Early South Australian History Timeline
A chronology of South Australian history up to the time of federation (1901), with an emphasis on events affecting the lives of early settlers.
Some of the events in this timeline are linked to more detailed articles or databases (some on external websites).
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 22,000 BC | Evidence of aboriginal occupation of the future South Australia through flint mining and cave wall engravings in the west & South East. |
| 8,000 BC | Further evidence of aboriginal occupation through wooden tools found in the South East. |
| AD 1627 | 26 January: 1st known sighting of the South Australian coast (far west) from a European ship, the Gulden Zeepaard, by East Indies Councillor, Pieter Nuyts, and the captain, Francois Thijssen. |
| 1789 | 1st smallpox epidemic reached SA from Pt Jackson resulting in hundreds of aboriginal deaths. |
| 1800 | Lt James Grant RN in the Lady Nelson sailed along the south east coast. |
| 1802 | Capt Matthew Flinders RN in HMS Investigator and Nicolas Baudin in Le Geographe charted all the remaining unexplored coast. |
| 1803 | 1st recorded long term occupancy of Kangaroo Island by American sealers from the brig Union. |
| 1819 | George Sutherland spent 7 months on KI harvesting seal & kangaroo skins and crossed from Nepean Bay to SW coast. His report influenced the future South Australian Company to establish itself on KI. |
| 1829 | June: Sketch of a Proposal for Colonizing Australasia by Robert Gouger based on discussions with EG Wakefield. National Colonization Society formed in Britain. 2nd smallpox epidemic reached SA and continued into the early 1830s. |
| 1830 | Charles Sturt's expedition from New South Wales reached the River Murray mouth. |
| 1831 | April: Collet Barker surveyed St Vincent Gulf, climbed Mount Lofty and saw the Port River inlet. 29 October: 1st "plan of a company to be established for the purpose of founding a colony in Southern Australia..." by Wakefield. |
| 1833 | 27 November: Gouger formed the South Australian Association in Britain to found a colony on the principles of Wakefield. |
| 1834 | 15 August: South Australia Colonization Act. |
| 1835 | 5 May: Board of Colonization Commissioners appointed. 15 October: South Australian Company formed. |
| 1836 | 19 February: Letters Patent issued to legally create the Province of South Australia and define its boundaries. February: William Light appointed as Surveyor-General. Free passage scheme for immigrant labourers commenced. 22, 24 February: 1st migrant ships left England for SA. Pastor ALC Kavel first met with GF Angas in London on 12 April to initiate arrangements for the emigration of German Lutherans from Klemzig & elsewhere to SA. The South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register newspaper founded (1st issue published & printed in England 18 June). 1st permanent settlers in large numbers arrived at Kangaroo Island on 27, 30 July and 16 August aboard the Duke of York, Lady Mary Pelham and John Pirie. Light arrived (with other settlers) at KI on 20 August aboard the Rapid. 1st settlers arrived on the mainland at Holdfast Bay aboard the Africaine on 14 November (after its 1st arrival at KI). Light began his examination of the areas proposed as possibilities for the capital of SA. 1st school opened at Kingscote, KI on 20 November. Governor John Hindmarsh and other European settlers arrived aboard the Buffalo on 28 December (after 1st arrival at Port Lincoln) and Hindmarsh proclaimed the Province of SA. This began the invasion of the Kaurna tribal lands. There was no treaty nor consultation of any kind although their rights and lands were protected by the 1834 Act. George Stephenson nominated temporary Protector of Aborigines. Colonial Commissioner of Lands Fisher, Secretary Gouger, Treasurer Gilles, Surveyor-General Light and Governor Hindmarsh commenced duties. Adelaide and its harbour at Port Creek founded on 31 December, Light having rejected the alternatives of Encounter Bay and Pt Lincoln. Population (excluding aborigines) 546 (estimate) at 31 December. Aboriginal population 12,000 (estimate) at 31 December. |
| 1837 | 11 January to 10 March Adelaide surveyed by Light & BT Finniss 27 March Adelaide land sale commenced. Supreme Court established. 2nd issue (1st in SA) of the SA Gazette & Colonial Register printed on 3 June. Captain Walter Bromley appointed temporary Protector of Aborigines. He died and was replaced by Dr William Wyatt. 1st German Lutheran settlers arrived 16 October aboard the Solway. Population (excluding aborigines) 3,270 (estimate) at 31 December. |
