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We believe that citizen owned government data should be made available for reuse by anyone. The premise is that the best ideas of what to do with that data are likely to be thought of by someone else. The State Library has released the following data sets on data.sa.gov.au and Flickr.

Explore our data sets

19th Century Photographs by Captain Samuel Sweet

These photographs were taken by Captain Samuel Sweet, sea captain and photographer of colonial South Australia. Sweet began working as a photographer in Adelaide in 1867. In 1875 he retired from the sea and established his own photographic studio in Adelaide. He took photographs around South Australia, developing them in a horse-drawn darkroom. Sweet is known as the colony’s foremost landscape photographer of the 1870s.

19th Century Photographs by Ernest Gall

These photographs were taken by Ernest Gall, a South Australian born photographer active from the 1880s to the 1920s. In 1899 he was described as a ‘distinctly modern professional photographer’. Gall is noted for his photographs of civic events, portraits and photographs showing Adelaide’s development into a growing modern city.

19th Century Photographs by Townsend Duryea

These photographs were taken by Townsend Duryea, a noted photographer of colonial South Australia. Duryea was active in South Australia 1855-1875. He and his brother were the first known photographers to work in areas of South Australia outside Adelaide. Duryea is particularly known for his panoramas of Adelaide and portraits of surviving original European colonists of South Australia.

Adelaide plan 40 feet to 1 inch, Fire Insurance Maps, 1911-1914

Set of detailed fire insurance maps from the State Library of South Australia’s map collections. The map set covers part of the City of Adelaide, South Australia and was surveyed and drawn 1911-1914 by John Reid Ferguson for the Fire Underwriters' Association of South Australia. Scale approximately 1:480. Includes parts of North Terrace, King William Street, Rundle Street (Mall), Adelaide Arcade, Gawler Place, Grenfell street, Pulteney Street, Hindmarsh Square, Pirie Street, Flinders Street and Hindley Street. Shows land use including building usage, some street numbers and business names. This dataset consists of 21 map files in JPEG and PDF versions.

Art Deco Adelaide Flickr album

A large serving of Art Deco (with a taste of moderne) architecture in the city of Adelaide. This dataset contains 108 selected images of buildings in this distinctive style. Some of the buildings still exist but others have been demolished.

Australia 1:63,360 Military Survey (S.A.), 1914-1958

Military survey maps from the Australia 1 inch to the mile series held in the State Library of South Australia’s map collections. This map series was originally prepared by the Australian Section Imperial General Staff and later by the Royal Australian Survey Corps. These topographic maps at scale 1:63,360 include roads, railways, towns, rivers, creeks and farms, and some cadastral detail. Relief is shown by contours and spot heights. This dataset is a selection from the Australia 1:63,360 series of the 20 map sheets that cover South Australia. Including editions and variations the State Library’s holdings of SA coverage totals 49 map sheets provided in JPEG and PDF versions.

Beaches, Jetties and Lifesaver Photographs Flickr album

Selection of images (67) from the State Library of South Australia collections exploring South Australia’s relationship with the beach. Dates range from 1901 to 1953.

Bradman Collection Flickr album

Selection of images (53) from the State Library of South Australia’s Bradman Collection. Sir Donald Bradman is regarded by many as the greatest batsman in the history of cricket and was one of Australia's most revered sporting personalities. From the late 1960s he donated much of his personal collection of cricket memorabilia to the State Library of South Australia, in total more than 150 items including trophies, bats, balls, tape recordings, photographs and cricketing apparel.

Departed spirits: Lost Pubs of Adelaide Flickr album

Known as the city of churches, Adelaide has also been described as the city of pubs. This data set contains 126 selected images of hotels that have been put to other, more sober, uses or have been demolished.

Election Ephemera

Over 300 catalogue records including material that has been collected from Local, State and Federal elections related to South Australian candidates. Also includes State and Federal referendums.

Heroes of the Great War Personal Notices Chronicle Newspaper 1915-1919

Heroes of the Great War Indexing Project - over 17,000 references to notices published in the South Australian newspaper 'The Chronicle' between 1915 and 1919. Some service personnel had more than one notice within the paper. The notices were published under various headings including 'Heroes of the Great War', 'Heroes of the Empire', 'Died on Active Service' and 'Biographical'. The notices were placed by relatives and friends of approximately 10,000 World War I service personnel who died, or were wounded, or were decorated. Some newspaper printing errors have been corrected using official sources. Data set of 9514 notices includes the reference (date, page and column) within The Chronicle, brief biographical details including name, age, rank, battalion and occasionally place of death. Also included are names of relatives and place of residence in South Australia by street address, suburb or town. Some obituaries within 'The Chronicle' have portraits, although included in this data set, a separate data set has been created for those entries that have portraits.

