Penola, South Australia Explained

Type:town
Penola
State:SA
Coordinates:-37.3786°N 140.8362°W
Coord Ref:[1]
Pushpin Label Position:left
Use Lga Map:yes
Pop:1,376 (town centre)
Pop Year:2021 census
Pop Footnotes:[2]
Pop2:1,622 (locality)
Pop2 Year:2021 census
Pop2 Footnotes:[3]
Established:1867 (town)
13 December 2001 (locality)
Established Footnotes:[4]
Postcode:5277
Elevation:65
Timezone:ACST
Utc:+9:30
Timezone-Dst:ACST
Utc-Dst:+10:30
Dist1:388
Dir1:SE
Location1:Adelaide
Region:Limestone Coast[5]
County:Grey
Lga:Wattle Range Council
Stategov:Mackillop[6]
Fedgov:Barker[7]
Maxtemp:20.0
Mintemp:8.3
Rainfall:708.5
Near-N:Coonawarra
Near-Ne:Dorodong
Near-E:Dorodong
Lake Mundi
Near-Se:Lake Mundi
Near-S:Nangwarry
Near-Sw:Krongart
Near-W:Monbulla
Near-Nw:Maaoupe
Footnotes:Adjoining localities[8] [9]

Penola is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located about southeast of the state capital of Adelaide in the wine growing area known as the Coonawarra. At the 2021 Australian Census, the town of Penola had a population of 1,376. [10]

It is known as the central location in the life of Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross), the first Australian to gain Roman Catholic sainthood, in 2010. In 1866 McKillop and a Catholic priest and geologist, Julian Tenison-Woods, established a Catholic school in the town.

History

The Aboriginal Australians living in the area when Europeans arrived were the Bindjali people,[11] although this meaning has also been ascribed to Coonawarra by the same source. A different source reports that the Bindjali expression, pena oorla means "wooden house", which referred to the first pub in the district, the Royal Oak.[12]

The first Europeans to the area were the Austin brothers, who arrived in 1840 and established a run of . The first settlers were Scottish-born Alexander Cameron and his wife Margaret in January 1844 after obtaining an occupation licence. In April 1850, Cameron obtained 80 acres (0.3 km2) of freehold land (his station was on a pastoral lease) and established the private town of "Panoola", later known as Penola.

By 1850, he had built the Royal Oak Hotel and was doing much business supplying liquor to the many travellers passing through to the Victoria goldfields.

Penola Post Office opened around 1852.[13]

Religious services in the town were first conducted in a converted shop, before St Joseph's (Catholic) Church was built in 1859.[14] This was replaced on the same site by a new one designed by Adelaide architect Herbert Jory in Romanesque Revival style[15] and opened in 1924.[16] [17]

John Riddoch purchased Yallum in 1861. Riddoch grew up in poverty in the highlands of Scotland and in 1851 emigrated to try his luck on the Victoria goldfields. Within a few years he was a successful shopkeeper and wine merchant on the Geelong goldfields. He acquired 35,000 acres (142 km2) on which he ran 50,000 head of sheep. It was Riddoch who planted the first grape vines and helped to diversify the pastoral economy of the area with an agricultural industry. In 1890, he established the Penola Fruit Growing Colony which was renamed Coonawarra in 1897.

Mary McKillop

See main article: Mary McKillop. Mary McKillop was a Roman Catholic nun, who was beatified on 19 January 1995 at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, in a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II; and became the first Australian to be named as a saint in 2010.[18] In 1866 McKillop and Julian Tenison Woods established a Catholic school, St Joseph's School,[19] and developed the Woods/MacKillop Catholic education system in Australia,[20] [21] They also established in Penola a congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Also known as the "Josephites" or "Brown Joeys", they continue to work with the poor and needy communities throughout the world today.[22]

Railways

Penola was on the Mount Gambier to Wolseley railway line, which opened in 1887, until its closure to freight on 12 April 1995 and then to Limestone Coast Railway tourist passengers on 1 July 2006.[23]

Heritage listings

Penola has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Climate

In 2010, a strong tornado ripped through the township destroying at least four buildings and damaging many more.[38]

Tourism

The Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre is located in Penola. It is in close proximity to the two State Heritage sites of Petticoat Lane and the original stone schoolhouse developed by Mary MacKillop in conjunction with Father Julian Tenison Woods in the 1800s.

Governance

Penola is located within the federal division of Barker, the state electoral district of MacKillop, and the local government area of the Wattle Range Council.[7] [1] [6]

Sport

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara Football League, the Penola Eagles.[39]

The Penola Racing Club holds thoroughbred horse racing at its track located near the town.[40]

The town also has a cricket team that competes in the Mount Gambier & District Cricket Association with both a junior and senior team.

Media

The primary local newspaper of the district is The Pennant,[41] published weekly since July 1946, while The Border Watch (also part of the Scott Group of Companies) and rival The Naracoorte Herald, also publish local and regional news.[42]

Notable people

Penola has been home to some notable and interesting people. Among them were Saint Mary MacKillop, poets John Shaw Neilson and Adam Lindsay Gordon, Julian Tenison-Woods, Scottish-Australian bush poet Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963), Sara Douglass, Michael Graham (footballer) and John Riddoch.

