Timeline of Adelaide history explained
This is a timeline of Adelaide history.
Prior to 1800s
1800s
1830s
1840s
- 1840: The first portion of Government House is completed, becoming the first in Australia. The Corporation of Adelaide is founded as the first municipal authority in Australia, and James Hurtle Fisher is elected mayor. An agricultural show, which will become the Royal Adelaide Show, is first held in the yard of Fordham's Hotel in Grenfell Street.
- 1841: Construction begins of Adelaide Gaol, and the first section is completed. The Adelaide Hospital (later Royal) is opened.
- 1843: The first Legislative Council building is opened on North Terrace.
- 1844: 22 April: Intervention of the police in a dispute between the Kaurna and Moorundie in the West Parklands and destruction of the aboriginal weapons. Considered the end-point of Kaurna culture in Adelaide.
- 1845: 2 January: Death by tuberculosis in Adelaide of Mullawirraburka, known as "King John", Kaurna elder who learned English, taught aboriginal lore and helped the early colonists.
- 1844: The colonial Government takes control of the Corporation of Adelaide.
- 1847: St Peter's College is established. Pulteney Grammar School is established.
- 1848: The Savings Bank of South Australia begins trading from a room in Gawler Place.
- 1849: City Commissioners are nominated to manage Adelaide.
1850s
- 1850: G. P. Harris and J. C. Lanyon, the forerunner to Harris Scarfe, opens on Hindley Street.
- 1851: Responsible Government is introduced to South Australia, enfranchising wealthy male colonists.
- 1852: The Corporation of Adelaide is reconstituted and James Hurtle Fisher again becomes mayor. The first overland transport of gold arrives in Adelaide.
- 1853: The first four local governing bodies in South Australia (apart from the Corporation of Adelaide) established as the district councils of Mitcham, East Torrens, Onkaparinga and Hindmarsh, following the passing of the 1852 'Act to appoint District Councils'.[1]
- 1853: Philosophical Society of Adelaide founded (later becoming the Royal Society of South Australia).
- 1855: Private telegraph line Adelaide–Port Adelaide installed by James Macgeorge
- 1856: The South Australian Institute is founded, from which will derive the State Library, State Museum and Art Gallery.
- 1856: Government telegraph line Adelaide–Port Adelaide installed by Charles Todd
- 1856: Steam railway between Adelaide and Port Adelaide opened.
- 1857: Adelaide Botanic Gardens opens at today's site in the Park Lands off North Terrace with George William Francis as the first director. Railway between Adelaide and Gawler was opened.
- 1858: The Melbourne–Adelaide telegraph line is opened.
- 1859: 3–8 February: devastating fires in the Adelaide Hills around Cox's Creek near Bridgewater.
- 1859: A jetty more than 350 metres in length is constructed at Glenelg. It has a wooden lighthouse at its end, which will later be destroyed by fire.
- 1859: Norwood Town Hall was built on The Parade at Norwood. It was the first town hall in South Australia.
1860s
1870s
1880s
1890s
- 1890: Adelaide's first public statue, Venus, is unveiled on North Terrace.
- 1893: The Australian Association for the Advancement of Science meets in Adelaide – credit is universally accorded to Colonel Light for his selection of the site and for the design of Adelaide.
- 1894: Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894, the world's second Act granting women suffrage and the first granting women the right to stand for parliament is passed in Parliament House on North Terrace.
- 1895: 24 July: Major fire at Menz Confectionery, Wakefield Street opposite fire station[8]
- 1896: Moving pictures are shown for first time in South Australia at Theatre Royal on Hindley Street. Happy Valley Reservoir is opened.
- 1899: The South Australian contingent left Adelaide for the Second Boer War.
1900s
Early 1900s
1910s
- 1910: 16 November: Major fire at Genders Building, Grenfell Street (on Hindmarsh Square corner)[13]
- 1912: The Verco Building, an early 'skyscraper', is built on North Terrace.
- 1913: The first metropolitan abattoir opens.
- 1913: 23 November: Major fire at Lion Timber Mills, Franklin Street[14]
- 1914: Planting of first memorial to the Great War, the Wattle Day League War Memorial Oak.
