The 1840 Cultivators is a return of all property outside of Adelaide proper as conducted in the latter part of 1840. No records survive giving the precise date of the survey and it may have been partly done in conjunction with the 1841 South Australian census. Regardless, it gives a helpful picture of rural life in the early days of the colony and names the owners and tenants of cultivated property together with a description of the improvements made to the property.
Compiled in a database format, and consisting of several hundred entries the information listed contains: District; Section Number/s; Place; Surname; Given Name; Wheat, Barley, Oats, Maize, Potato, Garden (qty in acres); Additional Information (which can consist of dwellings such as house, cottage, hut, barn, stable, pens, dairy, school, brickworks, hotel, brewery, mill, quarry, lime kiln, shop, police, cemetery, fishery or church). The information can be browsed or searched, and entries can be looked at in a listing or individually.
The database has added features such as a copy of the population figures for the 1840 census. Used in conjunction with the previously publish 1841 South Australian census, the researcher can gain an excellent insight to their family's very earliest days in the colony.
