Mitcham, South Australia Explained

Type:	suburb
Mitcham
City:	Adelaide
State:	sa
Lga:	City of Mitcham
Postcode:	5062
Stategov:	Waite
Fedgov:	Boothby

Mitcham, formerly known as Mitcham Village, is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham.

History

Created as a village separate from Adelaide known as "Mitcham Village", it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek belonging to the South Australia Company. Prior to British colonisation, the area was inhabited by the Kaurna, an Aboriginal people. A group of about 150 Kaurna formerly camped at "Wirraparinga", now Mitcham Reserve (known for many years as "Brown Hill Creek reserve").^[1] The reserve area occupies what was used as the village green.^[2]

In August 1909, the Church of England's Orphan Home for Girls, established by Julia Farr and Mrs W. S. Douglas^[3] in Carrington Street in Adelaide city centre in 1860,^[4] moved to Fullarton Road, Upper Mitcham.^[5]

Governance

The suburb is the seat of the Mitcham Council.

Mitcham is located in the federal electorate of Boothby and the state electorate of Waite, which have been considered safe Liberal seats. Both are currently held by the Australian Labor Party.

Notable residents

• Theodore Ambrose (1880–1947) medical practitioner^[6]
• Major Rupert Downes (1885–1945) surgeon and soldier^[7]
• Hedley Herbert Finlayson (1895–1991) conservationist and mammalogist^[8]
• John Harvey Finlayson (1843–1915) newspaper editor^[9]
• Laura Margaret Hope (1868–1952) medical practitioner^[10]
• Doris Egerton Jones (1889–1973) writer^[11]
• Ellen Thornber (1851–1947) schoolmistress
• Joseph Garnett Wood (1900–1959) botanist

Notes and References

1. Book: Chinner, Christine . Mitcham village sketchbook . Osborn P.. Rigby Ltd . Adelaide . 1974 . 8–10 . 0-85179-748-2.
2. Web site: Mitcham Reserve, Mitcham . . 3 January 2022.
3. News: Patriotic column. . . LXXVI . 5,782 . South Australia . 15 November 1919 . 11 January 2023 . 47 . National Library of Australia.
4. News: Orphan Home for Girls. . . XXXIV . 10,122 . South Australia . 27 July 1897 . 11 January 2023 . 2 (One o'clock edition.) . National Library of Australia.
5. Web site: Carrington Street, Adelaide (1942). . photo + caption . 10 January 2023.
6. Web site: Ambrose, Theodore (1880–1947). Joske. Prue. 1979. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.
7. Web site: Downes, Rupert Major (1885–1945). Hill. A.J.. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.
8. Web site: Finlayson, Hedley Herbert (1895–1991). Harris. Colin. 2014. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.
9. Web site: Finlayson, John Harvey (1843–1915). Love. J.H.. 1972. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.
10. Web site: Hope, Laura Margaret (1868–1952). Jones. Helen. 1996. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.
11. Web site: Jones, Doris Egerton (1889–1973). Edgar. Suzanne. 1983. Australian Dictionary of Biography. 17 January 2020.