Place Names of South Australia - B
Birkenhead - Black Forest
- Birkenhead
- Birksgate
- Birthday Reef
- Birthday Well
- Biscuit Flat
- Bismar(c)k
- Black Diamond Corner
- Black Forest
- Black Fellow Creek
Birkenhead
Nomenclature
An Adelaide suburb laid out on section 700, Hundred of Port Adelaide by Thomas Elder and John Hart; they advertised it in the Register of 16 December 1861:
- The difficulty of obtaining suitable and healthy sites for houses in the immediate vicinity of Port Adelaide has long been felt; but this desiratum will be supplied by the eligible situation and numerous conveniences of the land now to be offered...
General Notes
The launching of the Agincourt is reported in the Express,
11 July 1865, page 3b.
An account of boat-building is in the Register,
16 May 1891, pages 5b and 6b and
ketch building on
16 June 1909, page 4d.
Also see Port Adelaide - Ships and Shipping.
Information on the Wesleyan Church is in the Register,
25 August 1881, page 4g.
Moving the Methodist Church is reported in the Advertiser,
5 March 1925, page 8h.
A photograph is in the Chronicle,
1 May 1926, page 40.
The settlement is described in the Observer,
7 November 1885, page 35a and
the district in the Chronicle,
20 November 1886, page 13d.
Its incorporation into Port Adelaide is reported in the Register,
10 December 1886, page 7d;
the town is described in Parliamentary Paper 66/1886.
A sports day is reported in the Chronicle,
18 February 1888, page 14f,
Express,
13 February 1888, page 3f,
12 March 1888, page 4b.
Information on a football team is in the Express,
3 October 1889, page 4e.
Also see South Australia - Sport - Football.
The Castle Salt Works are described in the Register,
19 October 1891, page 7h and
the phosphate works on
2 April 1908, page 8e; also see
Observer,
6 June 1908, page 54a.
Information on the Mt Lyell super phosphate works is in the Register,
2 April 1908, page 8e.
Also see Port Adelaide - Ships and Shipping - Shipbuilding
"Birkenhead Slips" is in the Register,
18 February 1899, page 5a.
A fire at G. Jenkins' slip is reported in the Register,
12 November 1906, page 3g.
"Ketch Building at Birkenhead" is in the Register,
16 June 1909, page 4d.
"Relics of Shipping - Old Birkenhead Landmark" is in The News,
24 September 1926, page 11d.
Also see Port Adelaide
Biographical details of Thomas Fraser are in the Register,
3 July 1907, page 7a,
of Mr & Mrs F.R. Ward on 25 August 1926, page 14c.
"Birkenhead Wharf" is in the Register,
20 December 1910, page 6e.
"A Birkenhead Railway " is in the Register,
18 April 1914, page 18d.
Information on a train which plied to and from Glanville "Through Seventy Years" is in The Mail,
14 February 1925, page 1f.
Also see South Australia - Transport - Railways.
Information on new cement works is in the Register,
12 November 1914, page 3g; also see
Advertiser,
16 May 1924, page 11d,
Register,
16 May 1924, page 10f,
Observer,
3 August 1929, page 42e.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Building Stone.
An inundation of the district is reported in the Observer, 22 May 1915, page 49c:
-
This district comprises a portion of LeFevre Peninsula and includes the townships of Bridgewater, Swansea, Newport, Bridgetown and Birkenhead West. There are about 100 houses and an estimated population of about 800. The drainage is generally defective... Water is obtained anywhere in the sand a few feet below the surface but the residents hope in a short time to have service pipes extended to all parts of the district... (Observer, 7 November 1885, page 35.)
The embankment at Birkenhead North from the British Imperial Company works along Elder Road was broken through in two places... The tidal water rushed round the cement company's premises and flooded the whole of the district known as Shoreham... The swamping of the southern part of Birkenhead was caused by the tide flowing over Jenkins Street and carrying the water back into Walker and Martin Streets...
