877, page 11d,
Register,
7 and 18 May 1881, pages 5c and 4g-5b-6b-3a (supp.); also see
17 and 26 August 1881, pages 6f and 5c-6d,
Observer,
25 June 1881, page 1132d,
20 and 27 August 1881, pages 30b and 30b,
Advertiser,
5 September 1881, page 6c and South Australia - Crime, Law and Punishment.
A proposed school on the Glenelg hulk is discussed in the Advertiser,
11 April 1877, page 6g.

Examinations at the Grammar School are reported in the Register,
19 December 1874, page 7,
Chronicle,
18 December 1875, page 4f,
Register,
19 December 1879, page 6g,
Express,
18 June 1881, page 3e,
17 December 1891, page 2c and
those of the Ladies' College in the Register,
22 June 1883, page 7g.

A Grammar School sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
15 November 1884, page 15g.
A photograph is in the Observer,
6 January 1917, page 28.
Reminiscences of the Glenelg Grammar School are in the Advertiser,
30 November 1936, page 21a.

Information on local schools is in the Advertiser,
2 February 1876, page 6b,
Register,
13 September 1879, page 6c,
Express,
2 December 1881, page 3a.
A photograph of Mrs Hillier's "old school" is in the Observer,
14 August 1926, page 33.

Information on Caterer's school is in the Register,
1 January 1877, page 7b,
Express,
26 August 1892, page 2b and
the opening of New College on
4 October 1892, page 4c.
Mr F.L. Caterer's obituary is in the Register,
27 and 29 August 1892, pages 5b and 4h-6b.

The opening of the new public school is reported in the Register,
1 March 1881, page 5f; also see
Express,
24 July 1885, page 4c.

Information on Mrs S.G. Kingston's and Miss Dow's school is in the Express,
19 December 1892, page 3e,
Chronicle,
23 December 1893, page 22b.

"The New College" is in the Observer,
8 October 1892, page 30d.

A farewell to Alexander Kemp, headmaster of the public school, is reported in the Register
18 September 1895, page 6e,
Observer,
21 September 1895, page 13d.

A speech day at Yoothamurra School is reported in the Register,
20 December 1895, page 7f.
A photograph of and information the school is in the Observer,
25 August 1906, page 30,
Observer,
25 August 1906, page 30.

A St Joseph's School concert is reported in the Express,
19 December 1901, page 2c.

A ball in aid of St Peter's Day School, with photographs, is reported in the Observer,
13 August 1904, page 24.

An obituary of J.R.P. Parsons, headmaster, is in the Observer,
12 August 1905, page 38e.

"Kindergarten at Glenelg" is in the Register,
11 May 1914, page 6e.

The unveiling of a Roll of Honour at the Marist Brothers College is in the Chronicle,
29 September 1917, page 26.

The laying of the foundation stone of an infants' school is reported in The News,
24 April 1929;
for information on its Mothers' Club see
4 April 1929, page 10c.

Photographs of a jubilee celebration are in the Chronicle,
26 March 1931, page 36; also see
20 April 1933, page 34.
Photographs of an Arbor Day are in the Observer,
31 July 1930, page 31.

Photographs of the Woodlands Girls School are in the Chronicle,
20 April 1933, page 31,
13 September 1934, page 36,
9 May 1935, page 31,
30 July 1936, page 35,
of kindergarten students on
22 August 1935, page 31.

Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names

Glenelg

Jetty, Breakwater and Lighthouses

Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lighthouses and Lightships

A History of the Jetty

Register

At the time of the foundation of the Glenelg township the proprietors proposed to erect a jetty for, to them, it was ?clear that few large vessels would now go around to the port if facilities for discharging cargoes were provided at Glenelg? and it was suggested that:

If the jetty proposed by Colonel Light is constructed Glenelg will become the sole landing place for cattle and sheep, as well as for the cargoes of ships whose tonnage prevents their entering Port Adelaide.

To this end authority was sought from the Governor and, at public meeting held in the Adelaide Court House on 26 November 1839, Captain Alfred Fell moved that a company be formed with a capital of £2,000. By mid-December land had been secured in the township upon which it was proposed to erect warehouses which were to be ?provided with cranes and cellars and other accommodation for the storing of goods.? It was also considered possible ?to bring loaded barges from the ships along one of the natural hollows, actually within the warehouses.? Work commenced in 1840 but, to Governor Gawler's disquiet, nothing further was done although ?a large entertainment was given at Glenelg in honour of driving the first pile.?

The question of a jetty at Glenelg was next considered in 1850 when, on 1 September, the Glenelg Jetty Committee was formed which, at once, entered into correspondence with the government, having previously themselves subscribed a sum of money to procure plans and estimates for their guidance, which were furnished by Mr Aird, providing for a jetty 1,000 feet in length with six feet of water at the sea end:

The committee then placed a submission before the Governor, Sir Henry Young, who at the time refused assistance. In October 1851 a meeting took place for the purpose of erecting a pleasure pier at Holdfast Bay. The plan proposed was from a sketch of some standing already paid for by the subscribers. People present stated that the sea bottom was good for piles and that 1,600 feet could be constructed for £1,899 - 'shares [would] be made so easy that every poor man might join, and walk backwards and forwards on the pier at his leisure.? In November 1851 the same parties formed themselves into a company and raised a considerable sum in shares with every prospect of being able to accomplish their object without government aid.

