Street Names: Humble Monuments

1 LH0211-04 HUMBLE MONUMENTS: THE STREET NAMES OF WEST TORRENS 1 A study of the origin of street names is one way of accessing the history of an area. Streets may carry the names of some of the prominent early business or landowners in a district, and thus reflect the kinds of land use or industries that developed there over time. Street names can also pay tribute to individuals who lived or worked in area for many years and whose contribution to the life of the district might otherwise be overlooked. Street names may also tell of events in the wider world, in particular of wars and those, including local residents, who fought in them. This is not to deny that streets may carry names that are either bland or self- aggrandising: a study of West Torrens shows the propensity of some property developers for naming streets after themselves or their families. Nonetheless, though not as immediately engaging as statues, plaques and other monuments, street names are a simple, inexpensive and enduring way of remembering the past. LANDOWNERS Prominent early large-scale landowners are well represented in the street names of West Torrens. Sir John Morphett (1809-1892) established his 54- hectare (134-acre) estate Cummins at what is now Novar Gardens in 1841- 42. Although much of the property, excluding the house itself, was subdivided for residential purposes in the 1950s and 1960s, local street names have strong echoes of the Morphett family. Streets surrounding the Cummins home include Coach House Drive, Old Drive and New Drive (the Cummins driveway was diverted after the Holdfast Bay railway went through the southern part of the property in 1879). Cygnet Street, Novar Gardens, recalls the ship in which Morphett arrived in South Australia in September 1836. Two of the eleven children of Sir John and Lady Elizabeth Morphett are also remembered in nearby street names: Violet Court and Willoughby Avenue. Audrey Street is named after a great grand daughter of Sir John Morphett, while Amy Street is named for Amy Streeter, whose family worked for the Morphetts over three generations. The influence of the White family is recognized in street names in the north- western part of West Torrens. John White (1790-1860) established his highly successful Fulham Farm in the area, on section 194, in 1837. White’s wife was Barbara, nee Willingale – hence today’s Willingale Avenue, Lockleys. White Avenue, Lockleys, is in an area of section 144 (east of section 194) once owned by John White’s eldest son, William (1834-1927). Weetunga Street, Fulham, is named after the home of John White’s second son Samuel (1835-1880). Samuel White, an explorer and ornithologist, built Weetunga, which is still occupied by descendants of the White family, in 1878-79. Samuel 1 NOTE: This paper concentrates primarily on the street names of the pre-1997 West Torrens council district – that is, the district that existed before the amalgamation of West Torrens and the Town of Thebarton. 2 Street, Fulham, may be named after this Samuel White or his son Captain Samuel Albert White (1870-1954). S.A. White was a soldier, horse breeder and hunter, as well as continuing the family’s interest in exploration and ornithology. In the 1920s John White Mellor (1868-1931), the grandson of John White, subdivided part of section 144 to create Mellor Park. (The Mellor family had owned Holmfrith, a substantial estate in the district, for many years). In recognition of the White family’s interest in the subject Mellor, who was himself the one-time president of the South Australian Ornithological Society, gave several streets in Mellor Park names of an ornithological origin: Anthus Street (a type of pipit), Grallina Street (magpie lark), Malurus Avenue (wren), and Myzantha Street (bellbird). Mellor Park later became a part of Lockleys. Mellor Avenue, Lockleys, carries the family name. The Everard family played a significant role in the history of West Torrens, beginning with the arrival in South Australia of Dr Charles George Everard (1794-1876) in November 1836. From 1838 Everard and his family farmed land along the Bay Road, now Anzac Highway, in sections 44, 45, 52 and 53. From the 1880s descendants of C.G. Everard subdivided much of this property; Everard-instigated subdivisions included Keswick (1882), Grassmere (1899) and Marshfield Estate (1899), the latter two now part of Kurralta Park. Members of the Everard family thus named most of the streets in these suburbs (though the precise significance of each name to the family is difficult to ascertain). In 1909 Charles John Everard, C.G.Everard’s grandson, subdivided the first Everard farm, Dr Everard’s Ashford, on sections 44 and 52, into a suburb of the same name. Everard Avenue, Ashford, is a reminder of the family’s involvement in West Torrens. William Henry Gray (1808-1896) arrived in South Australia aboard the John Renwick in February 1837. A shrewd, determined