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100-625: Wells arrived in Port Adelaide in May 1858, and for nearly two years worked as accountant for the Adelaide Advertiser . He was then engaged by the firm of Philip Levi & Co., in which his uncle Alfred Watts was a partner. Subsequently, he entered into partnership with Watts as agents for English investors who had a plan unveiled in 1869 to construct an outer harbour in Largs Bay free of cost to

200-471: A 1906 Opinion Vote. The building was renovated, part of it converted into a small brewery, and reopened as a hotel in 1986. Railway Hotel opened in 1856 opposite the new Port Adelaide railway station , a month before the line to Adelaide was opened. The hotel retains many original features including leadlight windows and an 1890s glass fanlight . Two six-room houses were built on the corner of Cannon Street and Church Place in 1873. They were converted into

300-476: A book about the colonisation of South Australia in 1835) was first approached by a group of emigrants, while the Colonial Office was considering Sir John Franklin . Franklin withdrew in favour of Napier, but Napier quarrelled with the emigrants and made two requests (for access to Treasury funds, and for troops to act as police) which were not met, and he resigned. Napier favoured Light as Governor; however,

400-634: A brief residence in 1902 and 1903. He was one of the founders of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and around 1880 took the degree of M.D. in an American University, but he rarely practised. He made important discoveries in pharmacy, but only took out one patent. Wells returned to England with his family on the Orient Line ship Yatala in 1872, which on 27 March was wrecked off France, but without loss of life. He died in Merseyside . He

500-599: A company to be established for the purpose of founding a colony in Southern Australia, purchasing land therein and preparing the land so purchased for the Reception of Immigrants", and the South Australian Land Company ( SALC ) was formed in 1831 to establish a new colony in the area of South Australia. The SALC sought a Royal Charter for the purchase of land for colonisation, which would raise funding for

600-528: A dolphin sanctuary would be established in the Port River and Barker Inlet covering 118 square kilometres, the first "urban" dolphin sanctuary in the world. In 2005 the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act was enacted. By 2006 Newport Quays was being criticised for its poor planning for a residential development, criticism that continued with each stage of the project. By early 2007, two stages of

700-441: A general decline in retail turnover. Activity in the suburb has declined significantly from its heyday, leaving parts empty and derelict. Historic buildings were closed and sometimes vandalised , shops in the main streets were left empty and boarded up. Redevelopment of the waterfront was first publicly discussed in 1975. Over the following years, plans and costs were proposed and discussed but most lapsed without action. By 2002,

800-524: A huge public meeting at Exeter Hall in London on the 30 June 1834, to spread awareness about the proposal for the new province and emigration scheme, chaired by Wolryche-Whitmore. The meeting was attended by more than 2,500 people, including well-known philosophers and social reformers , and the speeches and discussions continued for seven hours. Afterwards the association received hundreds of enquiries from people interested in emigration. The Association lobbied

900-742: A narrow creek. At this time, it was inhabited by the Kaurna people , who occupied the Adelaide Plains , the Barossa Valley , the western side of the Fleurieu Peninsula , and northwards past Snowtown . The Kaurna people called the Port Adelaide area 'Yertabulti', and the whole estuarine area of the Port River . The entrance to this creek, the Port River, was first reported by Europeans in 1831. It

1000-671: A new Governor ( George Gawler ) appointed, who would also act as Resident Commissioner. The procedure for the founding of the South Australian province was unclear to the Board of Commissioners, so Letters Patent , specifically Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom erecting and establishing the Province of South Australia and fixing the boundaries thereof , were presented to

1100-755: A proposal less radical than previous ones, which was finally supported and a Bill proposed in Parliament. The British Province of South Australia was established by the South Australia Act 1834 in August 1834, and the South Australian Company formed on 9 October 1835 to fulfil the purposes of the Act by forming a new colony financed by land sales. The first settlers arrived on Kangaroo Island in July 1836, with all of

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1200-407: A reduction of the number of licences. After this the building was used as a furniture shop and a butcher's shop. During the 1920s it became a pharmacy specialising in photographic materials and "Kirby's Calcarea Teething Powders". Medical suites were leased upstairs. It was bought by Birks Chemists in 1946, and remained a pharmacy until 1996. From then to at least 2001 the building was vacant. On

1300-617: A single building and opened as the Kent Hotel in 1875. The building's exterior was restyled in Art Deco fashion in the 1940s and the interior of the hotel completely renovated in the 1990s. It is now known as the Port Anchor Hotel. Brunswick Pier Hotel was on the corner of Vincent and Robe Streets. It opened in 1878 in what had been a butcher 's shop. The hotel lost its licence in 1909, along with other hotels, after an opinion poll resulted in