Then came the gold discovery in Victoria when every kind of local enterprise was abandoned and further movement respecting the jetty was suspended. In July 1853 a memorial signed by ?merchants, ship owners and others? was circulated stating that:

In these stirring times when the Mother Country is straining every nerve to reduce the time of communication between us, and when the loss of an hour in correspondence is of such vital importance to the mercantile community, it is submitted by all practical men that Holdfast Bay is the place most suitable for a jetty.

In September 1853 Mr George Kingston moved in the Legislative Council that the petition be taken into consideration and that an Address be presented to the Governor; this motion was lost by a majority of six, while in December of that year Captain J.F. Duff addressed His Excellency the Governor in respect of the construction of a jetty at Glenelg and in doing so traversed the merits and demerits of both Port Adelaide and Glenelg as ports:

When I find that four ships have been lying in the exposed anchorage at the Lightship for some weeks attempting to lighten... [and] after an experience of more than 15 years, I have no hesitation in saying that Holdfast Bay is equally safe for ships as the present anchoring ground at the Lightship... In 1836-7 I landed cargoes at the Bay in less time than it has taken ships I have before referred to lighten their cargoes. The expense of constructing a jetty would be comparatively trifling compared to that of deepening the outer bar.... Unless something is done promptly to do away with the delay at the Lightship, the ship owners and underwriters of Britain will exact higher rates and premiums for suffering their vessels to encounter risks and delays of this Port.

In answer to this request the Colonial Secretary, B.T. Finniss, responded on behalf of the governor:

An estimate was made for a jetty at Glenelg in 1854 by Mr Bennett Hays, Colonial Architect, amounting to £10,400 and, after due enquiry, £20,000 were placed on the estimates. A public meeting, convened by Mr R.B. Colley, the Mayor of Glenelg, was held on 6 February 1856 at the Glenelg Hotel to consider an opinion expressed by Mr Dutton in parliament that ?the only fit site for a jetty at Glenelg would be opposite the lightship? but:

When it was known that he was only the mouthpiece of a party whom they well know was working in the dark to obtain the removal of the jetty from Glenelg, they would see the necessity of endeavouring to avert these designs... Sir Henry Young proposed its construction in 1854 and a sum was placed on the estimates for that purpose and on the faith of it many... had purchased land at Glenelg... When the erection of the jetty was first determined Mr Hays proposed to place it near the creek in a line with the Adelaide Road, but upon the recommendation of the Jetty Commission the site was changed to ?north of Moseley's hotel? and, until the commencement of its construction, a heated debate raged among various interested citizens who owned land contiguous to the two sites.

Firstly, Henry Muirhead contended that at the public meeting held in March 1857:

Vested interests presided, addressed the meeting, carried their resolutions, and the jetty, not only from the main and direct Adelaide road, but, contrary to all reason, clean past the next best site as pointed out by Captain Cawthorne in 1851, that was below Joshuah's house, nearly in front of the English Church... To this accusation, suggested as being heinous by proponents of the southern site, Mr R.B. Colley, proclaimed that:

The spot recommended by Captain Cawthorne, the master of the Lighthouse... is about opposite Joshuah's cottages, a spot within 120 feet of the present site. About a section further south, in a line with the Broadway, New Glenelg, is a natural breakwater, now used for the oyster beds. It appears to have been forgotten... that a breakwater is to be placed at the head of the jetty now erecting...

Thomas Lipson, a former colonial Harbour Master, then entered the fray on behalf of the northern site:

If the creek is rejected and the jetty be put on the open beach, there can be neither steamer nor discharging craft of any kind [and] there will be no means of affording shelter or protection to the work, and that its utility will be scarcely more than that of affording an agreeable promenade to mammas and their children and their nursemaids and certainly useless for all important purposes of colonial requirements...

And so the arguments waxed and waned, the following being a small selection from angry participants in a debate that served no good purpose for the government was not to be swayed away from the recommendation of the Jetty Commission:

But another formidable objection appears against the Pier Hotel site. What is to become of the bathers, male and female, on either side of the jetty? It is contemplated to set apart the space between the creek and the hotel for promenading solely. The new bridge being constructed will conduct one or other of the sexes across the creek, where they may bathe with the greatest privacy and comfort; but what is to become of those who must inevitably be compelled to walk the best part of a mile to obtain the same luxury on the other side of the jetty?

If the jetty is placed at Hayes Flat it will be nearly useless and will certainly be quite dry at low water... But another reason overlooked by Mr Hayes is the approach to and departure of shipping from pier or jetty. With a wind blowing from the prevailing points in bad weather, south and west, a vessel, as soon as she slips her moorings, will be on shore before she can get way on her...

Should the jetty be erected on the site originally proposed the accumulation of sand and seaweed at the creek, now much complained of, would be intercepted by the piles and cause the formation of a natural spit or breakwater extending from the shore mouth of the creek and create a sheltered channel through which lighters and small steamers could enter the creek...

After considerable delays the material was landed at a cost of £22,830.16s.7d. In August 1857 work commenced on the jetty designed on a principle patented by a Mr Mitchell in the 1830s and one of the first piles was driven by the Governor on 29 August 1857:

In October 1857, Henry Graystone was severely injured when a ?key?, which had been screwed into a pile and weighing several hundredweights, suddenly swerved around causing him to lose his balance and to be precipitated on to the hard sand, following which he was removed to a nearby house, Dr Popham was called and it was found that he had sustained several injuries to the spine with compression of the spinal cord, causing total paralysis of the lower half of the body:

It is feared that the accident will terminate badly, which is the more deplorable, as we understand that his unfortunate wife is hourly expecting to be confined; there are two young children, the eldest not exceeding three years, entirely dependent upon him for a living.

