The following information was extracted from Reg Butler's (Hahndorf Historian) computer files and concerns early ownership of land Sections and sub-divisions plus other relevant information in the township of Bridgewater and surrounding areas

 

Hundred of Noarlunga

Section 82 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 26/3/1856 Land grant to John Bazley White gent Swancombe, Kent, England. 180 acres, with Sections 84 & 86 as well.

Section 83 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 26/3/1856 Land grant Arthur Hardy esquire Adelaide 31 acres for £31.
  • Hardy mortgaged the land to Samuel Tomkinson, manager, Bank of Australasia.
  • 17/5/1880 RPA value £155. Title to Friedrich Ferdinand Gerhard Künzel gardener near Hahndorf. Application 18014.

Section 84 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 26/3/1856 Land grant to John Bazley White Senr gent Swanscombe, Kent, England. 128 acres, with Sections 82 & 86 as well. His business was at Millbank St, Westminster.
  • 20/10/1867 JB White Senr died. Lived 1 Belgrave Place, Blackheath, Kent, then.
  • His trustees died. They were his sons.
  • 9/3/1893 JB White Junr died. Lived at 1 Belgrave Place, Blackheath.
  • 25/7/1898 Edward White died.
  • 11/8/1898 George Frederick White died.
  • New trustees appointed.
  • 25/3/1898 Leedham White 16 Wetherby Gardens, South Kensington, Middlesex & Frederick Anthony White, of 170 Queen’s Gate, South Kensington & Arnold Henry White, 2 Windmill Hill, Hampstead, Middlesex. George Bazley White of 93 Currie St, Adelaide was the trustee for the British trustees. GB White did the RPAct work. Land at Pt Elliot, Goolwa, Pt Adelaide, and TA 13 North Tce.
  • 30/8/1900 RPA

Section 85 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 16/6/1856 Land grant Arthur Hardy esquire Adelaide 99 acres for £99/5/-.
  • 10/12/1863 Mortgage to Samuel Tomkinson, manager, Bank of Australasia.
  • 29/4/1865 Tomlinson forclosed.
  • 13/10/1882 RPA Value £1,300. Make out title to George Alexander Farr solicitor Adelaide. Application 19441.

Section 86 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 26/3/1856 Land grant to George Bazley White gent Swanscombe, Kent, England. 123 acres, with Sections 82 & 84 as well.
  • Apparently, most of this section disappeared as part of the Nairne Railway.

Section 87 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 16/6/1856 Land grant to Arthur Hardy gentleman Adelaide. He lost his grant and had to make a statutory declaration on 9/4/1904.
  • Hardy sub-divided the land.

1 fifth

  • 12/3/1869 To Thomas Elder of Adelaide and George Elder of Knock Castle, Wemyss Bay, Scotland. They died 6/3/1897 & 22/7/1897 respectively.
  • 19/1/1899 The executors William Ralston Patrick, Frederick Elder and William Sharp McKechnie handed the property over to Robert Barr Smith or Alexander Martin.
  • 1902 Alexander Martin got power of attorney to sell land in SA.

3 fifths

  • 14/1/1867 Arthur Hardy to Alfred Hardy and Hon John Baker mortgage.
  • 11/4/1890 Arthur Hardy to John Bazley White, George Frederick Whitem, and Rev’d Edward White.
  • 9/10/1893 To George Bazley White. He mortgaged in turn to WR Cave. Complicated manoeuvres between these two and Cave ended up buyuing the property.,
  • 24/12/1903 To WR Cave merchant Adelaide.

1 fifth

  • Louisa Charlotte Tomkinson widow Mt Lofty.
  • 22/3/1904 RPA for all portions. Application 24756.

Section 88 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 11/12/1857 Land grant to Robert Stuckey and Peter Dowding Prankerd gents Adelaide. 143 acres for £143.
  • 7/12/1863 RPA value £225. Title to John Dunn Senr miller Mt Barker and John Dunn Junr minister Feejee Islands. Application 4635.

Section 89 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 10/6/1858 Land grant to John Dunn Senr and John Dunn Junr millers Mt Barker. 113 acres for £601.
  • 1/6/1859 Brought under the RPA. Application 440.
  • 21/6/1859. Green & Wadham had laid out the plan of Bridgewater township on just under half of the section - contained 32 irregular allotments.

Section 90 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 24/6/1856 Land grant to Charles Farr and Samuel Reginald Hall gentlemen Adelaide. 60 acres for £79.
  • 22/7/1862 Brought under the provisions of the RPA. Application 3239.

Section 91 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 21/6/1856 Land grant Robert Burt labourer Hindmarsh. 27 acres for £46.
  • 7/6/1865 RPA value £27. Title to be made out to John Dunn Senr miller Mt Barker. Application 6377.