"Bridge at Birkenhead" is in the Register,
12 June 1915, page 13c,
6 July 1915, pages 5e-6c.
A proposed bridge from Port Adelaide is discussed in the Register on
12 August 1922, page 9d,
The News,
1 November 1923, page 5e,
Register,
14 November 1924, page 10a,
24 and 29 July 1926, pages 10g and 15f,
7 August 1926, page 10i; also see
Observer,
10 October 1925, page 48a,
The News,
20 July 1926, page 5c,
1 November 1928, page 22d,
22 July 1929, page 10f,
Advertiser,
24 July 1929, page 17c,
Observer,
27 July 1929, page 42e,
10 August 1929, page 12e,
The News,
2 July 1930, page 9b,
Advertiser,
25 January 1935, page 21i,
The News,
21 July 1936, page 5e,
15 September 1937, page 10d,
7 October 1937, page 4g.
Also see Port Adelaide - Bridges.
Shipbuilding is discussed in the Register,
5 January 1918, page 3f.
Also see Port Adelaide - Ships and Shipping - Shipbuilding - Miscellany.
The unveiling of a Roll of Honour at the Naval Depot is reported in the Register,
4 July 1921, page 4f.
Photographs are in the Observer,
9 July 1921, page 25.
Also see South Australia - World War I - Memorials to the Fallen.
Information on the Vacuum Oil Company is in the Register,
20 August 1925, page 5d.
"Home for Fords" is in The News,
15 September 1925, page 4g,
21 June 1926, page 5,
"Birkenhead Progress" on
9 November 1925, page 6e.
The golden wedding of Captain & Mrs S.J. Bishop is reported in the Register,
13 August 1926, page 10e,
of Mr & Mrs John Sawford on 29 February 1928, page 8g.
General Motors new building is described in the Register,
4 December 1926, page 13c.
Also see Place Names - Holden Gardens.
"A Street Railway" is in the Register,
12 January 1928, page 13g,
Observer,
14 January 1928, page 40c.
A fire at a flour mill is reported in the Register,
8 June 1928, page 11a.
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Mills.
"Tragedy at Birkenhead" is in the Chronicle,
4 July 1929, page 48.
"MS Manunda Breaks Loose and Sinks Ketch" is in the Observer,
12 October 1929, page 49a.
Photographs of the children's playground are in the Chronicle,
5 December 1929, page 37, Also see Adelaide - Entertainment and the Arts - Miscellany - Playgrounds
of members of a physical culture club on
31 December 1936, page 30.
Information on the bus service is in The News,
20 February 1930, page 10e.
Also see Adelaide - Transport - Motor Buses.
For references to the ferry from Port Adelaide see Port Adelaide - Transport - Ferries.
Birkenhead - Obituaries
An obituary of James Taylor, ship-builder, is in the Register,
20 August 1891, page 5a,
Observer,
22 August 1891, page 30c,
of Thomas Cruickshank in the Observer,
29 August 1903, page 33d,
of C.J. Coleman on 21 September 1907, page 42c,
of Thomas Fraser, shipbuider, on 15 May 1909, page 38b,
of William Williams on 1 July 1911, page 41a,
of William Tainsh on 1 July 1916, page 21a,
of Mrs Jane Lashman on 17 March 1928, page 50a.
An obituary of Captain Magnus Irvine is in the Register,
3 May 1911, page 7b,
of William Williams on 26 June 1911, page 6g,
of Mrs John Ottaway on 28 June 1912, page 8h,
of Samuel Patterson on 17 November 1914, page 9a,
of William Tainsh on 23 June 1910, page 4g,
of Mrs Catherine Allan on 7 February 1917, page 6i,
of Captain James Tainsh on 5 April 1919, page 9a,
of Isaac J. Burch on 16 February 1921, page 7b,
of Mrs Harriet Heath on 27 July 1921, page 8h,
of Mrs Elizabeth Smith on 8 February 1924, page 8h.
An obituary of Mrs Jane Lashmar is in the Register,
10 March 1928, page 12a.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Birksgate
Nomenclature
Arthur Hardy, a lawyer in Yorkshire, England arrived in South Australia in 1839 aged twenty-two in the Platina. He returned to England in 1848 and brought his bride back to the colony in 1850. The following year Mr Hardy built a house he called 'Birksgate', after his father's home in England.
General Notes
Mr Arthur Hardy's vineyard is described in the Chronicle,
8 March 1862, page 1e (supp.),
Farmers Weekly Messenger,
23 October 1874, page 5d.
A sketch is in the Pictorial Australian in
July 1875.