There was much criticism of the standards of work of the English manufacturer, who was responsible for all of the iron work upon the jetty, portion of which first arrived on the Berkshire on 10 March 1857, and to this end the editor of the Observer castigated him:

Even to an unprofessional eye the defects of workmanship and materials are palpable and those well qualified to judge condemn them as being in the highest degree disgraceful.... the only wonder is that any manufacturer would permit his name to be attached to a work at once so defective and so discreditable. Nor does the fault stop there. The things required for the erection of the jetty have come out in installments and it is only a few days ago that the last of the materials arrived, although they should have been here twelve months ago...

The jetty was intended principally for the convenience of small coasting steamers and sailing vessels; also to enable large ships, whose draft of water was too great when deeply laden, to go over the bar entrance at Port Adelaide to discharge part of their cargo; and for the more speedy landing of mails. Its extreme length was 1,250 feet with a depth of 12 feet at low, and 18 feet at high water at the head, where vessels discharged and had a double line of rails laid down upon it. The pier, being exposed in windy weather to a short, choppy sea, was sheltered at the head by a breakwater and upon completion its total cost amounted to £34,294.

Monday, 25 April 1859, was a proud day for the rising township of Glenelg when upwards of 2,000 people gathered to witness the opening of the jetty by the Governor. From an early hour the Bay Road was dusty with the transit of carriages and ?monster omnibuses? filled with joyous holiday makers, ?all bent on associating a healthy excursion with the celebration of the terminated construction of one of the most important public works in the colony.?

A ?gross injustice? was inflicted upon the economic welfare of Glenelg in 1862 when one of the cranes was removed from the jetty and, in an effort to ?prevent such an uncalled spoliation?, Henry Moseley addressed the local press:

I hope some hon. member of the Assembly will make enquries on the subject or the government, if unmolested, may take it into their hands some of these fine days to remove, not only the cranes, but even the jetty itself to form a nursery promenade in some more favourable locality.

On 7 November 1865 the first merchant vessel to discharge cargo at the jetty arrived and to celebrate the occasion a public dinner was held at the Pier Hotel on 15 November. The vessel was the barque Anna, under the command of Captain Watson, and it had sailed from Newcastle, NSW, with 200 tons of coal for Henry Moseley. Due to rough weather the vessel had to anchor off the jetty for three days.

Later, on 18 November 1865 the Mayor of Glenelg and several gentlemen attended at the hotel for the purpose of presenting Captain Watson with a handsome binocular glass which had been subscribed by those citizens present. A toast was drunk to Mr Moseley ?whose enterprise had been the means of introducing the first cargo of coals into Glenelg? and in reply that gentleman said that:

He trusted to be able to use his influence towards the provision of proper moorings at Glenelg, as he was certain that if they were laid down it would be an inducement to owners of vessels to send them without fear.

The jetty was also used for recreation purposes by many youths of the town and cranes at the head of the jetty were resorted to by adventurous bathers who used them as a diving platform. Many persons had been in the habit of discouraging bathing from off the jetty bulwarks, considering the leap from the steps as quite enough for all purposes of enjoyment. However, in February 1870, a foolhardy youth, whilst plunging from the top of a crane, ?failed to take proper aim?, and fell on his side in the water, to his own evident discomfort.

During 1872 many adverse opinions were enunciated in the House of Assembly by some members that the Glenelg jetty should not be repaired out of the general revenue and, in support of the legislators, a correspondent under the pseudonym of ?Alert? penned the following:

It cannot be questioned that during our long summers the general public flock in thousands from all part s of the province to the jetty to invigorate their constitutions with a whiff of the briny, and the public having worn out the flooring of the jetty, is it too much too ask that the public purse should repair it?

At the same time the Register's ?Geoffrey Crabthorn? interposed with a satirical piece and a poem:

I would suggest that as hon. members have expressed a diversity of opinion upon this subject, all jetties, etc., should for the future be under the supervision of a Select Committee, to be called ?The House of Piers?. A young lady who occasionally corresponds with me, but whose letters are unfortunately like angels? visits, send me the following somewhat rhapsodical communication upon the much needed repairs, and which, as illustrating a view of the subject entertained, perhaps, by more than one of the fair sex, I am happy to insert:

Another thing I?ll mention, which, I think, will gain your pity,
A week last Monday evening, when we had all finished dining,
A friend of brother Charley's, whom we brought down from the city,
Proposed a promenade, and as the moon was brightly shining
Mamma and I put on our cloaks, and off we went together,
But we found the wind was blowing from a somewhat chilly quarter,
So Charley's friend suggested, as a shelter from the weather,
A seat upon the steps, that lead right down to the water.

At first it was delightful, though I felt a little frightened,
Till Charley's friend assured me that there wasn?t any danger,
And then he squeezed my fingers so, I know my colour heightened,
For I thought it rather forward - he was such an utter stranger,
But one thing that I noticed was, the Jetty steps kept shaking,
And seemed to tremble with our weight whene?er the wind blew stronger,
Until mamma jumped up and said, ?I?m sure the steps are breaking;
?Come home, my dear, it isn?t safe any longer!?