- 1915: Australasia's first national Gallipoli Memorial established in the Adelaide Park Lands, 7 September 1915 – the Australian Wattle Day League's Gallipoli Memorial Wattle Grove with its centrepiece 'Australasian Soldiers Dardanelles 25 April 1915' obelisk (now known as the Dardanelles Cenotaph)
- 1915: Liquor bars close at 6 pm following a referendum
- 1917: German private schools are closed. The first trains travel to Perth following completion of the East-West continental railway.
- 1919: 2 February: Major fire at W. H. Burford & Sons' soap and candle factory, Sturt Street[15]
- 1919: Mayor Charles Richmond Glover becomes the first Lord Mayor.
1920s
- 1920: 12–16 July: Royal Visit of the Prince of Wales
- 1923: 21 February: Major fire at Duncan & Fraser.[16]
- 1924: Radio broadcasting begins.
- 1924: 26 April: Major fire aboard steamer City of Singapore at Port Adelaide[17]
- 1924: 10 November: Major fire at Richards Building, Chrysler body builders, importers Currie Street[18]
- 1925: The Wayville Showgrounds open.
- 1926: 1 January: Major fire at Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange, East End Market.[19]
- 1926: 24 February: Major fire at Colonial Sugar Refinery works at Glanville.[20]
- 1927: The North–South railway is extended. The Duke and Duchess of York visit.
- 1928: 2000 special constables sworn in to break a strike of dock workers. The volunteer "Citizen's Defence Brigade" had been brought in and armed to fight striking port workers, and they were housed in a camp dubbed the "scab compound".
- 1929: The electric tram service to Glenelg commences.
1930s
- 1931: The Beef Riot: 17 people are injured when unemployed men clash with police while protesting the decision to remove beef from the dole ration.
- 1932: Local government is overhauled when Government redefines boundaries and names and abolishes others.
- 1933: First John Martin's Christmas Pageant.
- 1935: Many German place names, which had been changed during World War I, are restored.
- 1935: 28 April: Major fire at Thompson & Harvey, paint, glass and wallpaper merchants, Flinders Street[21]
- 1936: Centennial Park Cemetery opens. Grand celebrations are held to celebrate South Australia's Centenary.
- 1936: 11 August: Major fire at Torrenside Woollen Mills, Taylor's Road (now South Road), West Thebarton[22]
- 1937: First trolley bus services commence. First permanent traffic signals are installed. Mount Bold Reservoir is opened. Outbreak of poliomyelitis.
- 1938: South Australian Housing Trust completes first dwelling.
- 1938: 19 January: Major fire at People's Palace, (Salvation Army hostel) Pirie Street[23]
- 1938: 9 June: Major fire at Adelaide Stock Exchange call room[24]
- 1939:The second worst heat wave is recorded with disastrous bushfires and highest Adelaide temperature of 46.1 °C. New Parliament House is opened on North Terrace by Governor-General Lord Gowrie. Carrick Hill, home to Edward (later Sir Edward) and Ursula Hayward, is completed.
- 1939: 14 December: Major fire at Lion Timber Mills, Port Adelaide[25]
1940s
- 1940: Birkenhead Bridge opened. Second industry rapidly expanded throughout Adelaide region and South Australia at large as the war-effort intensified.
- 1940: 21 October: Major fire at Dunlop Perdriau Rubber Co., Flinders Street[26]
- 1942: Rationing of tea and clothing introduced. Racesport and bookmaking banned.
- 1943: Rationing of butter introduced. Racing re-allowed.
- 1944: Rationing of meat introduced.
- 1945: Gas and electricity restrictions imposed.
- 1947: Orchards ripped up following discovery of fruit fly in the metropolitan area.
- 1948: 2 March: Major fire at Charles Moore & Company's retail store, Victoria Square[27]
- 1948: Glenelg jetty destroyed and widespread damage caused by severe storms. Clothing and meat rationing abolished. Holden began production.
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2000s
2010s
See also
Further reading
- Book: Gargett, Kathyrn . Marsden, Susan . Adelaide: A Brief History . State History Centre, History Trust of South Australia in association with Adelaide City Council . 1996 . 40–42 . 0-7308-0116-0.
