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Aboriginal Policy and Administration

South Australia’s Foundation Act, passed by the British parliament in 1834, made no reference to the Aboriginal peoples who owned…

civil rights, colonial government, colonization, settlement

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Adelaide

The city of Adelaide refers here to the area within the outer boundary of the parklands; that is, the ‘square…

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Adelaide 1875

Adelaide: Supplement to the Australasian Sketcher. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B1452 The ‘bird’s eye’ view of Adelaide…

aerial view

1870s
Adelaide 1876

Adelaide: supplement to the Illustrated Sydney News; ‘A Capital View of the City of Adelaide’. Image courtesy of the State Library…

aerial view

1870s
Adelaide Gaol

One of South Australia’s earliest buildings and home to over 300 000 people from 1841 to 1988, Adelaide Gaol is one…

1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
Adelaide General Post Office

The classically styled freestone Adelaide General Post Office housed both the post and telegraph offices which connected South Australia with…

public history building

1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s
Adelaide Steamship Company

The Adelaide Steamship Company was Australia’s largest shipping company and one of South Australia’s most successful business ventures.

1870s, 1880s, 1890s, early twentieth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century
Adelaide Steamship Company

Collection held by the South Australian Maritime Museum relating to Australia’s largest shipping company and one of South Australia’s most successful…

early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century
Alexander Maurice Ramsay, CBE

Alexander Maurice Ramsay was born in Adelaide, South Australia, on 27 October 1914, the son of boot machinist Alexander Ramsay…

1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s
Angas Family

George Fife Angas (1789–1879), described by his biographer Edwin Hodder, who was attracted to Angas’s nonconformist piety, as ‘one of…

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century
Architecture

The distinctive architectural character of Adelaide and its suburbs has disappeared since 1980 – city high-rise offices and derivative styles…

early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Armenians in South Australia

The Armenian Cultural Association of South Australia was founded in 1960.

1960s, mid twentieth century
Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson, CMG

Arnold Edwin Victor Richardson was born in Thebarton, South Australia, on 12th September 1883, the son of ironfounder George Edwin…

1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s
Barr Smith Family

Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), the son of a Scottish clergyman and his wife Marjory, née Barr, migrated to Melbourne in…

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Benjamin Herschel Babbage

Benjamin Herschel Babbage superintended construction of the first Port Adelaide railway line.

early nineteenth century, late nineteenth century, mid nineteenth century
Birkenhead Bridge

Opened in 1940 as a replacement for the original Jervois Bridge, the Birkenhead Bridge was the first to employ a double-bascule…

1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000-2010, 2010s
Bonython Hall

Since 1936 this hall in Gothic style has served the University of Adelaide and the community

university hall

1920s, 1930s, 2000-2010
Book Plan of South Adelaide

Book Plan of South Adelaide. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B1578746 Prior to the development of…

plan

cottages, rubbish, sanitation

1880s
Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd

South Australia has very close historic and daily links to the mining and processing activities of BHP Billiton.

early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid twentieth century
Brookman Building

Developing technical education via a School of Mines and Industries leading to SAIT and then UniSA

university hall

1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910
Brown Street

Brown Street, running from South Terrace to Grote Street, morphed into Morphett Street in 1967 but the area retains its out-of-the-way feel

City & Town Streets

1830s, 1840s, 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, early twenty–first century
Building Materials

Diverse materials have been used for building houses, structures and other constructions in South Australia with distinctive local stone giving…
Closer Settlement

Settlers believed that using land intensively maximised its value and civilised its occupants, and that holdings should be small to…

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, early twenty–first century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Colonel Light statue

Colonel William Light’s statue on Montefiore Hill pointing towards the centre of Adelaide has come to symbolise the city that…

statue

funeral, linguist, musician, painter, plan, sailor, soldier, survey, surveyor

1830s, 1840s, 1900-1910, 1910s, 1930s, early twenty–first century
Colonel Light Survey Marker

Colonel William Light’s survey marker from 1837 is to be incorporated in the new Royal Adelaide Hospital site

monuments and memorials

fire, obelisk, plan, survey

1830s, 1920s
Colonel William Light Grave and Monument

Colonel William Light’s grave remains in Light Square, while Light’s Monument there has been replaced and embellished over time

monuments and memorials

grave, linguist, map, musician, painter, plan, sailor, soldier, survey, surveyor

1830s, 1840s, 1870s, 1890s, 1900-1910
Colonial Laws Validity Act

The powers of colonial legislatures to create courts, alter local constitutions and authenticate laws were confirmed by the British statute.

1860s, 1930s
Devotional Card

This devotional card, written by Queen Adelaide in 1841, quotes Psalms 100:5

1840s
Distance

Geographical position and distance have strongly shaped the European history of South Australia.

early nineteenth century, early twentieth century, late nineteenth century, late twentieth century, mid nineteenth century, mid twentieth century
Duryea Panorama

Panorama of Adelaide, 1865. Photographer: Townsend Duryea. Courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B5099 The Duryea Panorama is a…

panoramic view

photograph, photography

1860s

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‘Great Fires’ of Port Adelaide

‘Great Fires’ of Port Adelaide

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19th Century Childbirth

19th Century Childbirth

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Aboriginal Land Rights

Aboriginal Land Rights

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Afghans

Afghans

A transcontinental train, ‘The Ghan’, now commemorates the Afghan cameleers and their beasts who helped to pioneer the Outback

Bicycles

Bicycles

From ‘boneshakers’ to penny-farthings to mountain bikes, bicycles have certainly changed since the 1860s.

Copper Industry

Copper Industry

Copper brought unexpected wealth to the new colony and was an economic mainstay for 70 years, with a resurgence since the 1980s at Olympic Dam

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