1400-539: A system for rigidly mounting structures to solid rock. Wells submitted a tender to the South Australian Government for installation of a lighthouse on the Margaret Brock Reef using this technology, and despite protestations of men like O. A. Babbage , the tender was as accepted. The tender price had however been based on a false assumption of the number of days calm enough to operate the machinery and

1500-439: A tender allowing the South Australian Company to construct a private wharf , again partly to limit government expenditure. Along with the wharf they were to construct a warehouse and roadway. The roadway was to be a 100 feet (30 m) wide and run from the port to dry land, a distance of approximately 1 mile (1.6 km). This first wharf was built near the end of the modern Commercial Road. The wharf, known as McLaren Wharf,

1600-575: A term in prison for abducting a minor, Wakefield turned his mind to social problems caused by over-population . In 1829, he wrote a series of anonymous "Letters from Sydney" to a London newspaper, The Morning Chronicle , in which he purported to write about his own experiences as a gentleman settler in New South Wales (completely fictitious), outlining his various ideas as a new theory of colonisation. He proposed an "Emigration Fund" payable by landlords' taxes and land sales, which would fund labour for

1700-509: Is a $ 2 million refurbishment of the Hart's Mill precinct at Port Adelaide, opened in May 2014. Hart's Mill, Mundy Street, Port Adelaide SA 5015, Australia. European settlement of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by

1800-471: Is an important recruitment area for Blue swimmer crabs, Western king prawns and other commercially important species. The river also features established colonies of a wide variety of introduced marine organisms which originally arrived in South Australia in or on ships. Over 30 introduced marine species have so far been identified in the river. Port Adelaide is bound by the Port River and Inner Harbour to

1900-526: Is interested in re-establishing the tram network from the City to Port Adelaide, with links to Outer Harbor and Semaphore . In 2017 developer EPC Pacific began construction of a $ 38 million office tower on Nelson Street in Port Adelaide that will house public servants. In 2021 this building was purchased by Centuria for $ 63 million. In 2017 the Port Admiral Hotel was reopened after a $ 1m redevelopment. It

2000-512: Is one of the oldest buildings in Port Adelaide built in 1849. In 2017 Daniella Guevera from Mexico City opened La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide. In 2018, Pirate Life Breweries announced it would be relocating in Port Adelaide into a $ 15m refurbished warehouse. In 2018, Precision Group began the redevelopment of the Port Canal Shopping Centre as Port Adelaide Plaza . In 2019, The Banksia Tree Cafe and Corner Store opened on

2100-525: Is the longest continually licensed. It opened 1847 as a single storey building, and was rebuilt with two further storeys in 1876 for then-owner Henry Ayers . The South Australian Brewing Company acquired it in 1937. It was known from c. 1907–1952 as "McGraths British Hotel". Dockside Tavern is one of the few Late Victorian style buildings remaining in the Port. It was opened as the Britannia Hotel in 1850 then

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2200-446: Is the main port for the city of Adelaide. Port Adelaide played an important role in the formative decades of Adelaide and South Australia , with the port being early Adelaide's main supply and information link to the rest of the world. Its Kaurna name, although not officially adopted as a dual name , is Yertabulti . Prior to European settlement Port Adelaide was covered with mangrove swamps and tidal mud flats, and lay next to

2300-518: Is to found a Colony, under Royal Charter , and without convict labour, at or near Spencer Gulf , on the south coast of Australia, a tract of country far removed from the existing Penal Settlements... ...The South Australian Association consists of three classes of members, First, Persons who propose to settle in the Colony. Secondly, Persons willing to aid the Association without taking a responsible part in

2400-639: The Australian Labor Party and the union movement. Both former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and local Member of Parliament Mick Young used to talk to workers at the pub. Mick Young owned the pub from 1988 to 1990 and as of 2002 it was owned by the Labor Party. From 1838 to 1906, sixty differently named hotels had been run on 38 different sites within Port Adelaide. A local opinion poll was held in Port Adelaide and other Adelaide districts in February 1906, on

2500-532: The Buffalo on 28 December. The foundation of South Australia is usually considered to be Governor Hindmarsh's Proclamation of South Australia at Glenelg on 28 December 1836. Colonel Light was given two months to locate the most advantageous location for the main colony. He was required to find a site with a harbour , arable land , fresh water , ready internal and external communications , building materials and drainage . Light rejected potential locations for

2600-502: The City of Adelaide Municipal Corporation was the first municipal authority in Australia. At its time of establishment, Adelaide's (and Australia's) first mayor, James Hurtle Fisher , was elected. However, the new corporation suffered financial woes, after several of its actions were unauthorised or reversed by the British government, leading to considerable debt and, so it wound up as insolvent in 1843. The office of Colonial Architect