Section 97 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 25/4/1856 Land grant to Cornelius Birdseye, Charlotte Maria Birdseye, nee Wright, Elizabeth Wright, Eliza Wright, Mary Ann Wright, Emma Wright. 28 acres.
  • 12/5/1864 Cornelius & Charlotte Maria Birdseye of 19 Burton Road, Buxton Road, Surrey, Elizabeth Wright of Milton Tce, Wandsworth, Mary Ann Wright of Camden Road, Middlesex, Emma Wright of same place and James Washington Crouch of 8 Grays Inn Square, Middlesex. Father William Wright of Wymondley Bury, Hertford farmer. He gave his daughters money - Mrs Birdseye got £600. He left his estate in SA equally to his daughters. He died 16/7/1842 at Little Wymondley, aged 72. He made the will on 21/2/1842. He had land order 138 for Town Acre 314 and Section 336.Section 97 Survey B. Cornelius Birdseye had already bought Town Acre 55 and Section 432. 336 (particularly 336) & 432 short in acreage and the government gave Section 97 in lieu. William Wright had died.
  • Emma Wright the last person of the family to die. William Wright Callander was the last of the original trustees for Emma Wright to die. 27/10/1912.
  • Matthew Symonds Clark was the SA agent for the family from before 1870 until his death in 1920. Henry Woodhouse Crompton was the agent afterwards.
  • 19/2/1924 RPA. Value £240. Not clear who gets the title. Also look at applications 26939 and 27141.

Hundred of Onkaparinga

Section 1118 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • 19/10/1847 with 1117 John Chambers blacksmith Mt Barker 172 acres for £172. 86 acres each.
  • 28/1/1848 To GM Stephen £90. John Chambers now a blacksmith of North Adelaide.
  • 30/5/1848 Mortgage to GV Butler esquire Guichen Bay £150.
  • 6/5/1850 By direction of GV Butler, the land to George Phillips marchant Adelaide, with Sections 1117, 1130, 1131, 1137. Group of 9 people, headed by Judge Cooper, arranged for Phillips to pay off the mortgage and the rest of the sum owing to GM Stephen.
  • 22/2/1851 Phillips to George Ernest Hamilton civil engineer Coromandel Valley mortgage of £270 at 20% interest on those five sections, together with steam engine, saw mill etc.
  • 15/11/1852 To RD Hanson MLC steam engine, saw mills £1,400.
  • 15/11/1880 Lady Hanson brought these properties under the RPA. Total value of £7,000.

Section 1132 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • 10/2/1851 Land grant to Abraham Ashhurst saddler Adelaide. 87 acres for for £78/6/-.
  • He died on 12/9/1860. John Kenworthy Ashhurst was the only surviving child at the time and inherited the property. Abraham Ashhurst’s wife had died before he did. A Ashhurst was a Cox Creek farmer at the time of his death. JK Ashhurst was also a gardener of Cox Creek. He brought the property under the RPA on 15/1/1909. JK Ashhurst still referred to the area as Cox Creek in 1909.

Section 1133 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • Application 18642
  • 70/17 16/8/1849 Land grant with Sections 1138 & 1140. £230/3/-. to GM Stephen esquire Adelaide.
  • 26/1/1856 Part section to Thomas Dixon settler Cox Creek. 8 acres for £80.
  • 4/3/1858 He mortgaged his land to RB Andrews gent Adelaide for £200.
  • 1/8/1876 This portion back to Lady Hanson. RD Hanson had paid RB Andrews the debt which T Dixon owed, but Hanson died in the meantime. He was going to pay T Dixon £100 for the land. Dixon now a gentleman of Pt Wakefield.

Sections 1130, 1131, 1133, 1137, 1138, 1140

  • land grants on 16/8/1849 to GM Stephen.

Sections 1146, 1150, 1151

  • to RD Hanson on 23/2/1854.

Sections 1117, 1118

  • on 19/10/1847 to John Chambers blacksmith Mt Barker 172 acres for £172.

Section 1134 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • 149/24 1/8/1850 Land grant To George Davies accountant Adelaide & William Bruce gardener Adelaide. Area 90 acres.
  • 6/25 2/9/1850 They mortgaged the land for £130 with money borrowed from Charles Davies, doctor, Adelaide.
  • Sub-division occurred in 1854.

Subdivision 1.

  • 13/5/1854 To Zebulon Batt sawyer Cox Creek. 6 acres for £100. This land adjoined the Old Mt Barker Road.

Subdivision 2

  • 13/5/1854 To Charles Thurston labourer Cox Creek. 2 acres for £30.
  • 29/4/1865 To Zebulon Batt market gardener Cox Creek. 2 acres for £97/10/-.
  • 27/1/1871 Z Batt sold both parts to John Dunn Senr miller Mt Barker for £340. Worth £600, when he brought it under the RPA on 1/12/1884.

Subdivision 3

  • 30/11/1854 To William Brown farmer Bowden. 4 acres for £68.
  • 30/1/1874 William Brown labourer Gawler died. Letters of administration to Jessie Brown widow of the deceased.
  • 93/319 11/11/1879 To James Ferguson wheelwright Gladstone £35..
  • 235/351 20/7/1883 To Albert Joseph Morris mason Bridgewater for £185.
  • He brought the land under the RPA on 17/9/1885.

