SUBURB NAMES FROM THE PAST

These suburb names were taken from the 1950s Sands and MacDougall street directory.   Then I added a couple of early ones,.  All names for Edwardstown, Ascot Park and South Plympton of today - 2016. Trying to put them together has been fun as mentioned in another story about the way the different suburbs 'moved'.  

Many  suburbs began as an area of land  and then subdivided by it's owner, who gave it a name. Some, as Ackland were named after owners - others after famous people, places, events - and again named by seller.    Thank heavens the section which contained Bleak House did not lead to the suburb  Bleak House Park or Bleak House Gardens - don't think many people would have cared to live or work in this dreary sounding place.   Though some of my relatives lived at Dismal Swamp many many moons ago.    

Below is a map of Ackland Gardens which was included with the auction details in the newspapers in 1928.  As you can see, it also shows some of the other names of the area and as you can see, the ones around have already been subdivided.+



 m




ACKLAND  PARK/GARDENS

Mr William  Ackland came to South Australia in 1879 from Devon, England and  died in a buggy accident in August 1910. He had been a chaff merchant in Edwardstown ,Black Forest and Brown Street in the city. 
Mr  Ackland left a lot of  land in Black Forest and Edwardstown – Glandore of now, to his wife and children.  They had a magnificent house on South Road, now Aveo Ackland Park retirement homes. 


After the accident,  son Thomas took over the business and when his mother died in 1911, he and his sister were sole benefactors of her will.   Mrs Ackland left around 49,000 Pounds in that will.
1919  it was reported in the press, that Mr Ackland had 'decided' that it would be more cost effective to  subdivide and sell off his 19 acre paddock at Edwardstown than continue to farm it.  This land was divided into 53 blocks, and went up for sale July 12, 1919. The land was north of the railway station.    Housing was needed, as was employment for the returning soldiers, and there already was a small industrial area along the South Road, including Pengelley's furniture factory for employment.  The train line opened in 1913 giving good transport to the area.



Above is from the Mail, July 1919 and shows the Ackland land for sale  in 1919  - house at left.



It was not until 1928  Ackland Gardens as a suburb was to be opened.   The land  shown in the map above was  owned by the Ackland family for many years.   The opportunity to buy here, was a good one, as the land in  Mirreen, Clovelly Park, St Marys West, and on the Mitcham side of South Road - Cudmore Park and Col Light Gdns Extension had over the previous decade, also been subdivided and sold off as home lots.   

ALEXANDRA PK (Alexandria)

The following are from today's Ascot Park.
Allison St Beaconsfield Tce Clifford St

Collins Ave John St off Wood st Linda St

Railway tce from Collins ave Robert st off Railway tce

Seventh Ave from Marion, Seymour off Robert

Wingate Ave, Wolseley Tce Wood st


Alexandra Park Race course was opened by the Princes in England Aug 1882. My thoughts are that with the papers full of this venue and the official opening gave the sellers the name for their new suburb.

Preliminary notice of sale was advertised a month later in our newspapers re the subdivision of Pt Section 55 which was to be called Alexandra Park.  Sale on October 14th, 1882 and all lots sold.
I love the description of this area part of which I would like to share.   "Situated on the Main South Road, which is admitted to be one of our prettiest thoroughfares, resembling as it does, that of an English highway, being planted on either side with beautiful trees, which are now in all the glory of their great wealth of foliage, forming a magnificent avenue for miles".  As with other notices of land sales around this area, it was said to be wonderful soil, and a very healthy place to live.    
At this time there were buses regularly travelling along the Main South Road.  What a picture!   Buggies, horses, buses and people. Country living yet so close to the city.

Different  today.  Council has widened the road so many times and trees are disappearing all around the area, but I can't recall a time when trees lined South Road.  

December 1882, G & M Edwards of South Road were selling off allotments of land in Alexandra Park as they were dissolving their partnership.