2700-647: The Colonial Office . Administrative power was divided between a Governor , John Hindmarsh , who represented the Crown , and the Resident Commissioner, who reported to the Colonisation Commissioners and who was responsible for the survey and sale of land as well as for organising migration and funding. The first Resident Commissioner was James Hurtle Fisher . The Commissioner of Public Lands

2800-470: The Outer Harbor took place at the beginning of the 20th century, accommodating larger ships and reducing the time needed to sail up the Port River to the inner harbour. In the 1920s and 1930s the first wharf was removed or disappeared and the Port Adelaide wharves underwent a significant reconstruction programme, changing the face of the inner harbour's waterfront. The introduction of containerisation in

2900-604: The South Australia Act 1842 repealed the earlier Act, made South Australia a Crown colony , provided for the formation of an appointed Legislative Assembly and passed greater powers to the Governor of South Australia (then Sir George Grey ). There were moves towards representative self-government in the mid-nineteenth century, and South Australia became a self-governing colony in October 1856. The French Nicolas Baudin and

3000-633: The South Australian Association was established and began to lobby the government for the establishment of a colony in South Australia, with Crown-appointed governance. Robert Gouger started setting up the South Australian Association from November 1833. Between that time and August 1834, he corresponded with George Grote , Sir Edward Smith-Stanley, Earl of Derby , William Wolryche-Whitmore , Joseph Hume , Liberal MP Sir William Clay , and Charles Shaw-Lefevre . The aim of

3100-407: The "Newport Quays" consortium was the government's preferred bidder for a $ 1.2 billion project to cover 51 hectares (130 acres) of under used land. The development was unveiled in 2003 and land sales began two years later. This development was stated to be worth $ 1.5 billion and would comprise 2000 homes, construction of which would create 4000 jobs. In 2004 Premier Mike Rann announced that

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3200-438: The 1960s had a major impact on the Port, changing cargo handling methods and significantly reducing the size of the local workforce. Compounding the effect of a declining workforce on business activity, competition for shoppers arrived in the form of regional shopping centres. Up until the 1960s the Port had been second only to Adelaide as a shopping and commercial precinct. The opening of shopping centres in nearby suburbs led to

3300-565: The Act, to control sales of land and the administration of revenue: thirteen Commissioners were based in London (at 6 Adelphi Terrace in 1840 ), with a Resident Commissioner appointed by the board and stationed in the colony. Those first appointed, on 5 May 1835, were Colonel Robert Torrens (Chairman), Rowland Hill (Secretary), G. Barnes (Treasurer), George Fife Angas , Edward Barnard, William Hutt , J. G. Shaw-Lefevre , William Alexander Mackinnon M.P. , Samuel Mills, Jacob Barrow Montefiore , Lt Col George Palmer , and John Wright, representing

3400-789: The Black Diamond Hotel c. 1878. This last name came from the Black Diamond Line shipping company. From 1866 to 1883 Cannon brand beer was brewed in the hotel. The building was converted to retail shops in 1884 and the Central Hotel erected on the south side. Port Dock Brewery hotel won business awards as best hotel and restaurant in 2001. It was built in 1855 and opened as the Dock Hotel. The current building structure results from an 1883 rebuild, with stone from Dry Creek near Yatala Labour Prison . The Hotel lost its licence in 1909, after

3500-660: The Black Diamond Hotel—is the main intersection of Port Adelaide, at the north end of Commercial Road. The hotel was designed by Adelaide architect William Wier. It opened as the White Horse Cellars Inn in 1851, with an integral 600 seat theatre. Parts of the building were used for an early freemason hall, library and the Port Adelaide Institute. It was renamed as the Family Hotel in 1876, then as

3600-596: The British Matthew Flinders had both made exploratory voyages along the central southern coastline. On 8 April 1802, the vessels of the two explorers met off South Australia, at what is now called Encounter Bay . They each gave names to various places around Kangaroo Island and the two gulfs: Gulf St Vincent and Spencer Gulf . The British Government, not wanting to be pre-empted by the French, sent out expeditions to Port Phillip and northern Tasmania , and set up

3700-504: The British government for years, taking part in numerous negotiations and submitting plans that underwent many modifications. Finally, after intervention by the Duke of Wellington , the bill drafted by the Association and presented by Wolryche-Whitmore was presented to Parliament , which passed the South Australia (Foundation) Act on 15 August 1834. The Act provided for the settlement as