| 1838 | Light resigned. Governor George Gawler commenced duties. SA Police Force established (1st in Australia). Sir John Jeffcott, Chief Justice, proclaimed Aborigines to be British subjects (without consultation). 1st export (wool). 1st of Kavel's Lutheran settlers, financed by Angas, arrived on 18 November aboard the Prince George. 1st livestock brought from NSW. Population (excluding aborigines) 6,000 (estimate) at 31 December. |
| 1839 | Adelaide Chamber of Commerce founded (1st in Australasia). SA Agricultural Soc formed. A school for Aboriginal children was opened by Lutheran missionaries. Dr Matthew Moorhouse was appointed Protector of Aborigines. German settlers established their village of Klemzig SA. Some, with assistance from the Zebra captain, DM Hahn, established the village of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. Smallpox vaccination began. Population (excluding aborigines) 10,300 (estimate) at 31 December. |
| 1840 | Adelaide to Port Adelaide road completed October. City of Adelaide council elected October (1st in Australia), mayor James Hurtle Fisher. Free passage immigration scheme ceased December due to lack of funds. Total cultivated land 1,013 ha. Livestock: 959 horses; 16,050 cattle; 166,800 sheep. |
| 1841 | Population (excluding aborigines) 15,485 at early January (only SA census with surviving details). Governor George Grey commenced duties. Edward John Eyre crossed from Fowlers Bay to Albany, Western Australia. Glen Osmond Wheal Gawler silver, lead mine opened (1st metal mine in Australia). SA Savings Bank opened (wound up 1847). Adelaide Hospital opened. Total cultivated land 2,720 ha. |
| 1842 | Legislative Council of nominated members approved and Colonization Commission abolished. Waste Lands Act. Copper discovered at Kapunda (mining commenced 1844) by Francis Stacker Dutton who later became Premier of SA (1863 & 1865). Total cultivated land 8,010 ha. Registration of births, marriages and deaths commenced June/July. Annual occupation licences for pastoral land introduced. |
| 1843 | Act to provide for the maintenance and relief of deserted wives & children and other destitute persons. The Adelaide Observer newspaper founded. Some of the Klemzig SA people established the village of Langmeil in the Barossa Valley. John Ridley invented a stripper harvester. Total cultivated land 11,600 ha. Drought 1843-4. |
| 1844 | Walkerville Aboriginal School opened. Total cultivated land 10,900 ha. Population (excl aborigines) 17,366 (census). |
| 1845 | Governor Frederick Holt Robe commenced duties. Copper discovered at Burra (mined for 32 years). Numerous Aboriginal children were dying of European diseases. |
| 1846 | 1st hundreds proclaimed to regulate occupation of Crown Lands. Population (excl aborigines) 22,390 (census). |
| 1847 | 1st Barossa Valley winery established at Jacob's Creek. Collegiate School of St Peter founded. |
| 1848 | Governor Henry Edward Fox Young commenced duties. Savings Bank of SA opened. |
| 1849 | Central board of main roads established. Destitute Board established. |
| 1850 | Australian Colonies Government Act proclaimed by British Parliament enabling Legislative Council to be partially elected. Total cultivated land 26,200 ha. Livestock: 6,490 horses; 60,000 cattle; 874,200 sheep. |
| 1851 | Legislative Council now partially elected. Education Board established. Population (excl aborigines) 63,700 (census). Major exodus began to the Victorian gold fields lasting about 4 years. Pastoral leases replaced annual occupation licences. |
| 1852 | District Councils Act. Bullion Act. 1st escorted consignment of gold arrived overland from Victoria. Education Act. |
| 1853 | Steam navigation of the River Murray began. A year of very high inflation. SA was Australia's major wheat producer. |
| 1854 | Drought. |
| 1855 | Governor Richard Graves MacDonnell commenced duties. Population (excl aborigines) 85,821 (census). |
| 1856 | Boyle Travers Finniss appointed as 1st Premier of SA. Constitution and Electoral Law Acts giving male adult suffrage for parliamentary elections (both houses) and 3 year terms. SA and Victoria introduce secret ballot (used since ancient Athenian times) with strict rules to prevent fraud. The office of Protector of Aborigines abolished. 1st government telegraph line opened (Adelaide to Port Adelaide). Adelaide to Port Adelaide railway opened. |
| 1857 | John Baker took over as 2nd Premier but was soon succeeded by Robert Richard Torrens who was replaced by Richard Davies Hanson. 1st elections (both houses of parliament). Adelaide to Gawler railway opened. |
| 1858 | Real Property Act. Matrimonial Causes Act to facilitate divorce and separation (weighted in favour of husbands). Aborigines Friends Association formed. South Australian Advertiser newspaper founded. |