It's true the steps are rotten and the railings all unjointed;
But when we were so cosy, and the sea did look so pretty,
I couldn?t bear to leave it, and I felt so disappointed,
I wouldn?t speak a single word the whole way up the Jetty,
I know that I was sulky - but then, wasn?t it provoking?
But thanks to Mr Barrow, Mr Townsend and the others,
The steps will soon be strengthened, and - course I?m only joking -
I hope to sit there often with a friend, Sir, of my brother's.
Devotedly yours,
Arabella Gushington

At 8.30 pm on Sunday, 7 September 1873, the wooden lighthouse at the end of the jetty was seen to be on fire and, immediately, a large number of people gathered and emptied the building of its contents, while Mr Bruce, the owner of a cutter, rendered some service by climbing to the cross yard of the signal shaft and hauled up buckets of water which were then thrown on the flames. A little before 9 o?clock Messrs, Thomson, Manuel and Robinson, three drivers of John Hill and Company's omnibuses, chopped away the base with axes and with poles pushed the building over into the sea.

Just before the fire originated two young boys, the sons of Mr Fischer of the Pier Hotel and Mr Bungert, a butcher of Freeman Street, Adelaide, were in the tower attending to the lamp. Fischer asked Bungert for a light and the latter, having struck a match, threw it on the floor just below the lamp. There was some cotton soaked in kerosene there and it ignited thus causing the destruction of the building. The Government arranged a temporary light in its stead by affixing it to the flagstaff, while a week or two later the Marine Board approved plans ?for the proposed additions to the Glenelg jetty and of the new lighthouse to be erected thereon.?

In his reminiscences held in the State Library, David Shepard recalls that:

The jetty was not like it is now, it then had no kiosk. It was intended when the jetty was built to put an L-Head to it and iron plate it to act as a breakwater; the iron plates were never used for that purpose but lay on the beach for years and were bought for a song by H. Moseley, who at that time kept the Pier Hotel. Several of us boys had a good ride on them as they were being drawn along the sand by five horses. Moseley used them as a fence to his backyard...

The brig Waverley was seen off the jetty at 3 am on 30 December 1873 when a strong south-easterly breeze was blowing and Mr Newett, the mail contractor, who was awaiting the arrival of the P&O's Company ship Milora fired a rocket to warn the brig away. The course of the vessel was altered but too late to prevent a collision with the end of the jetty. A pile driving engine was rolled over and a portion of the flagstaff carried away while the Regatta Committee was inconvenienced when a temporary office, erected the previous day by means of canvas and rope, was destroyed, the chairs and tables being smashed and ?generally disposed of.? Several young men were sleeping at the site and one was injured during the collision.

The jetty was the scene of a tragedy in July 1876 when Mrs Mary McCarthy was crushed by a truck driven by an employee of Mr Bowker, of Glenelg. At a trial, where Mr McCarthy sought to recover damages for the injuries sustained by his wife, it was reported that it was almost impossible for any person to pass between the truck and the railing without being crushed, although one witness asserted that he had seen the truck pass men and boys who were leaning over the railing. The jury awarded Mrs McCarthy £45 which, ?though it will doubtless be of great service to the family, who are people in humble circumstances, will yet badly compensate the poor woman for the pain she has suffered...?

Prior to 1876 ornamental lamps were used with varying success in the lighthouse; sometimes burning well, but at others in stormy weather, when light was most needed, became extinguished. All difficulties in this respect were overcome in 1876 when these old oil and kerosene lamps were replaced by their ?more modern and brilliant rival, gas.? In trials carried out aboard the cutter, Rosa, the general illumination of the new lamps was to be seen all but eight miles from the shore.

In April 1882 a deputation from the Glenelg corporation waited upon the Treasurer, Hon. Lavington Glyde, and asked that the Government take steps to lengthen the jetty by about a quarter of a mile, thus permitting the largest vessels to come up and anchor there:

The Russian fleet anchored within that distance from the present end of the jetty and it was clear, therefore, that in the event of the work being carried out very large boats would be able to come up to the end of the new structure... It was a well known fact that the nasty choppy sea experienced at the Semaphore was not to be found at the Bay and although the weather may be rough occasionally at the latter place, unloading had been done there in a shorter space of time than at any other place in the colonies.

Another deputation to the Treasurer occurred in 1885 when he was informed that:

The Treasurer responded that he could not recommend the expenditure but would consult his colleagues.

The lighthouse and flagstaff at the end of the jetty were provided with a complete set of international signal flags but were put to little use by the lighthouse keeper and, in 1882, Mr Allchurch said that he had not an occasion to use them for three years. However, complaints were made by the master of the Roma that on running up the gulf in thick weather he had mistaken the Glenelg light tower for that of Semaphore. Mr W.E. Slade, the Deputy Assistant Engineer, considered that no lighthouse was required at Glenelg because mail steamers had ceased to call there and recommended its immediate removal and replacement by an ?ordinary jetty light.?

In 1907 it was proposed to build a pavilion on the jetty to 'supply refreshments of every description on a separate platform? at the north-west corner just inside the L-Head. It was to be constructed on piles with a jarrah floor and built of wood and covering an area of 60 by 45 feet. The main room was to be 15 feet high with a promenade roof around the centre storey terminating with a lookout, with a fancy iron railing. It was to be glazed with leadlight windows and at night lighted with several large lamps. During rough weather patrons would be protected from wind and rain with canvas walls and roofing. The pavilion itself was to be fitted with marble top tables and fancy chairs, while lounge chairs were to be placed outside. In addition, the existing invalids? awning at the extreme end of the jetty was to be removed and ?a more fanciful one erected.?