3800-603: The City of Adelaide. The canal was not built; it would have required a massive investment that was not available at the time. A plan of a proposed "Grand Junction Canal" between Adelaide and the North Arm, by engineer Edward Snell was produced in 1851, with an exhibition of his "A Bird's Eye View of the Country Between Adelaide and the North Arm", showing the proposed canal. By early 1838, large vessels could only get as far as

3900-670: The Government, and after legal proceedings and reference to arbitration the latter agreed to take over the plant and material and finish the work. Prior to first visiting Australia, Wells was an active Freemason , and laid was one of those whose efforts culminated in the Grand Lodge of South Australia , the Mother Grand Lodge of Australasia. He was in consequence given a grand reception by the Lodges and Chapters when he returned to Adelaide for

4000-456: The Governor from ship owners—of a lack of a fresh water supply. At first the river was not used for larger ships. They had to land at Holdfast Bay until the port was charted. This early port was plagued by mosquitoes , was a comparative long distance from Adelaide, had few amenities and had a risk of inundation when the tide was very high. By 1840 it had acquired the name "Port Misery"; the name

4100-562: The Jewish community at the time the east side of Todd Street became known colloquially as "Jerusalem" or "Little Jerusalem". Beginning in the 1880s a strong Scandinavian community lived in Port Adelaide largely due to their affiliation with sea-faring trades. In 1883 the Port Adelaide Caledonian Society was founded and continues to this day. In the 1880s during Christmas Chinese lanterns were hung around Port Adelaide. During

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4200-594: The Navy's $ 8 billion Air Warfare Destroyer program and other naval construction projects. Techport features the largest ship lift in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2015–16 Quest Hotel Consortium built a $ 25 million apartment building on the corner of McLaren Wharf and the Birkenhead Bridge. In 2016 it was announced that Starfish Developments and Cedar Woods had won tenders to develop 23ha of vacant waterfront land in

4300-692: The Peninsula after $ 9.2 million in investments for the Taperoo sports complex. In 2021 the Newmarket Hotel in Port Adelaide was purchased for $ 4 million. Port Adelaide is known for its well preserved 19th-century pubs and hotels, reflecting the area's maritime history in catering to the sailors of trading ships. During the rest of the 1800s harbour facilities expanded and the town grew. It gained an impressive range of commercial and institutional buildings. Many have survived, resulting in Port Adelaide having one of

4400-548: The Port Adelaide Canal. The port's initial location was intended to be temporary. The location for a proper port was chosen by Governor George Gawler , between the original settlement and the Governor's preferred location at the junction of the North Arm and the Port River. One reason for the chosen site was Gawler's instructions on leaving England to limit expenditure; the North Arm site would have required more transport infrastructure and reclamation work. Gawler awarded

4500-559: The Province of South Australia, for the sale of lands, for funding of the venture, and for governance. The South Australia Act 1834 set out the governance of the new colony by a new body known as the South Australian Colonization Commission , also known as the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia (and variant spellings ), which would be based in London. However, the Act gave control of

4600-800: The Province of South Australia. The first migrant ship, the John Pirie , set sail for the colony three days later. An amendment to the 1834 Act (the South Australia Government Act 1838 ( 1 & 2 Vict. c. 60), passed 31 July 1838) incorporated the changes. Under the emigration scheme, "worthy" labourers and their families received free passage. They had to be between 15 and 30 years of age, preferably married, and needed two references. Steerage passengers paid £15-20, middle berth £35-40, and cabin class £70. Children under 14 years were charged £3 while those under 1 year were free. Montefiore and Lt-Col Palmer helped Colonel Light to prepare two of

4700-543: The South Australia Company arrived at Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island : the Duke of York on 27 July, Lady Mary Pelham on 30 July, John Pirie on 16 August and Emma on 5 October. More ships left in the coming months, making a total of at least nine, which for convenience can be regarded as the First Fleet of South Australia . Apart from the last one, HMS Buffalo , all went to Nepean Bay first. A settlement

4800-640: The South Australian Company imported pure merinos from the German region of Saxony , and cows and goats were also shipped over. Sheep and other livestock were brought in from Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The wool industry was the basis of South Australia's economy for the first few years, with the first wool auction held in Adelaide in 1840. The settlers were mostly British, but some German settlers , mainly " Old Lutherans ", also emigrated in

4900-405: The South Australian Government. This project, if approved, would allow the berthing of ships of deeper draught than possible in Port Adelaide, despite extensive (and expensive) dredging . The scheme was well received by the Adelaide newspapers, but unsurprisingly opposed by vested interests at Port Adelaide, and was rejected by a select committee of the Legislative Council. It would have meant giving

