The next monthly talk will be on Friday 3 March at 7.30 pm: Historic Gawler: South Australia’s first country town by Carolyn Spooner.
Planned by Colonel William Light in 1837 on the banks of a river surrounded by hills and parklands, Gawler officially came into existence on 31 January 1839, having been laid out by 24 year old surveyor William Jacob of Jacob’s Creek fame. Other influencers in the district were the pioneering German 49ers, industrialist James Martin, and the extraordinary polymath, EH Coombe, editor and politician.
After the opening of its Institute in 1857, Gawler became something of an Athens of the North, holding a competition for a patriotic song in 1859. Also at this time a group of locals formed the Gawler Humbug Society which led to the publication of the Bunyip newspaper. And what does the 1894 visit of an English cricket team to Gawler tell us about the municipality?
Through a slideshow of old photographs, diaries, books, newspapers, periodicals and maps in State Library collections, a region bursting with agricultural and industrial promise is revealed. As well, cultural activities are highlighted in ephemera such as posters, menus, sheet music, theatre programs, and postcards, while oral histories unearth quirky details not found in books on Gawler’s interesting living history.
Carolyn Spooner recently retired from her position as Engagement Librarian at the State Library of South Australia where she worked for 45 years in a variety of roles. Her special interest at the State Library was the unpublished/archival collection where the untold stories of South Australians can be unearthed. Carolyn has given many presentations as part of the Library’s Live and Learn program. Over the years she has developed a suite of slideshow talks based on State Library collections on a variety of topics— from sport to religion via taxidermists and undertakers, as well as some significant South Australians. She is happy to present these talks to community groups. Her current research interest is South Australian mapmaker WH Edwards with a view to writing a book about him and his interesting family.