The pavilion was erected by Messrs Sigalis & Company at a cost of nearly £2,300 and opened by the Premier, Thomas Price, on 26 October 1907. It was fitted up with ?the latest American principle with temperate drinking fountains?, while a lift was provided for conveying refreshments from the kitchen to each floor. In the course of his opening address Mr Price intimated that:

To conclude this history of Glenelg's jetties it might be appropriate to recall that, on 1 December 1920, Mr H.W. Varley placed a lighted match to a beacon which had been erected at the sea end of the jetty in the memory of his son, who was killed in France in May 1918. Mr Varley had the complete cooperation of the Marine Board when he offered to erect the light which had a radius of ten miles.

General Notes

The proposed formation of a company to construct a pier and erect warehouses is advertised in the Southern Australian, 19 December 1839, page 1d.

The proposed erection of a "pleasure pier" is reported in the Adelaide Times,
25 October 1851, page 8e; also see
14 July 1853, page 2c.

Comments on a proposed jetty and an account of a "private" jetty in 1850 are in the Register,
15 August 1853, page 3b; also see
Observer,
20 August 1853, page 6d,
8 October 1853, page 3c,
31 December 1853, page 3d,
Register,
26 January 1856, page 4c and
7 February 1856, page 3b
15 August 1856, page 2f.

Public meetings in connection with a jetty are reported in the Observer,
6 June 1857, page 3f.

For further references see Register,
11 and 21 March 1857, pages 2e and 2h,
3 June 1857, page 2f,
31 August 1857, page 2e,
Observer,
14 March 1857, page 6h,
28 March 1857, page 3f,
5 September 1857, page 3c,
27 March 1858, page 8c,
Register,
21, 25 and 26 March 1857, pages 2h, 3a and 3a,
6 April 1857, page 3a,
2 June 1857, page 3f,
3, 5, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25 and
27 August 1857, pages 3d, 4c, 3f, 3d, 2h, 3f, 3e, 3h and 3f.

The commencement of the government structure is reported in the Register,
31 August 1857, page 2e; also see
28 October 1857, page 3h,
25 March 1858, page 2h;
its opening is recorded on
26 April 1859, page 3c; also see
Advertiser,
28 March 1859, page 3d.

Correspondence relating to the cost of the jetty, etc, is in Parliamentary Paper 53/1857.
Complaints re the removal of the crane is reported in the Register on 30 August 1862, page 3f.

A report on a proposed breakwater is in Parliamentary Paper 31/1859.
An editorial in respect of a proposed breakwater is in the Register,
5 May 1859, page 2h; also see
15 June 1859, page 2g,
Chronicle,
2 April 1859, page 2d,
Register,
26 September 1877, page 5f,
Express,
28 January 1909, page 4f,
15 March 1909, page 4h,
30 December 1910, page 4c,
12 January 1911, page 4a,
Register,
21 August 1912, page 9e.
A photograph is in the Observer,
20 March 1909, page 29,
13 and 27 March 1915, pages 28 and 29,
Register,
3 June 1915, page 6d.

A letter re the need for a light on the jetty is in the Register of
12 August 1859, page 3a.
The destruction of the lighthouse at the end of the jetty is reported in the Observer,
13 September 1873, page 10a; also see
4 October 1873, page 8a,
16 December 1876, page 3f.
Its proposed lengthening is reported in the Register,
12 April 1882, page 6c.

A Glenelg Regatta is described in the Register,
29 December 1859, page 3e,
Chronicle,
30 January 1875, page 4d.

The arrival and discharge of the first merchant vessel at the jetty is reported in the Register,
16 and 21 November 1865, pages 3h and 2g; also see
Chronicle,
18 November 1865, page 7e.

A warning against diving off the jetty and instances of death and injury by so doing are recited in the Register,
8 February 1870, page 5d.
Early newspaper references in respect of jetties are in the Register,
17 January 1924, page 9h.

Satirical comment on the jetty is in the Register,
30 April 1872, page 5e,
1 May 1872, page 5c.

The removal of rails from the jetty is reported in the Express,
2 May 1872, page 2d.

A proposed pavilion on the jetty is discussed in the Observer,
4 May 1907, page 28a;
its opening is reported in the Advertiser,
28 October 1907, page 11a.
Photographs of an on-shore pavilion are in the Observer,
4 May 1907, page 28.

A report of a ship colliding with the jetty is in the Observer,
3 January 1874, page 8b.

Information on the jetty is in the Register,
11 and 29 August 1885, pages 6g and 5b.

An article on the lighthouse is in the Register,
15 December 1876, page 5a.

For information on the Beatrice Light see 17 May 1883, page 4g and below.
Also see South Australia - Maritime Affairs - Lighthouses and Lightships

"The Glenelg Light" is in the Register,
16 and 17 September 1881, pages 4g and 6e.

The "Beatrice Lightship" is mentioned in the Register on
17 May 1883, page 4g,
19, 24 and 25 December 1885, pages 5b, 6c and 7g,
28 January 1886, page 5c,
5, 11, 12, 23, 26 and 27 February 1886, pages 5c, 7d, 5c-7d, 5d, 4g and 6d,
3 and 4 March 1886, pages 5a and 4h-7d,
11, 12, 15, 19 and 22 March 1886, pages 5a, 5a, 5d, 7h and 7c.
Also see Advertiser,
30 January 1886, page 4e.