5000-486: The Wakefield Scheme was that the land price should be set high enough to prevent land speculation . In 1831 a "Proposal to His Majesty's Government for founding a colony on the Southern Coast of Australia" was prepared under the auspices of Gouger, Anthony Bacon , Jeremy Bentham and Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey , but its ideas were considered too radical, and it was unable to attract the required investment. After his first proposal failed, Wakefield published his "Plan of

5100-410: The ambitious John Hindmarsh had got wind of the forthcoming appointment, and set out first to see Napier, then woo some powerful supporters in London, including the Lords of the Admiralty before approaching the Colonial Secretary (Gouger). Light was appointed Surveyor-General on 14 December 1835, and on 21 January 1836 Captain Hindmarsh was appointed the first Governor of South Australia . Hindmarsh

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5200-414: The area in late 1836 while deciding on a site for the colony of South Australia's port. After initial trepidation, he reported to the Colonisation Commissioners that the location was a suitable harbour. By this time it had acquired the name "the port creek". Light's choice of separating the port and Adelaide was strongly opposed by a few merchants, a newspaper and Governor John Hindmarsh . This opposition

5300-488: The association was to bring to fruition the idea of "systematic colonisation", as proposed by Edward Gibbon Wakefield , in the creation of a new colony in South Australia by the British government. The proposal was for a colony that belonged to the Crown but with its administration run by trustees. The aim of the Association and details of the planned administration of the proposed colony were published on 11 January 1834 in The Spectator : The object of this Association

5400-466: The best concentrations of colonial buildings in South Australia. Their significance was recognised in May 1982, when a sizeable part of the town centre was declared a State Heritage Area. Prominent South Australian architect F. Kenneth Milne designed a woolstore for Goldsbrough Mort & Co sometime before 1929. The Port Adelaide Enfield Council Offices building, designed by Christopher Arthur Smith and built as Port Adelaide Town Hall in 1939,

5500-473: The colonies. Gouger, an enthusiastic supporter, edited the letters and published them as a book, helping to distribute Wakefield's document. Wakefield saw the colonies as "extensions of an old society"; all classes would be represented among the settlers. In addition, the colonies would be more or less self-governing. His ideas were not original, but Wakefield was the one who synthesised a number of theories into one plan of systematic colonisation, and who spread

5600-413: The colony's first town supply from a powerhouse in Nile Street. By 1876 it was estimated that there were 5,000 living in 500 houses. More measured figures were 3,013 residents recorded in the 1881 census and 5005—living in approximately 1000 houses—recorded in the 1891 census. By 1911 the port was the State's second largest city and had a population over half that of Adelaide city. Due to the presence of

5700-409: The consortium monopoly rights to the facilities provided, a not dissimilar situation to the modern provision of toll roads . A later, Government funded, scheme was promoted by Rowland Rees , MHA . Wells acted as agent in South Australia for the English marine engineering firm of Wells Brothers, of which his brother George Wells was a principal. George was a licensee of Mitchell 's screw pile patent,

5800-423: The corner of Dale street is a building that was opened by the Port Adelaide Market Company in 1879, divided into shops, offices and stalls. Part of the building was later adapted to make a 17-room hotel, the Newmarket. Colac Hotel, on Ocean Steamer's Road, opened in 1881. It was built opposite the then No. 1 Dock, alongside the 1879 extension to the South Australian Company basin. The hotel has had strong ties to both

5900-533: The decline of the sealing industry, the island's population had dwindled significantly by 1836. Several farms were established at Three Well Rivers , with poultry and pigs being reared and barley, wheat and vegetables under cultivation. Many residents lived with Aboriginal women – either from mainland South Australia or Aboriginal Tasmanians from the sealing colonies on Bass Strait – who were often violently abducted from their homelands and made to work as slaves. Influenced by prison reformer Elizabeth Fry serving

6000-458: The early years. The first large group of Germans arrived in 1838, with the financial assistance of the Emigration Fund. Most moved out of Adelaide and to the Barossa Valley and settlements in the Adelaide Hills such as Hahndorf , living in socially closed communities, by 1842, and did not participate in government until responsible government was granted 15 years later in 1857. Established in 1840, with its first meeting held on 4 November 1840,

6100-400: The edge of Port Creek. The new port was used for shipping later that month, and passengers began disembarking the next. At this point the site was known as The Port Creek Settlement . When founded, the port's land was just higher than the surrounding tidal flats; at high tide the port could be rowed around. The port had a significant problem—reported in letters from Light and complaints to

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6200-475: The end of Gawler Reach (near the current Birkenhead Bridge ). Arrivals had to use smaller boats, traverse the mangrove swamps at low tide and climb sandhills to reach the road to Adelaide. A canal for the loading of sailing ships was constructed in 1838, and town acreages nearby surveyed and sold. By the years end deficiencies of the canal were clear. The canal was dry for most of the day and cargo movement very slow. Seagoing ships had to stop some distance from