Section 1135 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • 10/4/1851 Land grant to William Easther farmer Cox Creek.
  • Land subdivided in 1855.
  • Subdivision 1
  • 302/93 26/11/1855 To Simon Boase farmer Prospect 34 acres for £350.
  • 269/119 18/4/1857 To Thomas Wills farmer Langhorne Bridge.
  • Thomas Wills died. His wife, Hannah, had a life interest, with remainder to her children, Henry Taylor, James Francis Taylor and Charles Rich McConnell. Her son, James Taylor 36 accountant Mt Barker, died of consumption on 10/3/1864.
  • Mrs Wills brought the land under the RPA on 13/7/1867 and at the same time sold it to Joseph Steer gardener of Beaumont. A William John Steer had the land in 1909, said that he lived in Bridgewater from 1868 - probably a son of Joseph Steer.
  • Subdivision 2
  • 5/1/1858 To Samuel Sissons sawyer Cox Creek a strip at the end of the Section of 1 chain by 13 chains for £10. This adjoined Section 1153. He brought the land under the RPA on 25/9/1868.
  • Subdivision 3
  • 28/8/1854 To Alfred and Edward Easther sawyers Cox Creek, 59 acres for £60. W Easther was now a gentleman of Mitcham.
  • 10/4/1855 JK Ashhurst bought two acres out of this land - the title subsequently lost.
  • 6/5/1858 Mortgage to John Hamley gentleman of North Adelaide £150 at 12.5%.
  • 7/5/1861 To Charles Howard Barton gentleman North Adelaide for £150.
  • 30/8/1885 CH Barton a gentleman of Bridgewater. Placed the land under the RPA. Valued at £1000.

Section 1136 Hundred of Onkaparinga

  • 5/10/1849 Land grant to Caleb Crompton of Bowden farmer. 36 acres for £36.
  • Subdivision 1. Application 19511.
  • 20/8/1849 10 acres sold to James John Rudd woodsplitter Cox Creek. He used to rent this land out.
  • 20/7/1850 Rudd made an agreement to sell the land back to C Crompton, but he never paid any money or made a claim to the property.
  • 11/11/1882 Application to bring the land under the RPA. Land worth £200. Title to be made out to JJ Rudd.
  • Subdivision 2. Application 118580.
  • C Crompton retained this land.
  • 5/2/1850 C Crompton, now of Cox Creek, general dealer, went bankrupt. He had mortgaged his estate to John Richardson for £26. He had a cow, calf and foal, together with household furniture, all worth £10. John Hance was the official assignee. Crompton also had half an acre at Hindmarsh.
  • 20/7/1850 Sampson, Wicksteed & Co held a public auction. John Richardson bought the land for £21. Crompton left SA shortly after the sale and never returned.
  • 23/3/1853 James Rudd agreed to buy the land for £35.
  • He leased the land to various people, including his four sons and Robert Paine gardener Bridgewater. A Wilhelm August Schuster gardener Bridgewater was a witness to a lease made in 1882.
  • 12/5/1881 JJ Rudd brought the land under the RPA. Worth £400.
  • 17/5/1882 Rudd made an agreement with Maurice Coleman Davies to lease the land for £25 per annum, with right to purchase for £600.

Hundred of Noarlunga

Section 1142 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • 19/5/1853 Land grant to Cornelius Birdseye.
  • Subdivision 1 Application 19965.
  • 16/1/1854 Cornelius Birdseye gentleman South Road to William Wailes miller South Road 2.5 acres for £75.
  • 7/6/1854 Mortgage to Nathaniel Oldham gent manager of the Union Bank Mill engine house building, steam engine, mill gear, millwright work, fixed or moveable machinery, implements, utensils, or premises ... which shall be erected, or placed, or used upon .. or pull down, remove or take away need permission to do. at 8% per annum.
  • 27/12/1854 Philip Levi merchant Adelaide, the property from the bank for £1354.
  • 5/7/1855 Frederick John Beck and John Beck merchants Adelaide a half share in the flour mill. £747/14/6.
  • 7/12/1855 FJ Beck died, leaving all his real and personal estate to Jane Beck, his wife. She died intestate. Letters of administration granted 13/2/1861.
  • 4/7/1884 Frederick Henry Beck, eldest son and heir, sold his share of the property to Martin Kain.
  • 7/11/1883 Martin Kain brought the land under the RPA and placed it in equal shares with Thomas Kain, Martin Kain, Michael Kain and John Kain farmers Cox Creek.
  • LEVI - P Levi went bankrupt. A large sale of metropolitan allotments at Pt Adelaide, the Northern Territory, Macclesfield etc, pastoral properties, hotels and the Lion Mill.
  • Chronicle 4/5/1872. - on which is built the Lion Mill, built of stone, with iron roof, three floors, boiler, engine and machinery working three pairs of stones. Wheat store adjoining 60’ x 18’. 4 cottages, sheds etc.
  • 9/5/1872 Public auction of the property by Townsend, Botting and Kay. WK Simms bought the property for £100. He sold the property to Edmund Levi for £110.
  • 30/1/1873 The executors transferred the half share in the mill to Edmund Levi merchant Adelaide.
  • 16/11/1875 Edmund Levi to Sarah Levi widow Walkerville..
  • 7/11/1883 John Beck and Mrs Sarah Levi to Martin Kain for £400.
  • Subdivision 2 Application 20044
  • Cornelius Birdseye kept the rest of Section 1142 until his death. He also owned Sections 43, 44 in the Hundred of Noarlunga. 1st two granted to him on 20/1/1854.
  • 28/2/1880 Cornelius Birdseye died.
  • He left this property to his widow, Emma Birdseye, of Plaistow, in Kent, England.
  • 21/9/1881 Mrs Birdseye gave her SA Attorneys power to sell portion of this land to the SA Government for a railway. Application 30403.
  • 5/2/1883 Her SA attorneys were Algernon Sidney Clark and Matthew Symonds Clark. They now had power to sell the whole property.
  • The Birdseye Quarry Company occupied part of these properties. J Widgery of Grünthal was the agent for the quarry. James Lyall, James McMahon, of Stirling, and Edwin Williams of Bridgewater used part of these lands.
  • Mrs Birdseye had an agreement to sell the property to R Barr Smith and others.