Information on a hulk is in the Register,
18 May 1881, page 4g-5b-3a (supp.); also see
17 August 1881, page 6f,
Advertiser,
5 September 1881, page 6c and note South Australia - Crime, Law and Punishment - Law - Reformatory Hulk.

On at page 5b in the Register a lady expressed surprise at:

The strange want of gallantry evinced by many of the promenaders [on the jetty] who walk up and down with cigars in their mouths, regardless of the direction of the wind, to the great discomfort of the ladies occupying the seats... A male chauvinist of the day responded on 10 February 1872, page 6f:

The real grievance was that the quiet delights of the cigar were preferred to the promenade and harmless flirtation... An accident on the jetty is reported in the Observer,
21 October 1876, page 7f.

Lighting of the jetty is discussed in the Express,
15 December 1876, page 2d and
concerts on the jetty in the Register,
28 January 1878, page 5c,
2 February 1879, page 5a; also see
11 November 1882, page 2c (supp.).

"The Russian Squadron at Glenelg" is in the Chronicle,
4 March 1882, pages 5f-10d.

"Lighthouse and Flagstaff on Jetty" is in the Register,
24 September 1891, page 5b.

A proposed harbour is discussed in the Register,
14, 16 and 18 March 1907, pages 5c-9c, 5d and 4f,
4 August 1913, page 7c;
27 February 1915, page 7f for a report on a proposed breakwater,
18 October 1915, page 6f,
1 March 1916, page 5f,
29 and 30 June 1916, pages 5a and 4c,
12, 13, 14 and 21 July 1916, pages 8h, 5b, 6g and 4c-e,
24 August 1916, page 6b,
9 July 1917, page 4g,
8 February 1921, page 6b.

A proposed pavilion on the jetty is discussed in the Register,
27 October 1905, page 5b;
its opening is reported on
28 October 1907, page 6e;
a photograph is in the Chronicle,
2 November 1907, page 29,
of May's Band on
3 February 1917, page 28.

"Glenelg's Concrete Breakwater" is in the Register,
13 and 15 March 1909, pages 8g and 4e; also see
29 and 30 December 1910, pages 4e and 6c,
7 January 1911, page 15h,
30 April 1914, page 6e,
6 and 23 May 1914, pages 8e and 15c,
27 February 1915, page 7f,
1 March 1916, page 5f,
29 and 30 June 1916, pages 5a and 4c,
13, 21 and 26 July 1916, pages 5b, 4c-e and 9a,
2, 4, 9 and 24 August 1916, pages 5d, 6g, 11d and 6b-7b,
5 and 8 September 1916, pages 4e and 7e,
8 November 1916, page 6e,
7 February 1917, page 6h,
9 and 10 July 1917, pages 4f and 4b-f,
6, 12 and 19 September 1917, pages 4d, 10c and 6d-9e,
3, 25 and 26 October 1917, pages 7g, 9c and 4h,
17 September 1918, page 4e,
22 December 1919, page 6g,
30 December 1919, page 4e,
17 September 1920, page 6i,
8 February 1921, page 6b,
29 May 1922, page 6d,
1 August 1922, page 6e.
A history of the breakwater is in the Register,
2 September 1921, page 7e,
24 October 1922, page 6f,
"Breakwater - Harbour for Rats" appears on
25 March 1925, page 10a;
17 June 1925, page 8h.
The removal of the breakwater is reported upon in The Mail,
14 November 1925, page 4f.
Also see Patawalonga.

"Gales in the Gulf - Excitement at the Seaside" is in the Register,
3 October 1910, page 7a.
Photographs of storm damage are in The Critic,
9 January 1904, page 5,
Observer,
22 May 1915, page 27.

The lighting of the Varley Memorial Light is reported in the Advertiser,
3 December 1920, page 6g.

"Demolition of Breakwater Jetty" is in the Register,
14 March 1929, page 12e.

"Indolent Anglers at Glenelg" is in The News,
7 November 1935, page 2f.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Fishing

Glenelg
Glenelg, River - Goodwood
G
Place Names

Glenelg

Larrikinism

Also see Adelaide - Larrikinism

Crime, Larrikinism and Wanton Mischief

(Taken from an Unpublished Manuscript by Geoffrey H Manning's A Social History of Glenelg - 1836-1936 - copy in State Library) Glenelg was visited by several cabloads of the most degraded of both sexes... Terpischorean performances resembling the war dances of the untutored savages, with intervals of noisy attention to the bottles of liquor... the awful arm of the law as represented by the ubiquitous [Sergeant] Allchurch was in this instance conspicuous by its absence...
(Register, 16 December 1876, p. 6.)

Introduction

For the first two to three decades of European settlement in South Australia the people always prided themselves - and with sufficient reason - on the good order prevailing within the community. There were none of those violent crimes which disgraced and terrified the neighbouring colonies. In no part of Her Majesty's dominions had life and property been safer than in South Australia.

The people lived in the utmost security thinking it quite an unnecessary precaution in many places to use bolts and bars. Doors were left unlocked and property exposed in what people in other lands would call a most reckless deed. Our comparative immunity from crime may be ascribed to various causes - The class of persons who came here were, as a whole, of a superior order and the working classes were industrious and provident, with some considerable amount of education in their ranks. It is questionable whether in any part of the British dominions could such a provident, industrious, well-conducted community be found.

