Appendix - Hindmarsh's Obituary

Editor's note: The following article appeared in The South Australian Register on Friday 12th October 1860

DEATH OF SIR JOHN HINDMARSH.

The following obituary notice of Sir John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia, who died July 29, at the advanced age of 78 years, is taken from the Army and Navy Gazette of August 11 :—   

"We regret to announce the death of Sir John Hindmash, which occurred in London a few days since. 

Sir John entered the navy in 1793. He served in the Bellerophon in Lord Howe's action, June 1, 1794 ; in Cornwallis's retreat, and at the battle of the Nile. For his conduct in this latter action, when in temporary command of the Bellerophon, he received the public thanks of Lord Nelson, and was presented with a sword by the officers of his own ship. 

He served under Sir James Saumarez in the battle of Algesiras and the Straits of   Gibraltar, and a lieutenant at Trafalgar. He also served under Lord Cochrane at the Basque Roads, Flushing, and the capture of the West India Islands. 

He was the first Governor of the colony of South Australia, and was Governor of Heligoland from 1840 to 1856. 

He had received a medal and seven clasps, and at the time of his death attained the rank of Rear-Admiral."

The following additional particulars respecting the late veteran's heroic conduct at the battle of the Nile are extracted from the first number of the South Australian Register, published in London, June 18, 1836, being a portion of the report of a speech delivered by Colonel Torrens, at a public dinner given to Sir John (then Captain) Hindmarsh, previous to his departure for South Australia :—

"At the battle of the Nile, Captain Hindmarsh was a midshipman on board the Bellerophon, and so destructive was the fire of the enemy that for some time he was the only officer left upon the quarter-deck. 

He received a wound in the head which deprived him of the sight of one eye, but he did not quit his post. 

The enemy's ship, L'Orient, caught fire; the flames threatened to communicate to the Bellerophon. How did Captain Hindmarsh conduct himself on this trying occasion? Being the only officer upon deck, the young midshipman ordered the topsail to be set and the cable to be cut, and thus saved the ship from destruction. 

He had his proud reward; Nelson himself thanked the young hero before the assembled officers and crew. These thanks Nelson repeated on the deck of the Victory, when he presented Captain Hindmarsh with his lieutenant's commission." 

Captain Hindmarsh sailed from England in H.M.S. Buffalo, 480 tons, which entered the harbour of Port Lincoln December 24, 1836, where the barque Cygnet was then lying waiting His Excellency's arrival; Colonel Light having in the meantime ascertained that the most desirable locality for the metropolis would be on the eastern shores of Gulf St. Vincent.

The Buffalo, in company with the Cygnet, then sailed direct for Holdfast Bay, where His Excellency and suite were landed on the morning of the 28th. On the same day His Excellency formally proclaimed the province, the several officers of the Government were sworn in, and His Excellency's commission was read to about 200 of the early settlers. 

The locality was named "Glenelg" the British flag being displayed under a royal salute, the marines firing a feu de joie, and the Buffalo saluting the Governor with 15 guns.

His Excellency remained nearly two years in the colony and was succeeded in the administration of the Government by Colonel Gawler, who arrived October 12, 1838. 

In 1851 Her Majesty conferred upon Captain Hindmarsh the honour of knighthood.          

The gravestone of  Sir John Hindmarsh, his wife Susanna and his sister Ann

Undated Note, written aboard the H.M.S. Alligator

Well now, here I am in my Cabin on board H.M.S. Alligator, 28 guns, built of Teak. Atholl class I believe.

Having sailed down the coast and having cleared Kangaroo Island and rounded Cape Jarvis we are currently staying in sight of land, heading roughly South East. If I had some official position aboard ship I would be recording these details with far greater accuracy, but I am a passenger and hence, for about the first time in forty years, do not bother.

Leaving Adelaide was a surprisingly moving and touching affair. In the morning I made my goodbyes to the family and I draw a veil of privacy over that scene. Suffice it to say that even Mary overcame her sulks to wish me farewell. 

A Big Yellow Phaeton

The Stevensons arrived with their horse and cart, painted yellow. Johnny called out to his Mother: "A big yellow phaeton's come to take away the old man!" 

I hugged him and said "Ah Johnny! Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone!"

We formed up a small procession on North Terrace: Mrs Hindmarsh and I with the Stevensons in their carriage; the children in our carriage behind; and the Marines in a cart behind them.

We set off and were surprised to find ourselves being followed by more and more carriages as we proceeded down North Terrace and onto West Terrace. By the time we turned on to the Bay Road to cross the Park Lands we were quite the pageant.

The journey down to Holdfast Bay was most pleasant. It was a mild day and the trip through the Black Forest, under the mix of grey-box, blue gum, red gum, native pines and sheoak trees, was delightful. I said to Mrs Hindmarsh that this was the first time I had made the journey without official business playing on my mind and it was a novelty to be able to just enjoy the trip. 

