Atlas Page 77
By Henry T. Burgess

Two names are conspicuous above all others in the history of the early settlement. They are those of Edward Gibbon Wakefield and George Fife Angas. To the former belongs the honour of devising a new method for successful colonisation, and to the latter that of being chiefly instrumental in bringing it to the test of actual experiment.

Mr. Wakefield was a political economist, and a reformer in the best sense of the term, and Mr. Angas a colonist of exactly the right stamp. The one developed principles that were sound as well as original, and the other laboured with sagacity and resoluteness to give them practical effect. It would be difficult to say which of them rendered the greatest service; they laboured in different departments, and there was no rivalry between them.

The colonisation of South Australia was undertaken on altogether novel principles. It was mooted in England at a period when emigration projects were popular, for times were bad. The failure of some attempts, and notably that at Swan River in Western Australia, led acute observers to see that the land-grant system was fatal to prosperity, and among those who suggested better methods Mr. Wakefield took a foremost place. The essential principle of his scheme was that land should be exchanged for labour instead of being given away or alienated for a merely nominal sum. The idea of founding a colony somewhere in southern Australia altogether independent of previous settlements found powerful advocates, and after some years of agitation in public meetings and otherwise ail Act was passed by the Imperial Parliament of 1834 in which it was embodied. Under that Act commissioners were appointed and empowered to undertake the enterprise. It was stipulated that no part of the expense incurred should fall upon the Home Government. The commissioners were authorised to borrow fifty thousand pounds to defray the cost of emigration, and a further sum of two hundred thousand pounds for the general charges of founding the colony. By way of securing a sort of guarantee, they were restrained from exercising their general powers until the sum of twenty thousand pounds had been invested in exchequer bills in the names of trustees, and thirty-five thousand acres of land were sold. It may be mentioned here that one clause in the Act expressly prohibited the transportation of convicts to the colony, and that another provided for the appointment of officers, chaplains, and clergymen, but this was omitted in the amending Act subsequently passed. Thus the three fundamental principles on which the colony was founded were self-support, anti-transportation, and the voluntary principle as applied to religion. In the main, they have been steadily adhered to, any infringement of them being only temporary, and always both stoutly and successfully resisted. Experience has demonstrated their practical value, and they are, now adopted by all the Australian colonies, but at that time they were untried, and therefore were subject to no little criticism and opposition. All the more honour is due on that account to the earnest men who stood by them through thick and thin, in evil report as well as good.

Though the South Australian Association that had been formed to carry out the project had succeeded thus far, the initial difficulties were not over, and indeed they proved so great that the first board of commissioners resigned before any progress in actual settlement was made. The chief obstacle was the necessity of selling sufficient land to comply with the requirements of the statute. At this juncture, when the fate of the scheme appeared to be hanging in the balance, Mr. Angas, who had all along been interested in it, was induced to take a still more active and responsible part. Land orders had been issued entitling each holder to an acre of town land and an eighty acre section in the country for eighty-one pounds, but two months after the commencement of the sales not half the number had been disposed of. Mr. Angas proposed that the price should be reduced to twelve shillings per acre, and after some negotiations this suggestion was adopted in the modified form that the preliminary sections should consist of one hundred and thirty-four instead of eighty acres, with the provision that when the first governor arrived in the colony the original arrangement should be reverted to. This being settled Mr. Angas succeeded in forming the South Australian Company, of which he became chairman, and resigned his seat on the board of commissioners, justly regarding the two positions as incompatible. The company took up a sufficient number of land orders at the reduced rate to fulfil the stipulations of the Act, all other purchasers being placed on the same more advantageous terms, and thus the enterprise was fairly launched. Mr. Angas’ energy and fertility of resource had proved successful. From that time, he took still greater interest in the scheme, emigrated to South Australia some years afterwards, and to the time of his death was one of its most active, honoured, and successful colonists. Early in 1836 the despatch of emigrants began, and on July 29th of that year the "Duke of York," which was the first vessel to arrive, cast anchor in Nepean Bay. A touch of romance accompanied the landing. The honour of being the first person to set foot on shore had been coveted and discussed on board, and the captain had chivalrously resolved to give it to the youngest member of the party —the infant daughter of Mr. Beare, the second officer of the company. Accordingly " Baby Beare " was carried through the surf by a stalwart sailor named Robert Russell, who placed her feet on the wet sand amid the cheers of the passengers and crew.