Section 1141 Hundred of Noarlunga

  • Land grant 1/12/1849 John Dean Cox Creek 88 acres. Parker & Herford were the solicitors handling the transfer.
  • Sold to James Addison 19/6/1850, who laid out some 34 allotments around the edge of the section.,
  • Alfred Taylor butcher Cox Creek bought allotments 7/2/1855.
  • Henry Harris engineer Cox Creek bought allotments 32-34.
  • Lots 31 & 32
  • 30/1/1855 of 14 acres to John Dunn Senr & Junr for 390 pounds. A 10' wide road joined the two sites.
  • To use, stop and direct the water ... by the erection of a dam or dams ... to a mill head leased for working a water mill.
  • The old Mt Barker Road joined the new Mt Barker Road where they do now.
  • Mt Barker railway went over the mill race, which went from the dam to the mill wheel. 1885.
  • 1850-1858 Addison took out 8 mortgages from £100 to £700 on the hotel land during the time he owned it from.
  • 3/10/1857 August Beyer leased the hotel for 5 years with right of purchase.
  • 21/8/11858 John & Robert Curruthers licensed victuallers bought the Bridgewater Hotel from J Addison.
  • 2/9/1864 John Curruthers went broke and sold to John Dunn for 700 pounds.
  • Dunns leased the hotel out. When the property was brought under the RPA in 1885, it was worth 5,000 pounds.

Hundred of Onkaparinga.

Section 1152 Hundred of Onkaparinga.

  • Application 18172
  • 23/2/1854 Land grant Richard Davies Hanson solicitor Adelaide 53 acres for £146.
  • 3/2/1869 RD Hanson made his will. To allow my wife to use all consumable glass, linen, furniture, plate, carriages, horse or such of them as my executors may not deem it advisable to sell. To sell such part of my estate as may not be yielding an income for the purpose of paying off any debts or incumbrances. To sell or devise the residue of my estate as may be deemed advisable to collect and receive all monies due or received in any account to invest all monies to arise from any such sale in Govt securities or in first mortgages of freehold property with power to change investments. To permit my wife so long as she shall remain unmarried to receive all the profits of my estate. If my wife should marry again then to allow her to receive one third for her own benefit and to apply the remaining two thirds for the maintenance and education of my children. After the death of my wife to divide all my property equally among my children and the descendants of any deceased child to be entitled to such child’s share. To advance to any child such child’s share. To advance to any child one half of his or her share if my executors believe that such advance will be for the benefit of such child and for such purposes to call in securities or sell property. Any monies that I may during my life time advance to any child for his or her descendants may be entitled. I appoint my wife sole guardian of my children so long as she shall remain unmarried and if she should marry again, then I appoint my brother William Hanson and Edward Hanson joint guardians with her.
  • 4/3/1876 RD Hanson died. Wife Anne Hanson, and brothers Edward and William executors.
  • 25/8/1880 Annie Hanson widow Woodhouse to Robert Pedder gardener Cox Creek £172/5/-. RD Hanson had agreed before he died to sell the land to R Pedder.
  • 1/9/1880 RPA Value £300. Certificate in the name of the owner.

Section 1153 Hundred of Onkaparinga.

  • 6/3/1854 Land grant to Michael Cullen and Thomas Powell gents Adelaide 60 acres for £94/10/-.
  • 7/11/1854 To William Easther gentleman Cox Creek £153. together with all buildings, fences, timber minerals, ways, waters, water courses, right, easements, members and appurtenances whatsoever to the said section ...
  • William Easther subdivided the Section.
  • 10/8/1857 To Samuel Sisson . 5 acres for £37/10/-. This is against Section 1135, where Sisson bought a strip of adjoining land. He brought it under the RPA on 15/10/1868.

Section 1201 Hundred of Onkaparinga.

  • 28/4/1853 Land grant to Noah Nichols farmer Milbank. 114 acres.
  • Subdivision 1 Application 5013.
  • 18/2/1859 41 acres to Thomas Gill yeoman Glen Osmond, for £61/10/-.
  • 9/4/1864 Brought under the RPA. Gill was than a gardener of Glen Osmond. Title made out to Thomas Robinson gardener Stirling.
  • Subdivision 2 Application 16464
  • 27/11/1877 Noah Nichols, now a farmer of Cox Creek, brought the land under the RPA. 74 acres valued at £400. A John Welfare farmer Cox Creek was associated with the land.