6300-426: The first free settlement, the Swan River Colony , in 1829. Historian Geoffrey Dutton suggests three clear phases in the foundation of the colony: first, the practical men, with their discoveries, second, the theorists, in particular Wakefield and Gouger, who had not seen Australia, and, lastly, the settlers, who had to marry fact with ideals. Prior to the establishment of a formal British colony, Kangaroo Island

6400-402: The government on 19 February 1836, and with its adoption along with an Order-in-Council on 23 February 1836 the foundation of the South Australian province was achieved. The main changes in the Letters Patent were to amend the wording in the 1834 document which referred to the land as "unoccupied", and to recognise the rights of the "Aboriginal Natives" to live unhindered within the lands of

6500-441: The ideas among the British public and urged the Colonial Office to push forward with such a plan. After his release from prison in 1830, he funded the National Colonization Society , with Gouger as secretary and a large number of enthusiastic members. Wakefield's ideas caused much debate in Parliament . After Charles Sturt discovered the River Murray in 1830, more interest in Wakefield's scheme followed. One key component of

6600-416: The inner Port Adelaide harbour with total investment exceeding $ 1 billion. The development was later renamed Fletcher's Slip after a nearby historic landmark. In 2016 the Federal Government announced that DCNS had won the tender to build 12 submarines for the Royal Australian Navy in a $ 50 billion deal, with construction taking place in Port Adelaide. In 2016 the South Australian State Government indicated it

6700-441: The land grant for all the land south of St Vincent Street, reaching to Tam O'Shanter Creek (later the Port Canal), comprising 134 acres and known as Section 2112. Much of this land was a tidal mangrove swamp, being reclaimed by successive owners over many decades. During reclamation work, the ground level was raised by approximately 9 feet (3 m), with mud and silt from dredging work. Early houses had their ground floors below

6800-418: The land. Land could be bought at a uniform price per acre, but it would go to auction in the case of more than one potential buyer. Leases of up to three years could be granted "for pasturage" on unsold lands. All proceeds were to go to the Emigration Fund, set up to help poorer people to migrate to the colony. These regulations were of great significance; the success of the Wakefield scheme to populate and fund

6900-426: The new Province hinged on land development, so land law and regulations governing it were fundamental. Sales of land had proved difficult; buyers did not rush to buy an acre of wild land for 20 shillings . It was left to the South Australian Company (formed on 15 October 1835, after talented businessman George Fife Angas resigned as Commissioner ) to purchase the remaining portion of the £35,000 worth of land that

7000-461: The new colony to the Colonial Office as well as the Commissioners, which led to tension between the two and caused problems later. The Act provided that three or more persons could be appointed as Commissioners to be known as Colonization Commissioners for South Australia, to carry out certain parts of the Act. The Commissioners formed a Board, which had responsibilities for: The British government appointed Commissioners to oversee implementation of

7100-733: The new main settlement, including Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln and Encounter Bay . Light decided that the Adelaide plains were the best location for settlement. The River Torrens was discovered to the south and Light and his team set about determining the city's precise location and layout. The survey was completed on 11 March 1837. Light's poorly paid and ill-equipped surveying team were expected to begin another massive task of surveying at least 405 square kilometres (156 sq mi) of rural land. Light, despite slowly succumbing to tuberculosis , managed to survey 605.7 square kilometres (233.9 sq mi) (or 150,000 acres (61,000 ha)) by June 1838. The settlement grew steadily. In 1836

7200-460: The north and west, and by Webb Street and Grand Junction Road to the south. The main strip of Port Adelaide is along St Vincent Street, with a residential area to the south of the train station along Commercial Road and Webb Street. Recent residential development has occurred along the waterfront promenade. Port Adelaide is a tidal port, with several shipping berths along the length of the estuary. Port Adelaide has many parks. The most recent

7300-426: The now $ 2 billion development were under construction, or nearing completion, and the third's plans submitted; The plans included provision for a 100-berth marina and one building built over the water. By 2008 reports showed the resale value of some properties in the developments were under the initial cost. The local council estimated that less than half of finished properties were occupied. In October 2009 it

7400-503: The now raised ground level; some had steps built down from road level. The Port Admiral Hotel's original ground floor now forms part of its basement. The last major reclamation was of the Glanville Reserve in 1892. By the mid-1840s, with increasing trade, the wharves proved insufficient and some more private wharves were constructed. During the late 1850s the state of the dry and dusty plain, between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, led to