Heroes of the Great War Portraits Chronicle Newspaper 1915-1919

Heroes of the Great War Indexing Project - over 17,000 references to notices published in the South Australian newspaper The Chronicle between 1915 and 1919 under various headings including 'Heroes of the Great War', 'Heroes of the Empire', 'Died on Active Service' and ‘Biographical’. The notices were placed by relatives and friends of World War I service personnel who died, or were wounded, or were decorated. Some newspaper printing errors have been corrected using official sources. This is a subset of the Heroes of the Great War data limited to those entries (3062) that contain a portrait. Data set also includes the reference (date, page and column) within The Chronicle, brief biographical details including name, age, rank, battalion and occasionally place of death. Also included are names of relatives and place of residence in South Australia by street address, suburb or town. For the full data set, see Heroes of the Great War Chronicle Newspaper 1915-1919.

Hundred Maps Flickr album

To assist with the regulation and administration of land transactions in South Australia, counties and hundreds were established; the first hundreds were proclaimed in 1846.This dataset contains images of over 1,000 selected South Australia hundred maps, historical cadastral mapping at scale 1:63,360.

Libraries Board of South Australia Annual Report data

Statistical data that appears in the Libraries Board of South Australia Annual Reports.

Lost Adelaide Architecture Photographs Flickr album

Two photo sets on Flickr containing photographs of Lost Adelaide architecture from Central Adelaide (61 photographs) and Adelaide’s West End (64 photographs). These photographs have been used in two of the State Library’s walking tours for hand held devices, Lost Adelaide and Lost Adelaide: West End. Contains brief information about each building and location.

Maps and Charts Flickr album

This data set contains images of more than 1,100 selected maps and charts with South Australian coverage.

Murray Bridge Photographs Flickr album

Selection of images (56) from the State Library of South Australia collections of Murray Bridge.

Old Colonists Photographs

Portrait photographs of 'Old Colonists' – settlers who arrived in the colony of South Australia before 1841. The men Old Colonists were invited to attend a banquet held by businessman Emanuel Solomon on 28 December 1871 to commemorate 35 years since European colonisation. Photographs are sourced from two composite or 'mosaic' photographs, one of men and one of women.

Oral Histories

This dataset includes 946 selected oral history transcripts from the J.D. Somerville Oral History Collection, the central repository for unpublished oral history tapes and transcripts in South Australia. The collection is intended to provide an oral record of all aspects of the South Australian experience and particularly of those who are poorly represented in documentary records, such as low income earners, people of non-English speaking background, women, and country people. The collection also provides a representative sample of the various uses of oral history, such as academic, commissioned, local history, community arts, school and family history. The transcripts are in PDF format.

The Public Domain Review

The Public Domain Review is a not-for-profit project dedicated to showcasing the most interesting and unusual out-of-copyright works available online.

River Murray General Plan SA, 1910

Set of navigation charts of part of the South Australian section of the River Murray from Swan Reach to the eastern boundary of the State, 153 to 405 ¾ miles from the River Murray mouth. Produced and issued by the Engineer-in-Chief’s Department, South Australia, published by A. Vaughan, SA Government Photo-lithographer in 1910. Scale approximately 1:9,600. Depths are shown by soundings and shading. Shows surrounding roads and includes a brief description of terrain and the vegetation beside the river. This data set consists of 71 map files grouped as 18 plans or charts and including 1 key plan index to the set, provided in JPEG and PDF versions.

River Murray Steamers Photographs Flickr album

Selection of images (51) from the State Library of South Australia collections of paddle steamers along the River Murray. These are a selection of images from a range of subjects and other State Library photo sets on Flickr, 1870-1952.

Ross and Keith Smith Photographs

Photographs relating to Sir Ross Smith and Sir Keith Smith and the 1919 Epic Flight from England to Australia. For more information about the Smith brothers and their prize-winning flight see the State Library of South Australia's Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, pioneer aviators website.

Ross Smith Newspaper Articles

Newspaper articles relating to Sir Ross Smith and the 1919 Epic Flight from England to Australia. Datasets are divided into themes of prelude to the epic flight, the epic flight and death and funeral of Sir Ross Smith. Articles are sourced from South Australian newspapers The Advertiser, Daily Herald, The Observer and The Register.

SA Memory

A selected and wide range of digitised archival and published materials from the State Library of South Australia’s SA Memory program. SA Memory is a gateway to South Australian history, heritage and culture. This multimedia website focuses on the South Australian experience – what makes South Australia unique. SA Memory illustrates and interprets themes to highlight South Australia’s people, places, issues and events from the colony’s beginnings to contemporary times: South Australia’s ‘memory’. 