Other vessels arrived in tolerably quick succession at the same rendezvous. Kangaroo Island was at that time much better known, and more favorably reported upon than the mainland. The general expectation was that the settlement would be made there, and steps were taken accordingly by the company’s agents, so that Kingscote is chronologically the premier town of South Australia. Its early abandonment resulted from the speedy discovery of more suitable localities elsewhere.

When Colonel Light arrived in the month of August with a staff of surveyors, he entered on a careful examination of the Country west of the Gulf of St. Vincent. Proceeding north from Rapid Bay, he found the inlet discovered by Captain Jones to be the only secure harbour on the coast, and was favourably impressed by his view of the plains at the foot of Mount Lofty. A visit to Encounter Bay convinced him that the capabilities of that region were inferior, and a similar result followed hi 3 inspection of Port Lincoln, for though the harbour and scenery there were magnificent, the country was too poor for profitable occupation. As the result of these observations, which experience has confirmed in every respect, Holdfast Bay was selected for the place of final disembarkation, and there, by December, 1836, most of the arrivals up to that time were congregated.

The governorship of the colony was offered in the first instance to Major-General Sir C. Napier, who, however, stipulated that he was to be furnished with troops, and empowered to draw on the Home Government in case of need. What visions of conquest he indulged in it is hard to conjecture, but it is almost needless to say that his demands could not be complied with. Thereupon, Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., a bluff, warm-hearted, typical British seaman, was appointed. After calling at Port Lincoln, he arrived at Holdfast Bay on December 28th, 1836. At three o’clock that afternoon, under the shade of a gum-tree a short distance from the beach, the proclamation was read, and the colony formally inaugurated. The ceremony was rendered as imposing as the circumstances would admit. Nearly all the settlers then on shore, numbering about two hundred, were present. The governor’s secretary read the proclamation, the Union jack was hoisted, and saluted by the guns of the "Buffalo" which lay in the offing; two of those guns now adorn the esplanade of Glenelg. A party of marines from the vessel fired a feu-de-joie, and there were rounds upon rounds of cheers. A cold collation had been spread under the trees, the usual patriotic toasts were duly honoured, the National Anthem, "Rule Britannia," and other national songs were sung with true colonial fervour, and the festivities were prolonged till a late hour of the night. Twenty-one years afterwards, the majority of the colony was celebrated at the same place with unbounded enthusiasm, but amid drenching torrents of rain. On that occasion, Governor MacDonnell affixed a tablet to the historic tree recording the earlier event. The tree has now fallen into decay, but on jubilee Day, December 28th, 1886, a small company assembled there, including some of the pioneers, and planted other trees, so that after the original has perished some sylvan memorial of the scene it witnessed might remain. Doubts have been cast on the authenticity of the claims it is supposed to have, but if it did not actually overshadow Governor Hindmarsh when the proclamation was made, it stood so near that the point is of little consequence.

The final toast proposed by His Excellency at the al fresco lunch just referred to was —"May the present unanimity continue as long as South Australia exists." He moved about among the colonists exchanging pleasant greetings and by his kindliness and affability won golden opinions on all sides. Unfortunately, the unanimity vanished almost immediately, and with it good feeling and cordial co-operation. For a long time afterwards in the history of the colony there were constant disagreements producing irritation all round, and retarding progress in every way. At first the colonists were comparatively idle —waiting to be put in possession of their lands, and idleness wrought its proverbial results. Among the officials there was divided authority and responsibility, which worked further mischief. The govern the resident commissioners, and the surveyor-general had each large and independent powers, and in exercising them there as mutual interference producing dissension and collision that was most injurious to the prospects of the colony.

