Random thoughts and observations
We made a day trip to historic Burra in the Mid North today, about 170km from Adelaide.
Burra grew rapidly after the discovery of copper in 1845, but declined from the 1880s until a wool industry-inspired resurgence.
Burra declined again as Australia fell off the sheep’s back, but is now rising once more as a well-preserved heritage town.
The Smyth Chapel at Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery was built in 1870-71. Situated in the Catholic area, the quaint historic chapel is said to be of a rare design and style in Australia. Built as a memorial to the Very Reverend John Smyth, the design by EJ Woods was chosen as a result of a competition conducted by the Smyth Memorial Fund Committee in the latter part of 1870. The foundation stone was laid on December 18, 1870 by the venerable Archdeacon Russell VG.
West Adelaide Football Club celebrates the centenary of its 1911 premiership tomorrow. According to the club newsletter I received today, in 1911 West Adelaide started the season in exceptional form, winning its first 10 games before losing the last two games of the season to Port Adelaide and Norwood and having to settle for second position behind Port Adelaide after the minor round. Regaining key players for the first semi-final, West secured a runaway victory after keeping Sturt scoreless in the last quarter.
We visited the Old Adelaide Gaol at Thebarton today. The gaol was the first permanent one in South Australia and operated from 1841 until 1988. It is now maintained as a museum and tourist attraction. It was a grey day, which highlighted the bleakness of the stone and brick building. Although a harsh place, the overall pervasive feeling was one of sadness at the broken lives which must have been lived there. The history of punishment was also on display, from floggings and picking oakum through to hanging.
I came across an extraordinary web page, which lists all the executions that occurred in Australia between 1900 and 1967, and many that occurred between 1880 and 1899. Earlier, I had read an epic post by Dina about murderer and bigamist Frederick Deeming. I had a vague notion there was some connection between Deeming and [...]
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