Hundred of Adelaide

Section 1277, Hundred of Adelaide

  • 14/11/1842 Land grant to Peter Peachy gentleman Adelaide
  • 9/3/1849 mortgage of £2,000 to William Younghusband, FH Dutton, Marshall Mcdermott, William Samson, Francis Corbel Singleton gents Adelaide + Percival Peachy Hermitage nr Houghton, an infant under 21. Peter Peachy died intestate 29/8/1849, without having redeemed the mortgage. His son, Percival, survived and inherited. Elizabeth Peachy was the widow. Court case 6/8/1850 & 26/8/1851 John Hart v the Peachys. Assets had to be sold to satisfy creditors. It took a long time before Sections 1070 and 1277, H of Adelaide were sold.
  • 25/10/1856 William Hinde gent Adelaide bought the land for £935, which was handed to the creditors.
  • 27/1/1856 Hinde mortgaged the section to Thomas Waterhouse for £1,000 until 1860 at 12.5%.
  • 31/5/1859 Hinde sold the land to John Williams gentleman Black Rock. £93/15/-.
  • 2/4/1862 Transfer of mortgage from FH Faulding to Very Rev’d James Farrell, Dean of Adelaide, and JB Hughes, late of Adelaide, but now of the Loddon River Vic.
  • 12/12/1864 RPA JB Hughes, now of Mt Lofty. Value £1,600. Transfer the land to new trustees, Hon John Baker, Morialta, and Alfred Hardy, gent, North Adelaide.

Section 1278, Hundred of Adelaide - Mt Barker Road 80 acres.

  • Application 18905
  • 15/8/1842 Land grant Robert Watkins, gent, Arundel, Sussex.
  • Deposit 257/1854 14/3/1839 Robert Watkins of Arundel gent agreed to lease 640 acres of land in SA to Peter Peachy gent Salisbury Square London. Watkins intended to spend £360 erecting buildings and substantial fencing. From Lady Day 1839 for 10 years at £32 per year and a further rent of £18 a year when the improvements had been erected. Peachy to select the land and spend the agreed amount on improvements. The Mountain Hut most probably was built with this money. Peachy Also had the right to buy the land once the 10 years were finished. Agreement drawn up by Robert Coulson, 45 Lower Brook Street, London.
  • 3/8/1849 Robert Watkins, now of Osnaburg St, Regent Park, London, & Margaret, his wife, eight sections of land to Peter Peachy, gent, of Adelaide £1,650. (Memorial 366/20).
  • Peachy mortgaged, but died in late 1849. A Supreme Court case gave orders to sell the estate. Frederic Wicksteed auctioned the land on behalf of the Court on 20/1/1853. James Fitzpatrick of the Mountain Hut Inn bought the property (Lot 16) for £1,220.
  • 21/3/1854 Land title issued to James Fitzpatrick.
  • 12/2/1861 James Fitzpatrick died. Half of property to son Patrick Fitzpatrickand other half to son, Michael Fitzpatrick for life, which then reverted to Patrick Fitzpatrick and his heirs.
  • Patrick Fitzpatrick ran the Mountain Hut. Michael Fitzpatrick lived at the Mountain Hut and farmed the section.
  • Many complicated mortgages on the property.
  • 2/10/1874 Patrick Fitzpatrick died. Letters of administration to Margaret Fitzpatrick. She testified that he was her late husband and his full name was Patrick George Fitzpatrick.
  • 30/10/1874 The Court awarded Margaret Fitzpatrick the Mountain Hut.
  • 4/12/1881 Michael Fitzpatrick handed his life interest to Margaret Fitzpatrick. He was now a labourer of Glen Osmond. for the sum of 10/- ... and also for divers other good and valuable considerations ...
  • 13/12/1881 RPA Margaret Fitzpatrick widow. Value £1,500.

Hundred of Yatala

Sections (5551-5562), (5567-68), 5570

  • Enrolment 17/40 & 212/1859
  • On 9/5/1842, Elizabeth Williams of the Hermitage spinster lent Thomas Williams £2,100 to buy sections 5551-5562, 5567-68, 5570 Little Para Special Survey, 1,154 acres. This became the Hermitage Estate in the Hundred of Yatala. John Russell and John Williams to use the land for five years. William Younghusband and William James the trustees for the loan.
  • 9/5/1845 Loan to be repaid and Elizabeth Williams to have the use of the land for 500 years. William Younghusband Junr and William James the 1st trustees.
  • 30/4/1844 Thomas Williams declared insolvent. He had handed no interest or principle back to Elizabeth Williams.
  • 30/5/1844 Marriage agreement between Elizabeth Williams and Peter Peachey. Her interest from the Little Para Loan to be for her use only.
  • Witnesses - James Farrell and Cunningham Williams landholder Moorundee.
  • 11/4/1845 The public assignee, John Hance, ‘well knowing that the said premises are a very scanty and slender security for the principle and interest now due thereon’, claimed that Elizabeth Williams had never lent the money and that no agreement had been made with Thomas Williams. He owed Elizabeth Williams £420 interest. The trustees are remediless in the matter of common law
  • 102 & 103/212 2/11/1857 Wailes (now a cornfactor of Gawler) bought Lot 58 Bassett Town for £75/12/-, putting down a deposit of £15/2/4. He borrowed the rest at 10% interest from Thomas Scown cornfactor Willaston. 6/7/1859 Wailes went broke again and Scown took over his allotment. George Warren was the auctioneer and agent for William Bassett in the Bassett Town sale.