Considering all things, the course of events is not very surprising, for it was an extremely trying situation. His Excellency entered the navy at seven years of age and rose to the rank of rear-admiral. He had an extraordinary, record, having been in nearly a hundred naval engagements including seven great actions, amongst which were those of the "glorious first of June, the Nile, and Trafalgar. He wore more distinctions at the close of his life than any other officer in the British Navy save one. Such a career was not at all the best preparation for a position like that occupied by Captain Hindmarsh. He felt hampered and thwarted. Though nominally supreme, others had higher authority than he on matters about which he was most concerned. The upshot was that when, at the end of fourteen months, he was recalled, Lord Glenelg, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote that on his own showing he appeared " to be incapable of carrying on the government; with the exception of the judge and the harbourmaster, he was, more or less, at variance with all the official functionaries of the colony."

The chief subject of dispute was the site for the chief town of the settlement. Colonel Light, as surveyor-general, was invested wit full power for its selection. He examined all the places that ere suggested, and finally decided on the position which Adelaide occupies. From this decision he never wavered, though he was sorely tried and tormented. The governor, Sir J. Jeffcott —who was the first judge —and others, pressed for the capital to be at Encounter Bay, having regard to the capabilities of the river Murray. Port Lincoln had its advocates because of its splendid harbour. It was objected that the chosen site was too far from the sea for a commercial centre, but to meet that difficulty he consented to the survey of a secondary town called Port Adelaide, and the wisdom of this arrangement is now fully justified. This, the principal port of the colony, was surveyed at what was then called Port Misery on the inlet first seen by Captain Jones, and afterwards explored by Mr. Pullen (subsequently Admiral Pullen), who always took great interest in South Australia, and felt greatly aggrieved that his share in its early settlement was so persistently ignored.

To Colonel Light’s clearness of judgment in the first instance, and to the firmness and courage he displayed in standing by it against all opposition, the citizens of Adelaide owe eternal gratitude. There can be no doubt that the harassing anxiety to which he was subjected enfeebled his health and shortened his days. He died in 1839, and to the last retained his confidence in the splendid future that lay before the city he had planned. His great anxiety was to be known as its founder, and an inscription to that effect was placed in his coffin. He was interred in the public square that bears his name, and over his remains a handsome monument was erected from designs by Mr. Kingston, his associate and successor, who was afterwards knighted, and who had also the honour of being chosen Speaker of the first House of Assembly.

The worst immediate result of these disagreements was that great delay took place in the work of surveying, so that months elapsed before any selection of land could be made, and consequently nothing in the way of production was even attempted. For a considerable time the settlers camped almost anywhere. The habitations they erected were of the flimsiest materials. Government House was a reed hut, and most of the other dwellings were of a similar order of architecture. Such edifices were of course peculiarly liable to accidents, and when the old government hut was burned down in January, 1839, nearly the whole of the executive and legislative records up to that date were consumed, for by some fatuity they had been deposited within it. Life in those days was a sort of long picnic. The genial climate of South Australia made bivouacking in the open air a pleasant experience for the greater part of the year. Despite the squabbles of officials, the settlers for the most part lived in harmony with each other. They made light of their privations, and found a degree of pleasurable excitement in the shifts and contrivances to which they had to resort. They introduced the amusements of civilised life without much delay. Excursions up the "pretty little river" —as it was described at the time —on which they had encamped, and into the hills were organised. An archery club was started on August 15th 1837, and the first races were held on the following New Year’s Day. Nor were the means, of supplying deeper needs neglected. The Rev. C. B. Howard came out as colonial chaplain in the "Buffalo" with Governor Hindmarsh, and by his tact, energy, and Christian charity won for himself an excellent reputation that still endures. The Rev. T. Q. Stow, the first Congregational minister, was an early arrival. He wrought in apostolic fashion, helping to build the first church of his denomination with his own hands, and his name is perpetuated by one of the finest ecclesiastical structures of the city. Wesleyan lay preachers were among the earliest immigrants and they set to work with characteristic energy. Mr, White, now of Bathurst, who preached the first sermon, had the uncommon experience of conducting another service near the same locality more than fifty years afterwards. Members of the various sects wrought with mutual helpfulness, and worshiped in a truly Christian concord.

