| Over 150 years ago, the first European pioneers moved permanently into the Mount Pleasant District. Mixed farmers and pastoralists settled near the many swift streams which flow seasonally from some of South Australia's highest mountain range country. Lean something of the interaction between these initial white settlers and the fast disappearing Peramangk Aboriginal people. The Mount Pleasant District covers the towns of Eden Valley, Mount Pleasant, Palmer, Springton, Tungkillo and other smaller localities. Turn the pages, and savour the drama in establishing the largely abortive Reedy Creek copper mine, which never earned a dividend. Perhaps it may surprise you to find out that the region was once one of South Australia's greatest grain growing areas! Read with astonishment how Mount Pleasant district labourers and small landowners became some of the colony's most left-wing political agitators for a period. Feel something of the British-German bitterness which surfaced at Palmer and South Rhine during two world wars. This substantial hardback volume features lavish illustrations, most not published before and from the files of well-known regional families, including Bushell, Dewell, Cooper, Fendler, Giles, Herbig, Hillam, Lillecrapp, Melrose, Miller, Murray, Paech, Pym, Rogers, Rolland, Starick, Strauss, Tapscott and Vigar. In the appendixes, is a compilation (over 200 pages) of short biographies of many pioneer families; a complete list of Councillors for the four amalgamated District Councils which did make up the Mount Pleasant District; names of hotelkeepers, ministers of religion, police officers, school teachers etc. who have worked somewhere within the district, and a compendium of how regional features got their names. Do you know where King Arthur's Highway is, for instance? Includes over 900 photographs, woodcuts, maps and other illustrations throughout (some in colour). Some great names in the South Australian art scene are included - Angas, Gill and Gould. The comprehensive index consisting of 44 pages, indexes people, places and subjects. - Geological information: native birds, mammals, vegetation
- Squatting; Special surveys; arrival of the first white settlers
- Formation of townships, roads, railways, bridges, local government
- Sheep, cattle, dairying, mixed farming, grape-growing and mining industries
- The great pastoral estates and tenant farms of Flaxman Valley, South Rhine and Tungkillo
- The prosperous freehold properties of Talunga
- Churches; schools; banks; sporting clubs; cultural organisations etc.
- The district in world war and depression; British and German-Australian tensions
- Modern developments, and glimpses into the future
Contents:
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1. The Ranges are Grassy; Scenery, Pastoral
Chapter 2. People do not like to be Taxed
Chapter 3. What were Agriculturalists to Gain by this?
Chapter 4. What do the Squatters Want?
Chapter 5. This Township was Quite in a Bustle
Chapter 6. After the Matter was Thoroughly Discussed
Chapter 7. Interesting Valuations of Pastoral Land
8. Verily, a Sign of the Times
Epilogue
Appendix 1. Mount Pleasant District Land Grants
Appendix 2. Mount Pleasant Dist Land Grantees
Appendix 3. Mount Pleasant District Township Allotment Sales
Appendix 4. Reedy Creek Special Mining Survey
Appendix 5. The Matthews Estate
Appendix 6. Graph Statistics
Appendix 7. Mount Pleasant District Families
Appendix 8. Mount Pleasant District Farms
Appendix 9. Mount Pleasant District Features
Appendix 10. Local Government Bodies within the Mount Pleasant District
Appendix 11. Local Government Officers Composite Listing
Appendix 12. Miscellaneous Notes
Bibliography
Index |
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