150 Years of the AHA|SA

AN UNRELIABLE GUIDE TO 1871

The AHA|SA was formed 150 years ago in 1871 in a world that bears little resemblance to Adelaide in 2021. The following is a potted (and sometimes humorous) history from the Association’s inaugural year, culled from authoritative sources such as Wikipedia and government websites.

A colonial election was held in SA but there were no major political parties at this stage because stobie poles and corflute were yet to be invented.

South Australia did have a parliament and the all-male representatives were quite united on the key issues of the day. For instance, in 1871 South Australia became the first colony to allow a man to marry his deceased wife's sister.

Of equal significance, our first pie cart was opened in 1871, presumably to go with a Coopers beer, which was first brewed in 1862. Some argue that the first pie cart was opened in 1861 but that was a stall and not a horse drawn cart. Besides, it’s a chicken and egg thing. How could you invent a pie cart before Coopers had been invented?

Progress was patchy. Citizens could eat steaming hot pies to the smell of steaming horse manure … but getting a “cold one” was more problematic. The Coolgardie Safe was years away and fridges wouldn’t be invented for decades. Cellars kept beer cool, but not cold. In 1848, Adelaide received its first shipment of ice from America – presumably because we didn’t know the recipe for ice. By 1871 we had cracked that conundrum and deliveries from the “ice man” were common. It was a good time to be alive!

After three years of “disaster and privation” farmers were blessed with a bumper crop. Apart from that, according to the South Australian Register, 1871 was “barren of great achievements”. Publicans weren’t too unhappy because it meant the wowsers weren’t getting their way. On January 6, the newspaper reported a “soiree at the Town Hall in aid of the earlyclosing movement”. They’re still having soirees and cucumber sandwiches with their tea in 2021.

Adelaide City Councillors seemed to be on better terms with publicans in 1870. Instead of trying to close pubs down, two newly elected representatives hopped in a buggy, were paraded through the streets, “patronised the hotel keepers in Hindley Street” and shouted free beer for their supporters. (All of this was reported as a fine thing. Today’s headline would be “Buggygate: drunken councillors bribe punters in wild Hindley Street disgrace”.)

The South Australian Cricket Association was founded in 1871. In 1893 we won out first Sheffield Shield (there were only three teams). Alas, nobody can remember the last time we won it. It may have been 1893.

South Australia showed it was highly progressive. We became the first territory of the empire outside Britain to legalise trade unions and Australia's first synagogue opened in Rundle Street (the first collection for funds occurred in a pub). Yet things weren’t so progressive elsewhere. In a major scandal of 1871, local nun Mother Mary MacKillop was excommunicated from the Catholic Church after refusing to disband the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart order. The church eventually made her Australia’s first saint.

Australia at the time was pre-Federation. As a nation we consisted of six self-governing British colonies, with Queen Victoria as our ruler. Victoria banished her mother, survived seven assassination attempts and on learning she was pregnant, threatened to drown her firstborn if it was a girl. We did as we were told.

The practice of sending England’s finest on leaky cruise ships to Terra Australis had only ended three years previously. Of course, SA was not settled by convicts, which is why we all have posh accents – but it doesn’t explain why we pronounce “Glenelg” as “Gnelg”.

The London–Australia telegraph cable was brought ashore at Darwin in 1871. It was a huge feat involving 20,000 kilometres of cable passing through hundreds of fractious countries – but we still couldn’t get a standard gauge railway track to cross a single state border.

Publication of Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll was a hit in South Australia but it was banned in China on the basis that animals should not use human language. Today, the offending book would simply attract a tariff. A really big tariff!

When the AHA|SA came into being, it was still the grand age of exploration. Overseas, an intrepid reporter found missing Scotsman Dr. David Livingstone in Africa and greeted him with the immortal words, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Livingstone was looking for the source of the Nile. In Australia, explorer John Ross became the first European to explore and name the Todd River, realising it would one day be needed for the world’s first waterless Regatta. Some say he named it “Todd” after another bloke’s wife. That’s the way they rolled in 1871!