| 1859 | Copper discovered December on Wallaroo Run near Kadina. |
| 1860 | Thomas Reynolds took over as Premier. 1st reservoir completed (Thorndon Park). |
| 1861 | SA Gas Company Act. SA western boundary changed from 132°E to 129°E. Propertied women given the right to vote at municipal elections. Office of Protector of Aborigines restored. Copper discovered at Moonta. George Marsden Waterhouse became Premier. Population (excl aborigines) 126,830 (census). |
| 1862 | Governor Dominick Daly commenced duties. John McDouall Stuart crossed Australia from south to north (complete journals). |
| 1863 | Northern Territory annexed by SA. Gas works established at Brompton. |
| 1865 | Drought 1864-6. Goyder's Line of Rainfall delineated. |
| 1866 | Destitute Person's Relief Act. 209 deaths from typhoid fever. Population (excl aborigines) 163,452 (census). |
| 1867 | 240 deaths from diphtheria. |
| 1868 | Method of clearing mallee scrub developed by Charles Mullen. |
| 1869 | Waste Lands Amendment Act (Strangways Act). SA Chamber of Manufactures founded. Governor James Fergusson commenced duties. |
| 1871 | Population (excl aborigines) 185,425 (census). |
| 1872 | Overland telegraph connected Adelaide to London. |
| 1873 | Public Health Act. 8 hour working day, 6 days per week began to be established. Governor Anthony Musgrave commenced duties. |
| 1874 | Civil Service Act. University of Adelaide Act. |
| 1875 | Education Act which made schooling compulsory for children aged 7 to 13 years. Forest Board appointed. Crude death rate peaked at 20 (after about 14 for 30 years, then steadily fell to present day 7). |
| 1876 | Trade unions recognised legally. University of Adelaide began teaching. Stump-jump plough invented by Richard Bower Smith. Adelaide Children's Hospital opened. Population (excl aborigines) 212,528 (census). Higher proportion of women to men. Aboriginal population 6,000 (estimate) at 31 December. |
| 1877 | Governor William Francis Drummond Jervois commenced duties. Burra copper mine closed. Government established forest nurseries. |
| 1878 | Horse drawn tram system introduced to Adelaide. Kapunda copper mine closed. |
| 1879 | 1st public secondary school (Advanced School for Girls) opened. |
| 1880 | Women permitted to undertake degrees. Adelaide Creche founded. Severe drought 1880-1. |
| 1881 | Destitute Person's Act to eliminate 'baby farming'. Adelaide to Port Pirie railway opened. More than 440 deaths from tuberculosis (peak after gradual increase, then similar numbers each year until 1895, followed by a gradual decline). 1st Australian capital connected to a water-borne sewerage system (Islington Sewerage Farm). Population (excl aborigines) 275,344 (census). |
| 1882 | Adelaide to Port Augusta railway opened. More than 140 deaths from typhoid fever (similar numbers each year for the rest of the decade). Severe drought 1882-3. |
| 1883 | Married Women's Property Act. Governor William Cleaver Francis Robinson commenced duties. Adelaide Telephone Exchange opened. Roseworthy Agricultural College established. |
| 1884 | Custody of Infants Act. United Trades and Labor Council formed. Land and income taxes introduced. |
| 1885 | Broken Hill, NSW ore (silver, lead, zinc) discovered. Total cultivated land 1,100,000 ha which remained approximately constant for the remainder of the century. |
| 1887 | Guardianship of Infants Act. Adelaide to Melbourne railway opened. Renmark Irrigation Colony established. |
| 1889 | Governor Algernon Hawkins Thomond commenced duties. Lead smelting began at Port Pirie. School of Mines and Industries opened (later renamed SA Institute of Technology, now University of SA). |
| 1890 | 220 deaths from diphtheria (peak after 10 years of about 180 pa). |
| 1891 | United Labor Party formed. Population (excl aborigines) 315,212 (census). |
| 1892 | Compulsory education provided free. |
| 1893 | Village Settlement Act. |
| 1894 | Women enfranchised (exercised 1896). |
| 1895 | Governor Thomas Fowell Buxton commenced duties. |
| 1896 | Severe drought 1896-7. |
| 1898 | More than 140 deaths from typhoid fever. |
| 1899 | Governor Hallam Tennyson commenced duties. BHP began mining at Iron Knob. |
| 1900 | Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act passed by British parliament. Workmen's Compensation Act. |
| 1901 | Federation of all Australian colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January. Population (excl aborigines) 358,346 (census). |
W Vamplew, E Richards, D Jaensch and J Hancock, South Australian Historical Statistics Monograph No 3, NSW, 1984
and various other publications.