The colonists were, however, all the while drifting into difficulties. They busied themselves to some extent in providing better shelter for their families, and at the beginning of 1838 Adelaide contained fifty substantial and one hundred and fifty inferior houses. At the same time, they were dependent on other lands for the necessaries of life. There was neither cultivation nor trade worth speaking of. Food, of course, grew dearer. Flour was worth thirty pounds per ton, beef one shilling per pound, tea four shillings per pound, and at times these prices were greatly exceeded. Profiting by the opportunity, such artisans as were there charged exorbitant prices. The "only watchmaker" got seventeen shillings for cleaning a watch. The "Company" tried to carry on the whale-fishery, and for some years the only exports were whalebone and oil, but there was no external trace in either mineral, pastoral, or agricultural products.

After Captain Hindmarsh took his departure, the government was administered for several months by the attorney-general, Mr. G. M. Stephen. A slight improvement in the situation had already taken place, by what was called the overlanding of stock from New South Wales, and as time passed on this method of turning the country to account became more fully developed, and produced a beneficial change. The first drove consisted of about, three hundred head of cattle that were brought by Mr. Joseph Hawdon from the Goulburn. It was a bold enterprise, for nearly one thousand miles of unknown country had to be traversed. The drovers were veritable explorers, for though they had Mitchell’s tracks to guide them part of the way, and also Sturt’s report of the Murray valley, so little was known of the interior that they found themselves confronted by previously undiscovered rivers, and on the wrong side of some that were known. Their route lay chiefly down the right bank of the Murray till within sight of Mount Barker, which they left to the south, and then, after striking the Onkaparinga, misled by incorrect maps, followed its course nearly to the sea. They reached Adelaide in April, 1838, having performed the journey in ten weeks, and lost scarcely a head of the cattle, which arrived in splendid condition. No collision with natives had occurred, who indeed had been found useful in pointing out short-cuts across the river-bends. Other parties were less fortunate, but the practicability of the route had been proved, and by succeeding ventures the country became stocked with cattle, sheep, and horses. Both pastoral and agricultural operations were facilitated, and an impetus given to profitable industry and trade. Mr. Stephen was efficient as an administrator. He bore his honours meekly, but he became involved in litigation through some land transactions, and was not sorry when Lieu tenant-Colonel Gawler, K.H., relieved him of his responsibility on October 12th, 1838.

From the moment of Governor Gawler’s arrival, he gave the impression that he intended to go ahead. A cavalcade of horsemen went out to meet and welcome him on the road between the landing-place and the city, but he shot past it at a hand-gallop on a blood horse he had borrowed. This little incident illustrates in every minute particular his entire career. He was firm in the saddle, he cared little for anybody, he travelled fast, and he borrowed freely. To begin with, he was invested with greater authority than his predecessor, for he held the offices of lieutenant-governor and resident commissioner, and he soon showed that he meant to exercise his powers fully. A brief inspection revealed to him the existing evils, and he set to work energetically to provide remedies. What civil service there was had little order or organisation, for there were no suitable offices and no regular office hours. He announced that all orders would have to be obeyed on pain of suspension or prompt dismissal, and found his staff something more to do than quarrel. He reorganised the police force, and called for volunteers to form a sort of militia, but was rather discomfited to find at the first muster a company consisting of nine officers and six privates. There were about six thousand people in the colony when he arrived, almost all of whom were hanging about the city with very little to do. Perhaps emigration had been pushed on rather too rapidly, but the delays Captain Hindmarsh had thrown in the way of surveying country sections had operated disastrously. Unable to occupy the land, the owners of town allotments had taken to jobbing and gambling in them for want of something better to fill up their time. The governor checked this by pushing on the surveys, and insisting on the land-holders entering on their property within a limited period. For the landless and unemployed, he found work by commencing to build a substantial but not too pretentious Government House, public offices, court-house, hospital, barracks, and gaol. He personally took part in the work of exploration, and sent cut other parties so that intending settlers might know where to find good land, and he took care that the available supply should always be in advance of the demand.