Our immigrants were well selected and many of them, in the course of a few years, raised themselves to positions of comfort and not a few became wealthy and respected. From such a well-conducted working class dangerous crimes were not anticipated. We always set our faces against the convict element mingling in our population and, from time to time, when the foundations of the colony were laid, there was always a wise jealousy and a commendable vigilance exercised to guard against the convict taint.

Our laws against the admission of transportees, from whatever quarter they might have attempted to come, were most firm - some would say arbitrary - and on the whole our vigilance was rewarded. We succeeded in practically keeping away from us the accursed evil of convictism. Those violent deeds which were so rife in the other colonies can, in almost every instance, be traced back to the influence, direct or indirect, of the existing felonry amongst them.

A third reason for the orderliness of our population and the safety of property was the fact that we had no poor amongst us, in the sense in which that word is used in the old countries of Europe. There were, of course, isolated cases in which some suffered from insufficient means. The people, generally, had plenty of work and good wages and the labouring class had comforts here which it would have been impossible to obtain in the old country. Then, in addition, the population as a whole was a religious one - proverbially, a colony of churches and church going people. These, then, it was believed, were amongst the causes which produced the safe and healthy state of society.

Sadly, by the late 1850s there became a need for increased vigilance when a spate of robberies of a daring character occurred; shops and dwelling houses were entered forcibly, stables were visited by the light-fingered gentry, where both horses and harness disappeared. Our peaceful serenity was disturbed and the people had to look about them to see to the better protection of their property. Watch-dogs were brought into service and life-preservers and revolvers were taken up by some for the purpose of ?moral suasion.?

A system of local police had been authorised in 1852 and gave civic authorities the right to nominate a sufficient number of persons to be sworn in. Disobedience of orders or breach of duty were punishable by a fine, while services were recompensed by a fee payable on account of a particular service in which a constable may have been engaged. Accordingly, a Glenelg resident, Mr Davie, was appointed as ?Constable, Inspector of Nuisances and Messenger? and in ?a rather ineffectual way endeavoured to control the youth of the town who ?congregated of an evening in front of shop windows, using foul and obscene language, and creating a great disturbance?.?

However, it was clear that neither the District Council Acts nor the Police Acts contained any definite statement of the functions which a district constable might exercise. A code of instructions was issued in 1860, but there was good reason to believe that the directions it contained were ultra vires. For instance, a district constable arrested a man for a breach of the peace and when tried before a special magistrate in Adelaide ?Mr Beddome decided that the law was against him and Mr Downer, on appeal, upheld that decision but only inflicted a nominal fine, as the constable had evidently acted bona fides and without evil intention.? Thus with a simple desire to properly discharge his duty, a special constable could make arrests in the manner directed in the semi-official ?instructions? and find himself exposed to the discomfort and loss of an adverse action at law if his authority was called into question.

Some time prior to 1864 a police constable was stationed permanently at Glenelg for in January of that year a meeting was held in the Government schoolroom to consider a proposal from the government which, apparently, desired ?to remove the policeman?. The Corporation thought that the greater part of the £70 they paid for this purpose might be saved, inasmuch as, instead of having the policeman under the existing system, it could engage, as in the 1850s, a man who could combine the duties of special constable with the ?avocation of labourer under the Corporation.? Mr H.B.T. Strangways reminded the meeting that the idea of police protection was first broached about three years before and that:

[I] defy anyone to say that the former constable even did £10 of work for the corporation... He used to do several things; amongst others he used to hold the Town Clerk's horse... To bring into Glenelg a stranger would deprive the working men [of Glenelg] that work...

His appeal for the reintroduction of the system of special constables was defeated, and it is apparent that the government reconsidered its edict, for in 1865 Police Constable Badman took up the position which he held until 1868 when PC Allchurch arrived. Interested readers are referred to Dulcie Perry's book, The Place of Waters, for the exploits of the latter officer who retired from the position in 1897.

Larrikinism

It would appear the term ?larrikin? did not appear in our vocabulary until the early 1870s and its origin is said to rest with a policeman with a rich, thick Irish brogue who transformed the word ?larking? into ?laraking?. Larrikinism is a development of modern civilisation and a very objectionable one and Australian society appears to be a peculiarly congenial soil for the production of this type of life. There is nothing corresponding exactly to it in England; but the ?hoodlum? of America is a brother to the ?larrikin? of Australia.

If Charles Darwin was challenged to explain the origin of the larrikin species, it may be supposed that he would refer to the superabundance of physical energy derived from the British stock; to the inordinate growth of the doctrine of liberty; to the comparatively large amount of leisure obtained in these days by all classes of society; to the ease with which money is obtained, leading to indulgence in a host of excesses that penurious times forbade; to the want of exercise of proper parental authority and to the early maturity of the physical constitution in Australia, resulting, not infrequently, in the attainment of a man's stature before the mental powers are matured.

The growth of larrikinism has been gradual, but steady, and flourishes most where population is dense. Its freaks vary according to circumstances and opportunity and range from such petty foolery as breaking gates off their hinges, ?removing sign boards and jostling foot passengers, to the barbarity of murdering Chinamen by torture, or assaulting and maiming the police.?

Nothing comes amiss to the larrikin, provided it is sufficiently foolish and mischievous. In his esteem there is naught that is sacred. The beauty of a flower, the grace of a tree, are nothing to him but objects for the gratification of his craze for destructiveness. The rights of property, the inviolability of the person, the tenderness claimed for the weak, the reverence due to the aged, all have no meaning to him - especially if the vigilance of the police can be eluded.