"A Vineyard Raid" is in the Observer, 24 April 1869, page 5a:
-
A hoax of a rather serious nature was perpetrated on the inhabitants of Glen Osmond on 12 April 1869. It would appear that for several days previously it had been rumoured that Mr. R. Barr-Smith of Birksgate had given permission to make known to the people of the village that it was his intention to give them free gratis the grapes of one of his vineyards.
The consequence was that the inhabitants - both young and old - betook themselves to the vineyard. There were no less than 49 of them provided with vessels of every description to convey the grapes to their respective homes. It continued until 5 o'clock in the afternoon when a gardener, who had been in another part of the grounds, made all haste to hurry them off... The affair took a very sorry outlook, for several who took part were summoned to appear before Mr. Beddome.
It is to be hoped that the persons or persons who have so wickedly disposed as to spread the rumour may be brought to light and get his or their desserts...
Also see South Australia - Industries - Rural, Primary and Secondary - Viticulture.
Thomas Elder's stud at Birksgate is described in the Register,
12 June 1875, page 7c and
the gardens on
26 August 1880 (supp.), page 2c.
Photgraphs of a garden party are in the Observer,
17 September 1927, page 37.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Birthday Reef
Also see South Australia - Mining - Gold.A gold discovery on the Oulnina Run is reported in the Register on 5 December 1885, page 5e:
-
The site was five miles north-west of the Mannahill Hotel and in addition to the first claim taken out, 25 others have been pegged... The stone was decidedly rich... There is no water within four miles of the place even that which is required for domestic purposes having to be brought that distance...
The "Birthday Line" is described in Record of the Mines of South Australia (fourth edition) page 238.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Birthday Well
On the Oakden Hills Run; water was struck there on the birthday of its manager, John Beviss - see The Mail, 7 July 1928, page 2c:
-
When John Beviss was manager for W.B. Sells on the Oakden Hills run he struck water in a well on his birth anniversary and Birthday Well was immortalised by Mr. Noel Webb in a racy and historical poem of merit and one that has been recited on many platforms.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Biscuit Flat
Nomenclature
It extends northward from the Hundred of Rivoli Bay to the town of Kingston SE. The Rev J.E.T. Woods described it as:
- The ground is generally putted over with little depressions in which the remaining water collects as soon as the dry weather sets in. These are the last to dry up. In doing so, a small quantity of lime and pipe clay (in which soil they only occur) gets hardened into a cake at the bottom. When the summer goes on, and before they are quite dry, they curl up to some extent, becoming detached from the ground, and, when quite hardened, the atmosphere and rain during the ensuing winter give them their rounded form. That it is the whole process may be easily perceived by anyone who examines a few of the "biscuits'' where they are thickly strewn, and then every stage of the process can be seen.
General Notes
It is described in the Register,
31 January 1883 (supp.), page 1b.
The reminiscences of Rev F. Slaney Poole are in the Observer, 14 November 1925, page 48b:
-
To me it seemed a place of ill-omen for it lay before me, for some 5 or 6 miles, a sheet of water... My horse plugged along in his patient, unwearied way, and splashed the water well about him, so that my lower extremities were decidedly damp... Lest no one should in these later days be disposed to think all this is a traveller's yarn, I would remind him that I am speaking of the times before the drainage of the south-east was in operation, that the soil was unbroken by tillage and that it is possible that my introduction to Biscuit Flat occurred in a year of heavy rainfall... Conditions being the same today I wouldn't cross the flat now for a ten pound note... I crossed it several times later on but I was careful to select a dry season of a late summer...
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Bismar(c)k
Nomenclature
A subdivision of sections 99, 160 and others, Hundred of Adelaide by the Melbourne and Adelaide Land Company in 1903. No deposited plan exists; it became 'Weeroopa', meaning 'crested parakeet' in 1918 and 'Brooklyn Park' on 23 July 1942. It was thought to be located in what later became Weeroopa - situated between Marion Rd, and Morphett Rd, Burbridge Rd (now Sir Donald Bradman Drive), and Lyons Rd. The name comes from a town in Prussia, Germany called biscopesmark in 1209 - 'bishop's marsh'; it claims the honour of giving the patronymic to the great German Chancellor.
