Adelaide Northern Districts Family History Group Inc.

06/09/2025

05/09/2025

A friendly reminder that not EVERYTHING is digitized ;)

04/09/2025

Many Scottish families - but not all! - followed a traditional naming pattern, well into the 19th century at least.

Knowing about the pattern won’t always help you to identify entries you’re looking for, but it can still be very helpful, particularly with older records.

04/09/2025

02/09/2025

WAYVILLE, ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
1936

I have a question for you—because I haven’t been to the Royal Show for a little while (I've been too busy colouring in old photographs!). Do they still have Kewpie dolls on sticks? I asked my daughter who went to the show yesterday, and she had no clue what I was even talking about. I used to adore the dolls as a child.

Now, imagine stepping back to the 1936 Show. Among the bustling pavilions and crowds, you would have come across a proud-looking building called the Hall of Industries. The name sounds so serious, almost as if Superman might swoop down at any moment! For generations, though, this was one of the great landmarks of the Show.

The Hall of Industries was built soon after the Show moved to Wayville in 1925, as the Society expanded its grounds. It quickly became a central exhibition space and was extended in the late 1920s to accommodate more displays. Inside, visitors enjoyed changing exhibits showcasing South Australia’s manufacturing, new products, and trade, earning the Hall its reputation as a highlight of the show.

By the 1970s, the Hall of Industries needed a refresh. In 1973, it was refurbished and renamed Hamilton Hall. Many of you will remember wandering in the building after the makeover. Despite fire damage in 1982, the Hall remained part of the Show for another two decades.

In 2001, Hamilton Hall was demolished to allow for the Showground’s redevelopment.

This photograph comes from the History Trust of South Australia and was taken by the State Government Photographer on 1 September 1936. Its catalogue number is GN 10056, and you can view the original in the comments below.

Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History

Copyright © Kelly Bonato 2025. All image restoration, enhancement, and colourisation is subject to copyright. You can share this post, but the image alone cannot be copied or shared without my permission.

Sources: History Trust of South Australia, Department for Environment and Planning, Heritage of the Adelaide Showgrounds (2001-2002 redevelopment details), Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA Archives, Show Museum records and photographs (Hall of Industries and Hamilton Hall, including 1982 fire), History of the Adelaide Showgrounds (academic/summary accounts, including 1925 move, late 1920s extension, 1973 refurbishment/renaming).

30/08/2025

180 years ago, a fence for the Jewish Cemetery on West Terrace....
🗞"TENDERS
WANTED for 300 feet of batten fencing 7
feet high, to be erected round the Jewish
cemetery.

The tenders to be sent in to Mr Solomon, Rundle-street, on or before Saturday next, the 30th instant.

August 25th, 1845."🗞

South Australian, Friday 29 August 1845, page 1

"Jews came to South Australia from areas including Britain, Eastern Europe, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Egypt and South Africa.

The involvement of Jews in South Australia pre-dates the settlement of the colony. Jacob Montefiore, a prominent London merchant, was one of the original Colonisation Commissioners appointed by King William IV in 1834.

Possibly the first Jewish settler to Adelaide was John Levey who arrived in September 1836. He was followed Mr and Mrs Philip Lee, who landed at Glenelg on 20 November 1836. Mr Lee worked as a clothier, then as a hotelkeeper and musician. Jewish immigrants to South Australia between 1836 and 1950 were predominantly British, though German Jews did feature among them.

In the early days of the colony Jewish settlers met informally, though their presence was sufficiently recognised in 1843 to enable an area of West Terrace Cemetery to be set aside for Jewish burials." From "Jewish in South Australia" -
https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/subjects/jewish-in-south-australia/

More information on the Jewish Cemetery, West Terrace, Adelaide -
https://www.australiancemeteries.com.au/sa/adelaide/westtrcejewish.htm

📷"Philip Levi, early settler and pastoralist of South Australia. He was an influential businessman, ran sheep and cattle and was one of the founders of the Adelaide Club. He purchased Vale House, now in the suburb of Vale Park and also lived in Mitcham. He had a common law wife. The 'Advertiser' of 25 May 1898 noted that "by an inadvertence it was stated that the late Mr Philip Levi died unmarried. This is incorrect." He had eleven children. The family lived in Mitcham and Vale Park. He was buried in the Jewish section of West Terrace Cemetery." Circa 1865. SLSA. Enhanced by PASA.

27/08/2025

SEMAPHORE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
DATE: 1908

Happy Wednesday, everyone! The sun is very off and on today. If it was a perfect spring day, wouldn't it nice to spend the day at Semaphore.

The original photograph of this edited and colourised picture was taken in 1908 and is called "Semaphore and Jetty" (SRSA GRG 35/58 unit 6 no. 142). The photo is from the State Records of South Australia, Scenes of South Australia album. The unedited black and white picture can be found in the comments.

https://www.flickr.com/.../in/album-72157657347797859/

The following information is from the 'Semaphore SA' website, 'A Chronology of Semaphore', by Brian Samuels, January 2015 (see link below for more details). "Lefevre's Peninsula was named in May 1837, but Portonians soon abbreviated the name to 'the Peninsula'. The name Semaphore was not used until the 1850s and was usually 'the Semaphore', reflecting its derivation from either the signal station flagstaff on the beachfront or the Semaphore Hotel (1851), which was intended to have its own flagstaff with semaphore signal arms attached.

Semaphore began as a service point for shipping. From the mid-1860s, it took on additional roles as a residential suburb for Port Adelaide and a seaside resort for both metropolitan Adelaide and towns near the country railway lines."

Further information on the history of Semaphore can be found:

https://semaphoresa.com.au/his.../a-chronology-of-semaphore/

Sources: State Records of SA and the Semaphore SA websites

Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History

Copyright © Kelly Bonato 2024. All image editing, enhancement and colourisation is subject to copyright. You can share this post, but the image alone cannot be copied or shared without my permission.

25/08/2025

Search the following collection: Scotland, Civil Registration, 1855–1875, 1881, 1891 🔍 ⤵️
🔗 https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/5000163?cid=SO-00050063
Discover names, dates, and stories that bring your family history to life.

21/08/2025

I know, right!?!