7500-421: The old port to the new included over 1,000 people; then the largest assembly of colonists to date. The procession included 600 horsemen and 450 vehicles, almost all of the colony's wheeled transportation. At the opening a parcel was ceremonially landed from the barque Guiana . Upon opening, the port could accommodate vessels up to 530 long tons (539 t). In May 1841 John Hill became the original holder of

7600-510: The one year job ended up taking three, and resulted in the bankruptcy of the contractor W. F. King. But the work was eventually completed and the Cape Jaffa lighthouse went into operation in 1872. He later controlled the erection of the Tiparra Reef lighthouses, a jetty on the Cape Jaffa reef, and jetties at Kingston SE and Rivoli Bay . Disputes arose between the firm of Wells Brothers and

7700-519: The pejorative terms "Dustholia" and "Mudholia" in summer and winter. In 1874 the Port Adelaide Institute began construction of its new headquarters which opened to much fanfare two years later providing the organisation a place to house a library and provide a reading room, museum, lecture hall and classrooms for the area. Gas street lighting was erected by the local council in 1881. The town received its first electric lighting in January 1889, lit with

7800-435: The proceedings. Thirdly, Persons who may take an active part in the preliminary proceedings of the Association, and may become, under the proposed Charter, Trustees for carrying its provisions into effect. The members of the South Australian Association were men of varied backgrounds, from philanthropists to merchants, including Wakefield, Robert Gouger, Robert Torrens Sr and George Fife Angas . The association organised

7900-416: The rest of the 1800s harbour facilities expanded and the town grew. It gained an impressive range of commercial and institutional buildings. Many have survived, resulting in Port Adelaide having one of the best concentrations of colonial buildings in South Australia. Their significance was recognised in May 1982, when a sizeable part of the town centre was declared a State Heritage Area. The construction of

8000-422: The settlement due to the mudbanks. Cargo and passengers covered the remaining distance in ships' boats. All had to traverse 2–300 m of swamps after landing to reach sandhills, and eventually the road to Adelaide. The new port's first maritime casualty was the migrant ship Tam O'Shanter that ran aground on the outer sand bar. Later a small waterway in the port was named after the ship; the waterway later became

8100-551: The ships later sailing north soon afterwards to anchor in Holdfast Bay on the advice of Surveyor-General , Colonel William Light . The foundation of South Australia is usually considered to be the proclamation of the new Province by Governor Hindmarsh at Glenelg on 28 December 1836. However, after the government under the Colonisation Commission set up by the 1834 Act failed to achieve financial self-sufficiency,

8200-407: The ships, Rapid and Cygnet . They proposed a new code for emigrant ships carrying more than 100 passengers, which meant having a minimum deck height and including a medical practitioner on board. These reforms reduced mortality and were later adopted by all British emigrant ships. Four ships chartered by the South Australia Company set sail for South Australia in early 1836: All four ships of

8300-550: The site of the Brunswick Pier Hotel. In January 2020 the first instance of a house to selling for $ 1 million in the suburb of Port Adelaide was recorded. In 2020, the first residents moved in to new townhomes constructed as part of Starfish's Dock One development. Once completed, Dock One will comprise approximately 650 new homes. In 2020 the Port Adelaide Pirates Soccer Club moved to their new home on

8400-624: The subject of liquor licensing. Port Adelaide voters supported the Temperance Party's platform, reducing the number of licences by a third. Fifteen hotels and three wine licences expired on 25 March 1909 and were not renewed. The Port River, known officially as the Port Adelaide river, is home to a resident population of bottlenose dolphins . The Port River's inner harbor near West Lakes and seaward from Lipson Reach feature dense stands of Grey mangroves which provide habitat for hundreds of species of marine, avian and insect life. The Port River

8500-543: The then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield , to 1842, when the South Australia Act 1842 changed the form of government to a Crown colony . Ideas espoused and promulgated by Wakefield since 1829 led to the formation of the South Australian Land Company in 1831, but this first attempt failed to achieve its goals, and the company folded. The South Australian Association was formed in 1833 by Wakefield, Robert Gouger and other supporters, which put forward

8600-527: The transport of immigrants, and for the governance of the new colony to be administered by the SALC. The company anticipated that the centre of government would be on Kangaroo Island or at Port Lincoln on the western side of Spencer Gulf , based on reports from Matthew Flinders . However, the scheme, which included free trade, self-government and the power to select the Governor, was not approved as these ideas were considered too radical and republican. In 1833

8700-593: Was heritage-listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 24 July 1980. The earliest recorded was the Port Hotel. It opened in 1838, two years before the port was officially declared. Three years later the First Commercial Inn opened. It has the longest licensing history in the suburb, though discontinuous. It did not trade for 12 years following a fire in 1857. The British hotel