General Notes
For information on the school near Mount Templeton see Observer,
28 June 1873, page 11f,
Register,
26 February 1881, page 5b.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Black Diamond Corner
Nomenclature
At Port Adelaide, named after the Black Diamond Shipping Line which shipped coal from New South Wales. The company's office was located at the corner. The line was owned by Captain Henry Simpson who arrived in South Australia as second officer of the John Pirie in August 1836.
General Notes
Also see Port Adelaide - Ships and Shipping, Tenterden and South Australia - Maritime Affairs
Information on the shipping line is in the Express,
27 February 1871, page 3c and
Observer,
20 December 1873, page 8a and
on Mr Simpson on
4 December 1874, page 2c;
Register,
4 and 5 December 1874, pages 5c and 5f;
an obituary is in the Express,
28 April 1884, page 2d.
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Blackfellow Creek
Nomenclature
In the Hundred of Kuitpo, was the location of a goldfield discovered in February 1887 on section 292. An English company took out several leases but wound up its operations in 1897 due to financial problems.
General Notes
The gold diggings are described in the Register,
4 April 1887, page 5b,
18 and 26 June 1894, pages 4h and 6a,
24 September 1894, page 7a,
21 January 1897, page 5d,
Observer,
18 August 1894, page 29b,
Advertiser,
14 August 1903, page 5g,
Chronicle,
13 February 1904, page 33a - Also see South Australia - Mining - Gold:
-
Leaving the Prospect Hill store behind me I took the bush track to Dixon's where I had to leave my trap and proceed on foot for two or three miles before I reached the scene of operations... I found between 50 and 60 men at work... Those who had been there for two or three weeks were earning from 10 to fifteen shillings a week...
An Essay on Gold Mining at Blackfellow Creek
A few miles from Prospect Hill in the Hundred of Kuitpo on Section 292, and about 14 miles from the Blackwood Gully diggings, between 50 and sixty men were prospecting at Blackfellow Creek in 1887 and earning about 10 to 15 shillings each per week. By 1894 operations on a large scale were under way by an English company which erected elaborate works with a view to damming back sufficient water to enable them to sluice the ore for gold. Houses and buildings were erected from material cut and sawn on the property and it made three miles of road and culverts:
-
That the country is gold bearing is beyond dispute. Not a dish of stuff from near the creek has been washed without showing colours...
Birkenhead - Black Forest
B
Place Names
Black Forest
Nomenclature
The 'Village of Black Forest' was created by William Peacock in 1850 when he cut up section 87 into allotments of up to two acres. This subdivision, from Wheaton Rd to the tramline, is now part of Plympton. The present day suburb of Black Forest is in the Unley Council area. The 'Township of Black Forest' was a further subdivision of this section by W.M. Hardy, C. Winnecke, H.T. Melville and F.E.H.W. Krichauff in 1882. In the days of early settlement the area was thickly wooded and was a favourite resort of cattle thieves.
General Notes
A first hand account of the capture of cattle thieves in the "Black Forest" is in the Register,
16 December 1885, page 7f; also see
Register,
27 January 1911, page 6c,
Chronicle,
7 March 1935, page 48.
"[It] spread over the plain from Mitcham to about Mile End..." See Register,
27 December 1886 (supp.), page 1d,
10 April 1919, page 5d.
An "Easter Encampment" is in the Advertiser,
9 April 1898, page 5h.
A proposed recreation ground on "portion of the black forest, named the gum paddock...", is discussed in the Register, 9 March 1909, page 6g:
-
The records of the Unley Corporation reveal one or two resultless efforts to secure additional recreation grounds for the citizens and for some time lately it has been desirous of securing that part of the Black Forest named the Gum Paddock - about 18 acres - for a recreation and picnic ground and has been in correspondence with the Executor and Trustee Agency Company in reference to the terms upon which it could be obtained. The block forms part of the Everard Estate...
A photograph of Mr Lewis Lean's house is in the Observer,
24 August 1912, page 32.
The school opened in 1919.
Photographs are in the Chronicle,
1 March 1919, page 24,
of an Arbor Day on
18 June 1936, page 32.
Black Forest - Obituaries
An obituary of William Andrew is in the Register,
3 December 1906, page 4i,
of Mrs John Dorman on 3 July 1907, page 7b,
of J. Wooland is in the Observer,
22 May 1915, page 46a.
An obituary of James Woolard is in the Register,
17 May 1915, page 6f.