It was The Border Watch that published Ogilvie's first poem in Australia on 22 April 1893, when he was at nearby Maaoupe Station.[43]

The Antarctic explorer John Riddoch Rymill was born in Penola, named his ship Penola and later successfully farmed the Old Penola Estate.[44]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search result for 'Meningie, Locb' with the following datasets selected – 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Government Towns', 'Counties', 'Hundreds', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions', 'Gazetteer', 'Railways' and 'State Maintained Roads' . Location SA Map viewer. Government of South Australia. 11 April 2019.
  2. Web site: Penola 2021 Census . 2 August 2023.
  3. Web site: Penola 2021 Census . 2 August 2023.
  4. Web site: Lawson. R.. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1991 Notice to Assign Boundaries and Names to Places (in the Wattle Range Council). The South Australian Government Gazette. South Australian Government. 27 February 2018. 5365. 13 December 2001.
  5. Web site: Limestone Coast SA Government region. The Government of South Australia. 10 October 2014.
  6. Web site: District of Mackillop profile . Electoral Commission SA. 9 April 2019.
  7. Web site: Federal electoral division of Barker . Australian Electoral Commission. 28 December 2017.
  8. Web site: West Wimmera Shire town and rural districts names and boundaries . https://web.archive.org/web/20151018013049/http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/218368/West_Wimmera_V45b.pdf . dead . 18 October 2015 . 5 September 2016 . Locality names and boundary maps . Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, State Government of Victoria, Australia .
  9. Web site: Glenelg Shire town and rural districts names and boundaries . 3 September 2016 . Locality names and boundary maps . Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, State Government of Victoria, Australia . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161222073851/http://www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/218177/Glenelg_V47.pdf . 22 December 2016 .
  10. Web site: Penola 2021 Census . 2 August 2023.
  11. Web site: Map of Indigenous Australia . . 22 January 2021.
  12. Web site: Penola, SA . Aussie Towns . 6 February 2019 . 22 January 2021.
  13. Web site: Premier Postal History . Post Office List . 2008-04-11.
  14. Web site: St Joseph's Church . Mary MacKillop Penola Centre . 19 July 2018 . 22 January 2021.
  15. Australian Romanesque: A History of Romanesque-Inspired Architecture in Australia. John W. . East . 2016 . . 22 January 2021. 163, 165.
  16. Web site: Saint Joseph's Church, Penola . State Library of South Australia . 22 January 2021.
  17. News: Penola Mission and St. Joseph's Old Church. T. P.. Davis . . XXXVI . 1782 . South Australia . 18 January 1924 . 22 January 2021 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  18. Web site: MacKillop to become Australia's first saint . 19 December 2009 . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 20 December 2009.
  19. Web site: Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart – South Australian Province – History . n.d. . 20 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091016004409/http://www.sosj.org.au/about/south_australia/history.html . 16 October 2009 .
  20. Web site: Background to the Foundation of the Sisters of St Joseph & the Establishment of the Woods/MacKillop System of Catholic Education . Foale, M. T. . 2006 . 20 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090929192239/http://www.marymackillopplace.org.au/museum/documents/FoundationAndEstablishment.pdf . 29 September 2009 .
  21. Web site: Mary MacKillop's Story . n.d. . 17 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091201042336/http://www.sosj.org.au/mary/mary.html . 1 December 2009 .
  22. Web site: Sisters of St Joseph – About Us . n.d. . 20 December 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091203230742/http://www.sosj.org.au/about/index.html . 3 December 2009 .
  23. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20080722010619/http://www.limestonecoastrailway.org.au/ . 22 July 2008 . Welcome to the Limestone Coast Railway .
  24. Web site: St Andrew's Presbyterian Church . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  25. Web site: Penola Public Library and Mechanics Institute . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  26. Web site: Dwelling ('Ulva Cottage') . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  27. Web site: National Bank Penola Branch . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  28. Web site: Dwelling (former Bank of South Australia Penola Branch) . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  29. Web site: Heyward's Royal Oak Hotel . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  30. Web site: Former Penola Post Office and Dwelling . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  31. Web site: Bushman's Inn Restaurant (former Bushman's Inn) . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  32. Web site: Dwelling (former Penola Railway Station) . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  33. Web site: Dwelling – John Shaw Neilson's former cottage . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  34. Web site: Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  35. Web site: Former Penola Butter & Cheese Factory . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  36. Web site: Dwelling & Shop – Sharam's Cottage (First) . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  37. Web site: Sharam's Cottage (Second) . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 26 August 2016.
  38. News: 'Wicked' tornado rips through Penola . 3 April 2014 . 1 August 2010 . ABC News.
  39. Web site: Full Points Footy. Kowree-Naracoorte-Tatiara. 2008-07-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20070513090001/http://www.fullpointsfooty.net/kowree-naracoorte-tatiara_football_league.htm. 13 May 2007. dead.
  40. Web site: Naracoorte Limestone Coast . Country Racing SA Inc. . 13 February 2022.
  41. Web site: Pennant . Country Press SA . 14 May 2018.
  42. Web site: Penola local newspapers . Australia Gday . Newspapers.com.au . 14 May 2018.
  43. News: Kings of the earth. . . XXXII . 3065 . South Australia . 22 April 1893 . 9 December 2018 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  44. News: Perennial Pastures on Old Penola Estate. . . Adelaide . 9 December 1954 . 8 January 2013 . 23 . National Library of Australia.

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