8800-644: Was appointed to act under the orders of the Commissioners. All monies were to be submitted to the Lord of His Majesty's Treasury , and be audited in the same manner as other public accounts. A report was required to be submitted to the Secretary of State at least once a year. Robert Gouger was Colonial Secretary to the Commission, John Hindmarsh was appointed Governor and William Light Surveyor-General. The Commission

8900-474: Was explored by Europeans when Captain Henry Jones entered in 1834. The creek's main channel was then fed by numerous smaller creeks, and was 2–4 fathoms (4–7 m) deep. The navigable channel was narrow and the creek soon faded into swamps and sandhills. At low tide the channel was surrounded by mudbanks. Dry and solid land ended near present-day Alberton . Colonel William Light began closely exploring

9000-409: Was finished in 1840 and named after David McLaren , company manager of the South Australian Company. McLaren Wharf was 336 feet (102 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) deep at low tide. Contrary to usual practice, it was allowed to be built at the low water mark, which made construction simpler. The wharf, warehouse and road were opened by Governor Gawler in October 1840. The opening procession from

9100-546: Was inhabited by sealers more or less continuously from 1803, when American sealing captain Isaac Pendleton established an outpost at what was named American River . The island soon became a target for sealers based in the British colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land . In 1826, The Australian estimated that Kangaroo Island had a population of around 200 people, who in addition to sealing also traded in salt and wallaby and kangaroo skins. However, following

9200-465: Was largely based on the distance between them. The division of power in the colony meant that the final decision was Light's alone. He kept Adelaide and the port separate principally due to the lack of fresh water at the port. The effective foundation day of Port Adelaide was 6 January 1837. On this day the first harbourmaster , Captain Thomas Lipson (Royal Navy), took up residence with his family on

9300-461: Was married to Caroline (7 July 1831 – 7 July 1901)(1 July 1899?). He was survived by one daughter and seven sons, including: Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide , approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of the Adelaide CBD . It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and

9400-534: Was named, by the National Trust of Australia , as one of the country's most at risk heritage sites. A lack of people living in, and travelling to, Port Adelaide is seen as the major cause of this decline. In February 2010 Premier Mike Rann opened the $ 400 million Techport naval construction hub at Osborne (next to the Australian Submarine Corporation 's facility) to underpin the development of

9500-530: Was rebuilt on site in 1898, in contemporary style. It was renamed as the Dockside Tavern in 2002. The Golden Port Tavern is on the corner of Vincent and Robe Streets. On this site the Carpenters' Arms Tavern opened in late 1850. The Arms burned down in 1865 and was replaced with the current hotel, then known as The Globe. The hotel's name was changed to the current one in 1981. Black Diamond Square—named after

9600-423: Was required for settlement to proceed. The South Australian Company acted as a "third power" in the control of the colony and the one which saved it. The South Australia Act was finally ratified on 19 February 1836 and the first appointments made. The appointment of Governor of South Australia , as the most well-paid position and the most important one, proved complex. Sir Charles Napier (who had written

9700-504: Was responsible for land sales and for land surveying , including choosing the site for the capital city. However, the Act did not clarify the powers of the Commission vis-à-vis the Governor, which led to discord for some years. The South Australian Commission Land Sale Regulations 1835 , authored by the Colonization Commission in 1835, stipulated that surveys were to be undertaken and maps to be made available prior to sale of

9800-637: Was rewarded handsomely, while the salaries for the other men were small. Hindmarsh reported to the Colonial Office, while James Hurtle Fisher , Resident Commissioner, was paid far less, despite having practical control of the colony. Not only did Fisher head up the board of Commissioners, but the Treasurer, Emigration Agent, the Surveyor-General and the storekeeper were responsible to him. Hindmarsh and Fisher quarrelled frequently and could not work together harmoniously, so in 1838 both were recalled to London and

9900-636: Was started at Kingscote , at Reeves Point on Kangaroo Island (now a heritage-listed site, as the earliest formal European settlement in South Australia), on 27 July 1836, but this was soon abandoned in favour of a settlement on the mainland. Some of the original ships sailed on to Holdfast Bay in November and December, with Gouger, now Colonial Secretary and Chief Magistrate, arriving on the Africaine on 8 November 1836. The settlers set up camp, to be joined by

10000-448: Was widely used in news reports. It was first coined in a book credited to T. Horton James, probably a pseudonym, and comes from a line stating: This is Port Adelaide! Port Misery would be a better name; for nothing in any other part of the world can surpass it in every thing that is wretched and inconvenient. The original drawings of Adelaide City Plan by Light show that he envisaged a canal (sea communication) between Port Adelaide and

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