- Book: Whitelock, Derek . Adelaide: A Sense of Difference . Kew . Australian Scholarly Publishing . 2000 . 393–405 . 0-87560-657-1.
Notes and References
- Web site: Local Government Association of South Australia: A history of South Australian Councils to 1936 . Susan . Marsden . 2012 . 23 February 2016.
- News: Destruction of Murray's Drapery . . XXXII . 6634 . 10 February 1868 . 11 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: The Fire in King William Street . . XL . 8870 . 20 April 1875 . 11 January 2018 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Disastrous Fire in Rundle Street . . XIV . 4014 . Adelaide . 13 March 1882 . 11 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Destruction by Fire of the Academy of Music . . 1 . South Australia . 1 January 1884 . 11 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: City Telegrams . . V . 465 . South Australia . 17 November 1884 . 11 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: The Fire at Coombe's and Burford's . . XVII . 5164 . Adelaide . 21 December 1885 . 11 January 2018 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
- News: A Large Fire . . XXXII . 9,512 . South Australia . 25 July 1895 . 11 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: A Photographer Burnt Out . . LVII . 3,088 . 8 December 1900 . 11 January 2018 . 30 . National Library of Australia.
- News: The Great Fire . . XLIII . 13,253 . Adelaide . 10 April 1901 . 21 January 2018 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
- News: A Big Fire . . XLI . 11218 . Adelaide . 5 February 1907 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: The Hindmarsh Fire . . L . 15,348 . Adelaide . 27 December 1907 . 11 January 2018 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Tremendous Fire. City Corner Destroyed. . . XLIV . 12356 . South Australia . 16 November 1910 . 12 January 2018 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
- News: A Sunday Fire . . XLVIII . 13271 . Adelaide . 24 November 1913 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Tremendous Fire at Burford's Factory . . LVI . 16,648 . South Australia . 3 February 1919 . 12 January 2018 . 2 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Tremendous City Conflagration . . LVIII . 16062 . Adelaide . 21 February 1923 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Catastrophe at Port Adelaide . . LXXXIX . 26,001 . Adelaide . 28 April 1924 . 12 January 2018 . 8 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Richards' Building Destroyed . . LXIII . 6314 . South Australia . 11 November 1924 . 12 January 2018 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Fire at East End Market . . VI . 761 . Adelaide . 1 January 1926 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Huge Fire at Glanville . . XCI . 26,572 . Adelaide . 25 February 1926 . 12 January 2018 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
- News: City Paint Shop Destroyed by Fire . . Adelaide . 29 April 1935 . 12 January 2018 . 15 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Big Fire at Woollen Mill . . Adelaide . 12 August 1936 . 12 January 2018 . 19 . National Library of Australia.
- News: £5,000 Fire Damage . . XXX . 4,521 . Adelaide . 19 January 1938 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Stock Exchange Blaze . . XXX . 4,641 . Adelaide . 9 June 1938 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Fire Destroys Timber Mill at Port . . XXXIII . 5,114 . Adelaide . 14 December 1939 . 12 January 2018 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
- News: £120,000 Blaze in Adelaide . . 12,957 . South Australia . 22 October 1940 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: Big Fire May Cost £1 Million . . 50 . 7,669 . Adelaide . 3 March 1948 . 12 January 2018 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
- News: The Exceptional Heatwave of January–February 2009 in South-Eastern Australia . Australia Bureau of Statistics . 21 January 2013 . 22 December 2013.
- News: Giant 'royal' cruise ships Queen Victoria, Queen Mary II visit Adelaide . . 23 February 2010 . 27 February 2011.
- News: Giant cruise ship the Queen Mary 2 heads for Adelaide . . 9 March 2010 . 11 December 2010.
- News: Storms wipe $300m in grain crops in South Australia . . 7 December 2010 . 11 December 2010.
- News: Queen Mary 2 to steam into Outer Harbor today . . 20 February 2011 . 27 February 2011.
- News: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton impressed with Adelaide's facilities . . 15 November 2012 . 22 December 2013.
- News: SA's $200m medical research institute officially opened by Prime Minister and Premier . . 29 November 2013 . 22 December 2013.
- http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/RR/rail_revitalisation/noarlunga_line_renewal The Seaford line is now electrified