The larrikin is a gregarious animal - I had almost written, beast. Combination is an essential condition of his operations, and he is an arrant coward. He plays his highest jinks at the expense of the defenceless, or when he believes himself supported by such a number of accomplices that he can depend on a practical immunity from chastisement.

Late in 1872 Mr James P. Boucaut introduced a Bill into the House of Assembly for the more effectual punishment of juvenile offenders which, when carried into law, was expected to be of great service to the community. It dealt with male offenders under the age of sixteen years and provided the ?wholesome and salutary punishment? of flogging for a number of offences which were specified as:

For each or any of these offences the courts could sentence an offender to be once or twice whipped, either in substitution of, or in addition to, any sentence with which, by law, such offender could then be punished. In respect of whippings, the number of strokes were limited to twenty five - as to this aspect of ?criminal reform?.

At the time, it was expected that this law would have:

Over the next two decades the efficacy of the new laws, aimed at stamping out the menace, may be gauged from random newspaper reports:

If the mischief is not arrested at once and the value of the police as a terror to evildoers maintained, there is no saying to what length the larrikin element amongst us will advance. The impunity with which juvenile ruffians injure public and private property in this country and otherwise annoy peaceable citizens is anything but creditable to the intelligence and manliness of the masculine portion of the community.

Deliberate injuries to property, public and private, perpetrated by youths who have reached years of discretion should be punished by the free application of the lash.

The evil has become so rife that severe corporal punishment would seem to be the only effective means available for appealing to the sensibilities of experienced and hardened larrikins... This repressive process cannot in any sense of the term be considered a radical cure for juvenile depravity.

The fast growing larrikinism of our youths greatly arises from want of reverence. There is no respect shown to age or position. Age is spoken of as ?that (expletive) old fool?; the master as ?the (expletive) boss?, with the adjective short but sanguinary... This growing larrikinism is one of the concomitants of ?the dignity of labour?. If everybody is equal there is no room for authority... It may be that Democracy and Free Education are not all beer and skittles.

A Robinson Crusoe at Glenelg

In August 1871 a decently dressed boy, aged about 14 years, was reported to Police Constable Allchurch as having been living for some days in Robinson Crusoe style upon the northern side of the bay creek. By the aid of pistol and powder he procured his rations of small birds which he cooked in a tin pot and supplemented by bread obtained from some ?loose boys? belonging to Glenelg, who seemed to act as so many ?Man Fridays.? He was brought before the magistrates as a neglected child, but at the same time a woman of respectable appearance appeared and claimed she was his mother and the wife of Mr Antonio Gannoni, a well known cab driver on the Kensington road.

She said that her son had been sent to collect the rent of a cottage belonging to his father but had disappeared with about one pound in his possession. The boy admitted having taken the money and bought a pistol and added that he had ran away because he had been whipped. The mother assured the bench that he had only been moderately corrected for misconduct. The charge was withdrawn and the boy was handed over to his mother.

A Visitor's Complaint

In December 1874 scenes of debauchery disturbed a citizen who lodged a complaint in the Adelaide press to which the Editor and the Mayor of Glenelg, Mr Wigley, responded:

I and many others were deeply grieved at the scenes which took place at a drinking and dancing booth erected in the vicinity of the Pier and Parade Hotels. During the whole of the day it was crowded with prostitutes and roughs of the lowest class and fights were continually taking place... But the scenes that took place during the night were infinitely worse...

It is difficult to determine in what way to fairly apportion the blame of these disgraceful occurrences. Our correspondent suggests that much of it is attributable to the Glenelg Corporation and notwithstanding the reply of His Worship the Mayor printed in another column we agree with him that they cannot be held guiltless in the matter... The course they adopted had the effect of giving unconditional leave to certain individuals to erect booths upon the beach and keep them open for several days.

The booth was sold by Mr Townsend by public auction for the council who did not know ?the character of the booth before they granted a stand for its erection, and that a permit was given to keep it open long after every hotel and public house were closed?, namely, from 11pm to 6 am by two Adelaide magistrates, after Mr Beddome (and I believe the resident magistrate at Glenelg) and myself had refused to grant one. The council applied to and obtained from the Commissioner of Police constables, who with a local policemen were engaged all night in keeping order as far as practicable at the same booth.

A New Chum's Brush With Glenelg's By-laws

In September 1879 a newly arrived migrant from the United Kingdom fell foul of the corporation's officialdom and was so incensed he wrote to the Editor of the Register and in his preamble pointed out that he had been fined £1 for riding upon the footpath of Colley Reserve, while on the same day an habitually drunken woman was fined to the extent of 10 shillings in the Port Adelaide Court. He continued:

Deeply penitent and certainly determined that, though I might commit great matricide, I will never again ride across Colley's Reserve, let me confess freely that on Monday morning, having been to the baths, and having found it uncomfortable riding on the beach owing to the high tide, I determined to go home by the road, the direct and, as I thought, usual approach to which seemed to be across Colley Reserve. May I not say the melan-choly reserve? There are no flower beds there; not even a colley-flower grows on it. I did no harm, and I did not know I infringed any law in going that way. Not being able to get through the turnstiles, I went round by the road at the back of the Post Office and thence home. It was 7 o?clock am and at that time I felt no sense of guilt, but one Mr Overseer Kerr saw me... I will not lose the opportunity of thanking Mr Kerr for the welcome to hospitable, free Australia which he gave to me, a newcomer from England, the land of game laws, and where every inch of the country is owned by a haughty aristocracy, and there is li