ASCOT PARK

First Ave Marion Rd Railway Tce, Railway Line Nellie Ave

Charles, Audrey, West St

First mention in papers is in October 1912 when Mr R V Wilson, who had sold all the land at Morphettville earlier,  decided to cut up this part of his land and call it Ascot Pk after Ascot in England.  160 Acres.  80 acres were sold to Mr Wilson in 1912. 
The first mention of the Ascot Park sale of land, sections 86 and 87 - 479 allotments was via an ad by auctioneers Bagot, Shakes and Lewis in October 1913, which mentions that the railway will be built 'soon' and there would be a railway station built at the suburb.    There was some dealing between a Mr Jones and Mr Wilson in trying to get the station where Mr Wilson wanted it while others wanted it to be in another spot.      Mr R V Wilson was a Liberal and ran for Parliament - Senator Victor Wilson was knighted in 1926

 

BESSINGTON

Section 88 Bessington

In March 1900 Allot is of Sect 88 frontage to Clifford St

Wed 1th July same time as Blythville the unsold blocks in the Township of Bessington -  being Sect 88 nr Plympton Station on Glenelg Line of Railway.

Alfred Weaver 80 acres Sect 88 1861.

BLYTHVILLE

Section 60 Hd of Adelaide 5 acre blocks 5 miles of Adelaide Main Sth Rd 14^th July 1880 auction the Township of Blythville within 5 miles of Adelaide on Main South road – most desirable site for suburban residences, and is well situated for market gardens.  The sale was held in the city offices of the auctioneers, unlike later land sales.
Later known as South Road Park.  Around Celtic Ave today.  Off Trove there are only 7 references to Blythville. 

John Rothwell Andrew Oliver  over 60 acres plus in 23.9.1880, but by 7.12.1880 he was insolvent.

CHISLEHURST           To prove it may have been.  Around the time Alexandra Park was for sale in 1880s   Chislehurst - Register, 27 October 1880.
Chislehurst in England was where Emperor Napoleon 111 of France died 1873.

CLOVELLY PARK
2 streets Finchley st with one resident off 16 Sweetman's Rd

and Norrie Ave off Sth Rd

and of course Sweetmans Rd.

Seems around 1923 bit of trouble  with land contacts not binding etc

EDWARDSTOWN EAST

Mitcham side of South Rd Aver to Cross Rd

FORBES

Other side of Daly St from Vermont and includes

Vincent, William .

Thomas from Towers Tce to Marion Rd

1882 land for sale

Archibald Forbes celebrated war correspondent

HAMMERSMITH

Mr Samuel Deed emigrated to South Australia 1838 with his parents Edward and Esther and 8 siblings.  They had left their home in Hammersmith, London.   The family lived in Edwardstown except for a short time in Vic goldmines, where the parents died.   Samuel married Betsy Cook in 1847 and they lived in Hammersmith, Edwardstown.



Alfred Bachelor Evershed for the Maid of Auckland, Hammersmith, Great South Road, Granted. South Australian Gazette and Mining Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1847 - 1852), Thursday 12 December 1850, page 3 Granting General Licences.

HARCOURT GARDENS

East Tce Marion Rd Nelson Raglin Stuart but people from nearby suburbs often would put down their address as Harcourt Gardens - probably it may have sounded much 'nicer' than other suburb names,

MIRREEN

December 16th 1922 at "Mirreen Estate" Andrew Tennant sold off his house and property.  The 137 allottments were sold off and the area became known as the suburb of Mirreen.    One side was Sweetman's Road (now known as Daws Road), another South Road.  New streets had been drawn up.  Below is from an advertisement in the newspaper 1922 

The homestead was being sold separately with 2 1/2 acres for the reasonable price of £700.   The Chronicle 24.10.1925 p 48 states the the word Mirreen  means southerly.  Wed 27.4.1966 p32-34 Australian Womens Weekly has Aboriginal place names. This also says that Mirreen is an Aboriginal name for south.