Annotations

ABORIGINES - Still camped along Cox Creek behind Rudd’s Bakery shortly before WW1. Occasionally danced for Bridgewater residents.

ACKLAND, John (1879-1954) 2nd Youngest of 8 sons of Richard Ackland and Esther, nee Fischer (RA d 12/11/1918, Esther d 4/7/1891). Three sons lived in a row on Old Mt Barker Road at Bridgewater. They were market gardeners, who watered their gardens with cold water springs. Washed veg with cloth in half a tank of cold water. One horse trolleys loaded to take produce to Adelaide Market. Water gravitated through pipes with wooden plugs at intervals. Plugs used to pop out and had to be put back in with wooden mallet. He married one of the Pepper girls from the Bridgewater Hotel. Her mother used to supply suppers for the dances.

ARBURY PARK - Tullie Wollaston bought the Raywood portion from Mary Ann Hill in 1904. Bought a closed road between Sections 1134 & 1135 from Crafers District Council in 1911.

Arbury Park Lodge - This was at the Bottom Entrance; the main caretaker, gardener, manager lived there. Mr Downer was Minister for Immigration and hired migrants to come in and work for periods. Had cows and sheep as well. The Lodge has now been demolished.Sir Alex gave the head gardener free hand at tree and plants putting in and pulling out. Mr Nicholls was the first head gardener. Who was this gardener? Mrs Maureen Herrmann was his daughter.

ARBURY PARK OUTDOOR SCHOOL LAND - Owned at one time by Noah Nicholls, then John Welfare 1883 took 49 acres, which NN did buy back in 1898 and sold to Eliza Jane Gates. She sold the land to Tullie Wollaston in 1911; he to Alexander Downer in 1933. Women owned much of the land around the turn of the century. AD bought many other portions of land to increase the size of his property.

ASHHURST FAMILY - Tom Ashhurst became a Rhodes Scholar.

BARTON FAMILY One of the Bartons bought the Easther family’s two cottages. This Mr Barton was the father of Edmund Barton. George Barton born Croydon, Surrey, c1815. To SA 1837 John Renwick. Carrier and labourer. Lived in Adelaide, Mt Pleasant, Burton, where he died 1875.

BARBOR, Colonel. Built an Indian bungalow above the recreation ground, after a design of one he had lived in in India. His daughter, Mrs LN Marriott, lived there after him.

BATT, Zabulon Batt obtained a timber licence.

BIBLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Old church built on land presented by John Dunn in 1863. A block on a scrubby hillside. Now a private home. A few pioneer graves in the yard.

BIRDSEYE, Cornelius.

Left Mary Ann Hyde, wife of John Hyde, £100. The rest to his wife, Emma. The Birdseyes lived in Cambridge Rd, Bromley, Parish of Plaistow, Kent. On returning to England, they had lived in Norwood, Surrey

BRIDGEWATER - 14 of these towns through the world. At the foot of Mt George. Fence posts and roofing shingles from late 1830s. Land surveyed in 1849. Private ownership led to the growing of fruit trees, berries and vegetables. Steep slopes abandoned to grazing and poultry, with high cost of modern labour and the difficulty of using machinery on slopes. After Bridgewater became the terminus of the suburban railway, more people who worked in Adelaide came to live in the township.

BRIDGEWATER HOTEL - Pumped spring water from the opposite hill and a person employed full time to pump into the kitchen. A black man with red shirt and white shirtsleeves.

BRIDGEWATER MILL - Reputed to have made the first semolina in SA. People came with 56lb bags to buy for porridge. Bridgewater ground slowly - bakers liked this flour best; never any trouble to sell it. Rumoured that Dunns used Bridgewater flour as samples for export orders and then filled orders from other mills. When the dam dried out in summer, the mill employees used to plough the soil with two horses and a single furrow plough, and use the best for their market gardens. When the 1st downpours came, the sluice gates opened and the poorer soil went down Cox Creek into the Onkaparinga River. Best wheat supposed to have been grown at Monarto, with limestone. Wheat came to Bridgewater by train and use 6-8 tonne trolleys to unload from a siding about a week in spare time. Atkinson’s of Crafers, local butcher supplied a tin of dripping once a week to grease the wheel. Dunn the miller had an orchard in part of what is now known as Raywood. Dunn’s seedling apple named after Mrs Dunn.

BRUCE, William. The Bruces came to live at Cox Creek in the 1850s. It was at 1st a hut, with later a store and bakery added. Mrs Bruce opened a Dame’s school.

CARRIPOOK - Aboriginal word meaning a hill.

COACHES - Took axe to chop away fallen trees and branches from the road. Took 3 hours between Adelaide-Mt Barker. Children loved the steep roads and great gorges beside the track.

COX CREEK - Full of bullfrogs and crickets. Much maidenhair fern. Hahndorf women hurried through there, because of all the rough looking people around.

CURNOW, James. Leased the Bridgewater Hotel.

CROMPTON, Caleb. Arrived in VDL in 1842 to Trafalgar Farm, Evandale, as a freeman. He left Cox's Creek for the goldfields of Victoria and established the Newmarket Hotel in Miners Rest.  At the time of his death, on 29 December 1854, he was due to attend the Geelong courts for debt related matters. - See www.rgcrompton.info/crompton/1821info1b5.html and more - Richard Crompton, UK

DEAN FAMILY. A John Dean had the Crafers Hotel in the 1850s and then depastured cattle in the 1860s.