‘S. A. Speaks': An Oral History of Life in South Australia before 1930

This dataset includes 45 oral histories from the project S. A. Speaks': An Oral History of Life in South Australia before 1930. The interviewees were broadly representative of the population of South Australia as it was in the first three decades of the twentieth century. 'S. A. Speaks' was a Jubilee 150 project conducted by Beth M. Robertson under the auspices of the History Trust of South Australia for two years and two months ending December 1986.

Ship Photographs

This data set includes 5,641 selected photographs related to ships and shipping.
Note that images in copyright might not be viewable outside the State Library of South Australia.

Significant South Australians Photographs Flickr album

Selection of images (60) from the State Library of South Australia collections of Significant South Australians featuring; selected men and women of Adelaide's North Terrace footpath plaques. These are a selection of images from a range of subjects and other State Library photo sets on Flickr and range from 1815-1951, including:

Dervish Bejah, Cameleer and explorer. Sir Robert Helpmann, Dancer, choreographer, actor and director. Catherine Helen Spence, Author, journalist, teacher, suffragist, political candidate. Sir Donald Bradman, Cricketer.
Sir Hans Heysen, artist and conservationist. John McDouall Stuart, Explorer. Kate Boadicea Cocks, the first female police constable in the British Empire. Colonel William Light, Surveyor General, South Australia.
Mary Lee, Suffragist and social reformer. Matthew Flinders, Navigator and explorer. Mother Mary Mackillop (now Saint Mary of the Cross), Catholic sister, educator and Australia’s first saint. Mark Oliphant, Physicist, humanitarian, Governor of South Australia.
Donald Dunstan, Lawyer, reformist, social progressive and Premier of South Australia. Sir Douglas Mawson, Geologist and Antarctic explorer. Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith, piloted the first aeroplane from England to Australia. Rev John Flynn, Founded what became the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Dame Roma Mitchell, Australia’s first female judge. Charles Sturt, Soldier and explorer. David Unaipon, Aboriginal leader, preacher, inventor and writer.  

South Australia in 1914 Flickr album

A look at South Australia and South Australians during a year that was to change Australia forever. This data set contains 121 selected images from 1914.

South Australian Children and War

A selection of images (31 in total) from the State Library of South Australia collections that show the experience of children during World War 1 and 2.

South Australian Music and Song in Wartime Flickr album

A selection of images (12 in total) of sheet music covers from the collections of the State Library of South Australia.

South Australian Photographs

More than 100,000 photographs relating to South Australia. Topics range from localities across the state, houses and buildings, portraits, social and historical events, industry, farming, transport and more.

South Australian Photographs World War 1 1914-1929

This data set is an extract from the photographic collections of the State Library of South Australia and is related to World War 1. The set will include individual photographs and those that were collected in albums. Content includes portraits of soldiers, marches, camps, group shots, on location in the Dardanelles, and Western front, activities on the home front e.g. Cheer Up Societies, memorial dedications, captured albums eg captured German and Turkish images.

South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau

Between 1916 and 1919 the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau undertook research into over 8,000 enquiries from family and friends of missing Australian Imperial Force personnel who fought in World War I. The data contains the names and service detail of the soldier enquired upon an eyewitness; name and address of enquirer, dates of death, locations, National Archives barcode for soldier war service records, date range of enquiry, battalion name.

South Australian Sheet Music 1852-1927

Selected sheet music (100 individual songs) related to or published in South Australia. The collection is particularly strong on the genre of patriotic songs from World War One and sentimental ballads. Includes full-colour scan of the sheet music and additional contextual research.

South Australians of World War 1 Photographs Flickr album

A selection of portraits of soldiers (542 in total). This set of portraits comes from our Chamberlain Collection and includes portraits of Soldiers prior to embarkation in studios and at various military camps in South Australia including Morphettville and Jubilee Oval.

Summer Under Southern Skies Flickr album

Hot days, warm nights, beaches, backyard cricket and Christmas celebrations are all part of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. This data set contains 52 selected images that portray the essence of summer in South Australia.

War memorial Walking Tour Flickr album

A selection of photographs (31  in total) of war memorials around Adelaide, used in the SLSA War Memorial Walking Tour app.

Water in South Australia Photographs Flickr set

A selection of images (87 in total)  demonstrating South Australia’s relationship to water. Topics include Significant, Sport, Military, Women and War, Murray Bridge, Militaria, Transport, River Murray steamers. Dates range from 1844 to 1975.

Women at Work in World War Two Flickr album

A selection of photographs (31 in total) of South Australian women working in war industries during World War II.

WW1 Photographs Flickr album

A selection of images (187 in total) related to Australian involvement in World War II - on the frontlines and the home front.