Small suburb indeed - one street off Sweetman's rd KARONG Ave off 53 Sweetmans Rd off South Rd – only 4 residents between Sth and Marion Rd.

In later years there were studs named MIRREEN by J J Sullivan who won prizes at Adelaide show for his Corriedale sheep.   1927 J J Sullivan lived"  'Mirreen' Bordertown.

2016  South Rd cnr Daws Road is a new Coles petrol station and Sammy D charity next door.  As far back as I can recall there was a car sales yard over the property - Mitsubishi. Going south down Daws Rd are many small industrial and commercial buildings.

ST MARYS WEST

March 1919 Bean's land Deloraine and Dunloran Sts 55 acres

Nov 1918 Sale ad Advertuser 20.11.1918 p12

jan 15.1.1916 P 20 Ad for sale of land and house small

1921 March 21. 65 building sites – 34 lots facing Deloraine Rd, Dunorlan Rd and Calstock Ave, South Road, 12 lots for sale 

Deloraine Ave was in St Marys West March 1921

1950 Deloraine Rd from Sth to Adelaide Tce

Dunorlan Rd Ferry St off Sth rd to a dead end after about no 22.

SOUTH PLYMPTON

Parts of what is now Glandore including Naldera Ave and Pleasant Ave to Wheaton Ave (now South Plympton) but then Vermont

Plympton - South Australian, 20 October 1838;

VERMONT

From Daly Street Jervois St Laurence Marion and Melville and Towers Tce

1881 Township of Vermont allotments for sale

18 blocks for sale Nov 1921 Matters & C

Advertisement for Township of Vermont 26.11.1878 South Australian Advertiser

Vermont being subdivision of part Section No 91 Hd Adelaide

116 Allotments 9.3.1882

1939 story

Hugh Watson arrived Buckinghamshire 1839 In 1840 living at Woodend now called Vermond

had a house, stockyard and 38ft deep well with 5ft of water

In 1849 at Woodend Mrs E R Mitford gave birth to daughter. Mitford and Raglan Ave/Pasquin.

1841 census has both Mitford and Watson living Wooden.

By 1850s Woodend had a number of people living there and a hotel – said to be near Black Forest.

WOODLANDS PARK

1950 Directory has Woodlands Park as Adelaide Terrace alongside Railway Line and including the railway Station.

Calstock Ave, Furness Ave off Sth Rd

HMS Buffalo; Kenilworth Av; Lindsay Ave; Talisman Ave, Weaver St off Dunorlan Rd

Woodlands Tce off 672 Sth Rd

Express and Telegraph Fri 11.2.1870 Ad P1 Black Forest Inn, Bay Road, to be let,.

The House has large accomodation with good water and paddock Apply to A Jaffrey Woodlands South Road.  This would be the house "Woodlands". 

Archibald and Alexander Jaffrey involved Oct 1865

There was another Woodlands with Mr James Warland in Echunga see  23.7.1910 Chronicle.    A Woodlands was down south around Mt Gambier.  

Found another one today on a land title for land in Flinders Street, Edwardstown.  It was Woodlands Extension and was sect 55 lots 21 and 22 which is the corner of Flinders and Wilfrid Sts.  Until a few years ago, the corner lot was not housing. I recall a woodchip and a mulch place - where trucks were kept.  Can't recall any buildings there. From Google pictures it was built on - high density units - around 2008/9.  No 33 had a unit built at back, next door, probably 35 was demolished and included in the new build.   Has caused a bit of a traffic headache because of so many cars parked along Flinders Street, but this comes with the new building of so many units with more cars and people often don't use the carport or garage which comes with each unit.   
Flinders Street, until the 1980s went right up to South Road.   Building the Plaza lost part of Flinders and Lindsay Streets.   Homes and businesses from Nos 1/2 to about 20/21 disappeared.    Looking into directories around the 1970s there does not seem to have been any buildings until the units mentioned earlier.