Renmark
- Situated about 260 kilometres north east of Adelaide, Renmark is
the largest town in the Riverland.
- It is suggested that the town takes its name from an Aboriginal word
meaning ‘red mud’, however, the mud at Renmark is not red.
Another suggestion is that it derived from the name of Bookmark station
of which it may initially have been an outstation. Alternatively, some
believe is it derived from the name of a settler in the district in
thee 1860s, William Renny.
- Renmark was the first irrigation settlement in Australia, established
in 1887 by the Canadian Chaffey Brothers. The brothers had successfully
founded several irrigation colonies in California and Victorian parliamentarian
Alfred Deakin (later to become Australia’s second prime minister)
invited them to set up similar schemes along the River Murray. After
negotiations with the Victorian government about the establishment
of an irrigation colony at Mildura stalled, the Chaffeys came to an
agreement with the South Australian government and Renmark was settled.
- The Chaffeys’ original irrigation plan created open channels
to carry the water to the land but in 1959 these were converted to
underground pipelines.
- The Chaffey brothers’ enterprise folded in 1893 and the Renmark
Irrigation Trust was created to administer the irrigation works.
- Under the government’s agreement with the Chaffey brothers,
Renmark was designated a dry town, but this resulted in the proliferation
of sly grog shops. Editor of the Renmark Pioneer newspaper,
Chris Ashwell, led the campaign to establish a community hotel, the
profits of which would be returned to the town to be spent on community
organisations, projects and programs. The Renmark Hotel was opened
in 1897 and was the first community hotel in the British Empire.
- The town of Renmark was proclaimed and a local government formed
in 1904.
- Angove’s, the first winery and distillery on the River Murray
in South Australia, was established at Renmark in 1911.
- Renmano Winery is the first co-operatively owned winery in Australia.
It was first founded in 1914 under the name Chateau Tanunda, but in
1916, the winery was bought by a group of local growers achieving this
first.
- Today, Renmark’s principal products are citrus and stone fruits,
grapes and wine, vegetables, wheat and wool.
Further reading
Grosvenor, G. Arch, Red mud to green oasis, Richmond, SA: Raphael
Arts for Corporation of Town of Renmark, 1979.
Johnson, YM. Historic Renmark: established 1887, Renmark, SA:
YM Gurr, 1999.
Johnson, YM. The Renmark Hotel, 1897-1997: the first community hotel
in the British Empire, Berri, SA: J.C. Irving & Co., 1997.
Wells, Syd. Paddle steamers to cornucopia: the Renmark-Mildura experiment
of 1887, Renmark [SA]: The Murray Pioneer, [1986].
Links
Walkabout – Renmark http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/SARenmark.shtml
River
Murray website – Renmark http://www.murray-river.net/regions/renmark.htm
BRL
Hardy brands – Renmano http://www.brlhardy.com.au/brands/renmano.html
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