DEANERY HOTEL - Cellar still there in the 1960s, about 20 metres uphill from the bridge, and overgrown with blackberries.salting down of meat at the Deanery. An old cellar on the south side of the bridge was in existence until at least the late 1930s, where these things used to happen. Police scoured the scrub around Mt George for missing bullocks, which were hidden in scrub towards Mylor. Then quickly driven via Germantown Hill to Mt George when police went south.

DEANE, Dr CM. 1st doctor to consult in Bridgewater. He came from Mt Barker.

DUNN’S MILL - One hot Sunday morning, while church service in the mill, a boy swimming in the dam drowned - people heard the news as they came out from service. November fetes held in the mill grounds. Rocks dripping with water formed a back-drop to the stalls. Used steam and then electricity in the summer when there was no water power. Three 8-hour shifts a day. Mostly local people employed. When the mill burnt down c1910, the flour simmered and the machinery fell down through the floor onto the floor below.

EASTHER FAMILY. Owned two cottages at Cox Creek. William Easther took out a 2-year timber licence from 1/1/1860, at £10. 21/5/1860 The Council have promised they will not interfere with his putting up such erections on the Crown lands of the District as he may find needful, having fully stated to him, that they cannot grant him legal authority for so doing.

Examiner 30/11/1842 We observe that the fashion amongst bushmen in SA is, that those who come from the northward of Adelaide generally wear red shirts - whilst those from the south and east usually wear them of a blue colour. There are some exceptions on both sides, and the circumstances may be accidental, but this is a distinction which is now becoming very observable. The SA Gazette of 30/6/1849 p201 col b mentioned that William Easther gave up his home at Mitcham near the new St Michael’s Church to a Mrs William GILES for a young ladies school called Beaulieu, which opened 2/7/1849.

FYFFE, Henry Stanton storekeeper Mitcham. Bought part of Section 1153 H of Onka.

GULLY FROM RAILWAY BRIDGE TO LION MILL. Thick with scrub. Blood-curdling groans from undergrowth. Turned out to be mournful cooing of pigeons and grinding together of trees swayed by the wind. Infested with dingoes in early times.

HUNBY Family. Mrs Hunby was a teacher in her cottage. Her husband was a labourer at Dunn’s mill.,

KAIN FAMILY. Great tellers of tales about the cattle stealing and salting down of meat at the Deanery. Martin Kain bought the Lion Mill c1865. He worked in Dunn’s Mill. Family sold in 1920. Land excellent for gardening, but the property spoilt in 1880 when the railway built. Three generations lived in the Mill. The junction of Kains Road and Old Mt Barker Road often called Kains Corner. People on foot, in buggies and on horseback stopped here to chat after chapel in the old Methodist Chapel on the opposite slope. 5 Kains grandchildren lived in the Mill. People brought hand carts from far around to get a week’s supply of fruit and vegetables. Sons were the best sporting family in cricket and football.

KING, Mr. He owned the paddocks near where the old Cox Creek water mill was built.

KNIGHTON, Frederick. Born 1850 Essex, England. To SA 1855 with parents in the Hyderabad. Educated by EL Hamilton, late Inspector of Aborigines. 1863, began apprenticeship with John Dunn. Later bought the business in March 1907. Married Emma Milford. A JP.

LION MILL - Struck by lightning in pioneer times. Famous for jolly dances to lanternlight, with violin and accordion. Mill famous for dances at the turn of the century - the only hall between Hahndorf and Stirling. 9” wide imported Baltic pine timber took a fine polish. Michael Kain, wearing a smoking cap, kept a fatherly eye on proceedings. Lion advertising brand only appeared years later after the mill closed as a mill.

MARSH FAMILY - Mr Marsh worked at Dunn’s Mill. Mrs Marsh had a Dame’s school. Children sent outside when he came home for lunch, but they used to watch through the open door as he ate.

NICHOLLS, Noah. He worked in Dunn’s mill. Grandfather of Edgar Nicholls.

OLD MT BARKER ROAD. Very RC towards the ridge. Methodist at the Cox Creek end.

PRESGRAVE, JC. The surveyor who laid out the township of Bridgewater.

RADFORD, William. His shop next to the recreation ground was called Hutton Cottage. He was a native of Bridgwater, England. He organised a petition amongst the residents to have the name of the place changed from Cox Creek.

ROBIN, He was one of the builders of the 1st state school at Bridgewater.

ROSENTHAL FAMILY - Ran the Rosa Guest House in Colonel Barbor’s former bungalow. Father was called Carl Rosenthal. One of the daughters ran the business later. The family were good cooks and people came back year after year for holidays. Mr Rosenthal a great man with a sense of humour. Talked about jet white calves.

RUDD family - Stoneware ginger beer bottles used to explode occasionally in hot weather.

RUNAWAY SAILORS. James Rudd used to hide them behind a hill bank in the scrub when the ship’s captain and police came looking.