and forceful individual, over the next few decades Gray amassed considerable personal wealth through farming and, more particularly, land acquisition. By the 1880s Gray owned over 1000 hectares (2500 acres) in West Torrens, representing around one-third of the area of the district and making him by far West Torrens’ largest landowner. Most of his property was in and around the area now taken up by the Adelaide International Airport. Gray also had substantial holdings in the City of Adelaide, rural South Australia and in the Northern Territory. Further, from 1856 Gray served on the West Torrens Council for periods totalling almost twenty-five years, including twelve years from 1866 as chair. It is therefore somewhat surprising that in today’s West Torrens only one street carries his name: Gray Street, Plympton. Other prominent early West Torrens landowners are remembered in street names. Henry Mooringe Boswarva, a gentleman farmer, arrived in South Australia in 1838 and bought section 108, Hundred of Adelaide, a few months later. There, with John Bentham Neales (1806-1873), auctioneer and agent, Mooringe developed a village he named after his native town in Devonshire: Plympton. Mooringe’s wife was Emma – hence today’s Mooringe Avenue, Boswarva Avenue and Emma Place, Plympton. 3 Hudson Court and Beare Avenue at Netley recall Thomas Hudson Beare (1792-1861). Beare, the second officer of the South Australian Company, arrived in South Australia in July 1836 aboard the Duke of York, the first of the colonists’ ships to arrive. He established a farm, ‘Netley’, named after Netley Abbey in his home county of Hampshire, on the 54-hectare (134 acres) section 101 in 1838. After some early prosperity, in 1859 Beare was declared insolvent. He had served on the West Torrens council in 1854-55. The Prettejohn (or Prettyjohn) family farmed in the Reedbeds area from the early 1840s, beginning on section 161 with Nathaniel Prettejohn (c.1795- 1847). His son John Gillard Prettejohn (1842-1883) continued the tradition. J.G. Prettejohn also represented Reedbeds ward on the West Torrens council in 1879-82 (chair in 1881). Descendants of the Prettejohns remain in the district, making them, along with the Whites, among the longest continuously residing families in West Torrens. Prettejohn Court, Lockleys, is a reminder of their presence. The Rowell family had strong links with West Torrens over many years. John Rowell (c1816-1893) was a farmer at Lockleys from 1854 and a West Torrens councillor in 1869-72 (chair in 1870). His son James Rowell (1851- 1941) among other achievements served on the West Torrens council for sixteen years, including 1890-1900 as chair; led the South Australian contingent to the Boer War; and was later a South Australian senator. Another son, John E. Rowell (1849-1928) served on the West Torrens council in 1900-1911, including four years as chair. Rowells Road, Lockleys, commemorates of the family’s contribution to the district. May Terrace, Lockleys, is on the site of what was from the early 1880s the farm of Caleb May (c1843-1921); the property was known locally as ‘May’s Estate’. Shortly after May’s death 36 hectares (ninety acres) of his former land, plus 16 hectares (40 acres) previously belonging to John White Mellor, were used to establish the Kooyonga golf club. May’s former home remains on the property. Henry Sherriff (c.1862-1935) was a significant landholder in the Underdale area (section 96) for almost forty years from the mid-1880s. Sherriff Street, Underdale, runs through the former site of his property. Sherriff was a member of the West Torrens council in 1900-1921, including eight years as chair. RESIDENTS Many West Torrens streets are named in honour of residents who, although not necessarily large-scale landholders, lived in the district for decades. Streeters Road, North Plympton, takes its name from the Streeter family, in particular brothers George, Richard and Stephen, who came to Plympton in about 1880. Family members were still living in Plympton in the late 1940s. Richard Streeter served on the West Torrens for several years including four (1901-1905) as chair. Lasscock Avenue, Lockleys, reminds us that the Lasscock family has lived in the area since E.A. (Ted) Lasscock bought 4 land there around 1910. The family ran a successful plant nursery business in Lockleys for many years. Retallack Avenue, Marleston, is named for the family that has lived in the vicinity since Albert and Clara Retallack arrived there in 1909. The Retallacks took up one of the one-hectare (2.5 acre) ‘workingmen’s blocks’ at Richmond created by the government in the 1890s. Under this scheme, which was largely a response to the local depression of the time, the government bought bulk quantities of land that was then subdivided and sold as individual blocks of up to eight hectares (20 acres) to low-income workers.

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