This policy had the immediate effect of diminishing the quarrels between public officials, while the energies of the people were directed into profitable channels, for they were almost forced to stock and cultivate the land through being, practically driven out into the country; order, activity, and energy were infused into every department, and the foundations of future prosperity substantially laid. As a direct consequence, business flourished, confidence in the stability of the colony was increased, and progress made in social, educational, philanthropic, and religious movements. Among other tokens of the enterprising spirit that was abroad were the expansion of settlement, and the schemes adopted for penetrating the interior to the north and west. Pioneers established themselves in the Mount Lofty ranges as far east as Hahndorf and Mount Barker. An "Adelaide Association" was formed to take up land at Port Lincoln, but for reasons that are now perfectly intelligible met with but little success. Captain Sturt was in Adelaide, sanguine as to future probabilities, and Mr. E. J. Eyre was sent out on his memorable expeditions. The net results of Governor Gawler’s term of office, which was less than three years in duration, may be briefly summarised. The population was more than doubled; the land under cultivation increased from eighty-six acres to two thousand five hundred and three; the sheep depastured from twenty-eight thousand to more than two hundred thousand; and the export trade from almost nil to over one hundred thousand pounds in annual value. It is evident that the way to prosperity had been discovered and entered upon. Had the authorities in England judiciously sustained their representative, it would have led to success, but again the evil genius of divided councils intervened, bringing Colonel Gawler’s term to an abrupt and inglorious termination and involving the infant colony in severe though temporary disaster.

In order to carry out the programme he had begun, Colonel Gawler drew on the ‘South Australian Commissioners to the extent of one hundred and fifty-five thousand pounds, and this sum, added to the other items of indebtedness, made a total of two hundred and sixty-nine thousand pounds. The commissioners grew alarmed, and it is believed were influenced by exaggerated reports of the extravagant rate at which their executive officer was carrying on. Communications were slow, and hence explanations necessarily difficult. They seem to have thought delay was dangerous, and accordingly resolved on the extreme step of dishonouring the bills and recalling the governor. History has largely exonerated him, and shown that his superiors were somewhat unreasonable. They sent shipload after shipload of emigrants, for whom their representative had to provide in some way, and they ought to have supplied him with the necessary funds. He felt that he had no option, and believed he was acting within his powers. His faith in the ability of the province to meet its liabilities was well grounded, and had he been allowed to work out his plans to their final issue there would probably have been no trouble. The unexpected intelligence from England came like a thunderclap on the entire colony, and precipitated an acute crisis. It not only shook and well-nigh destroyed confidence within, but provoked adverse criticisms from without on its fundamental principles, which for a time were unhesitatingly pronounced to be a proved failure.

The manner in which Colonel Gawler was treated was an aggravation of the treatment itself. Some months previously a toil-worn and solitary stranger had arrived in Adelaide from Western Australia, where he had been engaged in exploration. He had been wounded by native spears, and was weary from excessive toll. While waiting for a vessel to take him to England, he was hospitably entertained at Government House, and informed of every particular in which a stranger and one connected with colonial affairs would be likely to take an interest. When he left he was bidden "God-speed" on his voyage; but on his return, without any previous intimation, he again proceeded to Government House, made his bow, informed the governor that some of his drafts had been repudiated, produced from his own pocket and handed him his recall, and showed him his own appointment as the future governor. Thus unceremoniously did Captain George Grey turn out Colonel George Gawler. There was of course tremendous excitement and wide-spread ruin. By discrediting the colony, everything it contained was depreciated, and the result was universal panic and a commercial crash.

Amid all this, the colonists stood by their late governor, and testified to their appreciation of his services by complimentary farewell addresses and a presentation of five hundred pounds, which he invested in land so as to maintain a connecting link with the colony and show his confidence in its future. It was an unfortunate riding to a promising career. As a soldier, he had seen active service at Badajoz, Vitoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo, besides many minor engagements. The Duke of Wellington —no mean judge of character —once said of him, "Gawler could not act otherwise than wisely, for he never did a foolish thing in his life." The policy which relegated him to obscurity plunged the colony into difficulties from which it did not recover for years. Its upshot was that the management of the commissioners came to an end. The public debt, including fifty-nine thousand pounds, which sum Captain Grey was authorised to draw, was provided for by a loan that was repaid by instalments. Thus the experimental stage of colonisation may be said to have terminated; and in stormy weather, after a gleam of sunshine, the work of founding the colony was completed.

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