SCHOOL. Up to 3-mile walk through bush country to reach school. Children became very knowledgeable about nature. Teachers made a point of getting children to make a short talk about what they had seen that day. Strict on late scholars. School sang Tardy scholar is your name. Snakes, goannas and plenty of birds. Favourite path for Cox Ck children to walk along the mill water race.

SCHUMACHER FAMILY - Came from Rosenthal, where father worked in the water mill. Then at Glanville, miller for Gill Gellet’s mill. then to Bridgewater, when Gillets bought the mill there. Came from a windmilling family in Germany.

SHARRAD, Gill (GAH). His grandfather and brothers brought out the 1st camels for Sir Thomas Elder. Athol pines (Tamarist Aphylla) the staple food for camels in Afghanistan, brought out as well for the camels to eat. Sharrads lived in a cottage on the Birksgate estate, on the corner of Glen Osmond and Cross Rd. Sharrad Senr also carted the stone for Elder’s home, Carminow, on Mt Lofty.

WAILES, William

31/8/1847 Bought Lot 89, Chapman St, Hindmarsh, from George Comley milkman Hindmarsh.£31. Wailes was a clerk at this time.

269/63 9/2/1854 He leased Sections 1142 (121 acres), 43 (126 acres), 44 (114 acres)from Cornelius Birdseye. 5 year lease at £112 a year. With the right to purchase. He had already bought 2 acres of Section 1142 for his mill.

78/80 22/1/1855 Wailes surrendered his lease to Birdseye.

102 & 103/212 2/11/1857 Wailes (now a cornfactor of Gawler) bought Lot 58 Bassett Town for £75/12/-, putting down a deposit of £15/2/4. He borrowed the rest at 10% interest from Thomas Scown cornfactor Willaston. 6/7/1859 Wailes went broke again and Scown took over his allotment. George Warren was the auctioneer and agent for William Bassett in the Bassett Town sale.

WELFARE, John Looked after the 1st library in Cox Creek. Lived in a house on the other side of the road and the creek from the Deanery. This cottage had the 1st post office - Radfords lived here before going to Bridgewater. Comfortable slab house behind oaks later destroyed by bushfire. Green door with the slot for letters had been taken across the road to Bridgewater. Mrs Welfare blind in old age. Wonderful garden of flowers and fruit trees. Mrs Welfare lived in the library cottage in old age. Tulli Wollaston had the building knocked down

WILLS, Thomas. Bought a cottage and some 35 acres of scrub, immediately north of the Deanery. This property sold to Joseph Steer c1867. 1st lived in a fine 4-room tent brought out from England and pitched beside the Bremer River. Too hot for tents, and so the family moved to Cox Creek. The Wills family had lived in Jamaica before coming to SA. Mr Wills buried under a pear tree in the front garden clse to the roadside. Leeches taken from Cox Creek to bleed him during his last illness. T Wills was a first cousin to the 1 st Mrs John Dunn. Three of his stepsons came to SA 1st and then the parents followed. James Francis Taylor, Henry Taylor, Charles McConnell. JF Taylor was Deputy Postmaster-General in Jamaica. The men worked for Dunns, Mt Barker, 1st. Henry Taylor stayed with Dunns for life. C McConnell became accountant at the Bridgewater Mill for Dunns. Mrs Wills was strict from having slaves in Jamaica. Her made was Mary-Ann Jacobs, a sister of Mrs Martin Kain, of Bridgewater. She slept in a small detached room, with a calico window overlooking Thomas Wills’s grave.

WOODHOUSE - Established by John Chambers 1847-1848, then GM Stephen 1848-1852; RD Hanson 1852-1895. Stephen established the Forest Steam Sawmill on Woodhouse, the 1st timber arrived in Adelaide in December 1849. Men lived in slab huts where Old Carey Gully Road crosses Cox Creek. Carey Gully Road originally known as Sawmill Road. Rose and fell several times in the 1850s. When trees cut out, the sawmill ceased operations by the 1860s. Hanson dismantled the mill and sold off the houses. Chimney stack fell down across the road in 1909. Boiler rusted away and sold for scrap in the 1930s depression. Chimney rubble still on the Mt Lofty Golf Course.

WYATT, Valentine (1814-1862). Born Lambeth, to SA 1837 John Renwick. Brazier, smith, storekeeper, landlord. Died Semaphore, buried Hindmarsh.

Bibliography

76-3 Mrs EW Waddy notes speech 23/11/1936 to Bridgewater children doing a historical survey.

PEAKE, AJ Woodhouse Adelaide 1991.

WHITELOCK, Derek Adelaide 1836-1976: a history of difference. UQP 1977.

Application 119454 Cox farm, Currency Creek

20 August 1856

Mortgage to Thomas William Reeves plumber and glazier Adelaide 20/8/1856 £90 at 12.5 % for three years - to be repaid on on 1/5/1859. Balance of £105, of principle and interest paid 30/4/1866.

Together with all buildings, fences, timber, minerals, ways, watercourses, rights to easements, members and appurtenances whatsoever ...

Brought under the RPA 15/4/1872. Sections 2021 & 2023 Hundred of Nkangkita.

Adelaide City Council 26/4/1875

The Public Works Committee have instructed the City Surveyor to have the names of a few of the principal streets painted on the lamp glasses at the corners of the streets as an experiment.

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