When we arrived at Glenelg our procession was met by a group of people, all cheering and waving. Mrs Hindmarsh made the apposite comment that "Half of them are here to wish you well and half to make sure you get on the boat." While I agree with the sentiment, I would have hoped for a more personally advantageous ratio.

When our procession pulled up at the landing site I found myself called upon by the assembled throng to make a speech. I stood up in the Phaeton and spoke extempore.

"Friends," I said, bringing forth cheers, "And I call you friends because I feel I know you too well to call you Ladies and Gentlemen, I leave you now and who knows If we will meet again or not? But I leave you, confident in the knowledge that I have done all I could to set this Province on the path to a future of prosperity. Do I have advice for you?"

Here, I was interrupted by a wit who called out "Of course you do, you old windbag!" which, only a day before would have been a great discourtesy. But since I was now just a sailor and no longer a Governor, I could laugh along with the joke and even join in with it.

"Yes, of course I do," I said smartly, "And perhaps simpletons such as yourself might profit by it!" which brought forth laughter and applause.

"Friends," I said. "I offer you three pieces of advice. First, work hard and work together. Second, never be afraid to ask for help. And third, be kind to the Natives. I am convinced that we will do best if we learn to live with them as brothers and as men."

I finished to general acclaim and cries of "Good Old Governor Hindmarsh!"

And then it was time to board. Having already made my farewells to the family there was no need for much more than a simple goodbye. But the assembled throng pressed forward to offer me their best wishes for the journey. Some offered small gifts or parcels of food for the voyage.

Then I was amazed to see the Marines, with a startling military efficiency and flair, leap down from their cart, smartly form up into ranks and then march down to the landing point and form up into a Guard of Honour for my leaving. The orderly and even elegant manner in which they managed this manoeuvre left me with the suspicion that they could have performed with such precision all along, but just chose not to.

I proceeded through the guard of honour, stepped into the waiting cutter and within minutes was on board the Alligator.

And that was that.

So here I am, aboard ship with a personal guard of the Marines, who accompany me, and a voyage, first to Sydney and then to London, waiting for me. And, for a miracle, I am a passenger on board and not an officer or part of the crew and so have the delightful prospect of putting my feet up, complaining and making a nuisance of myself.

I intend passing the time by correcting this diary and I have set myself the challenge of reading Walter Scott's "The Fortunes of Nigel", a book that has sat on my bedside for a year and a half. I have read the first two chapters three times so far, but it is my intention to finish the damn thing by the time I reach London.

Was I a good Governor? It is a thought that has occupied my mind these past few weeks. 
Looking back, I am not aware of a single instance in which my public actions have been other than calm in themselves and the result of careful deliberation. Certainly London seems to agree. I have had a communication from Lord Glenelg telling me that my recall is "without censure" and that his confidence in me "is such as to lead the Home Government to offer without delay another appointment.”

Fisher, it must be said, spent the past week or so strutting about claiming he had "won" and even had the nerve to offer me his condolences at my failure. But what has he won? His reputation seems to be irrevocably damaged in London. The power and influence he has so assiduously accrued is about to be taken away from him. He is distrusted by a fair proportion of the colonists. And he has the pleasure of dealing with Mr Milner Stephens as Governor and does so in a society which, as much as I am fond of it, must be admitted to lack many of the rudiments of a comfortable civilised life.

Whereas I am heading back to the centre of the civilised world, a wealthy man and with my reputation enhanced. A strange sort of victory for Mr Fisher, where the vanquished is condemned to a life of luxury!

Well, the lot of them be damned!

The reasons that led me to govern Adelaide the way I did, I do not expect to be generally understood or calmly judged of at present. I leave it to posterity to decide whether I am entitled to praise or to blame.

And in the meantime, I look forward to London, where I believe the first thing I shall do is something I have long promised myself if ever I had the money and be measured for a new suit at Ede and Sons. And then, I think, I shall go to St James, where, I believe a new Army and Navy Club has been established under the patronage of Wellington. I shall order the most sumptuous dinner they have on offer and, breaking my usual abstention from wines, order their finest bottle and offer a toast to the worthies of South Australia.

Hindmarsh's Resignation. Paper Found Between the Pages of Hindmarsh's Diary

Editor's Note: The following note, written in Hindmarsh's hand has a large note: "For Strangways to copy" hastily written at the top and seems to be the original draft of the Governor's resignation.

PROCLAMATION,

By His Excellency John Hindmarsh, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Cuelphic Order, Captain in the Royal Navy, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia.

WHEREAS His late Majesty King William the IV was graciously pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, dated the eleventh day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty six, to appoint me the said John Hindmarsh to be Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the province of South Australia: And. whereas his said Majesty was further pleased by the said Letters Patent to signify his Royal will and pleasure that if upon the death or absence from the said province of me the said John Hindmarsh there should be no person upon the place commissioned or appointed to be Lieutenant Governor of the same, or especially appointed to administer the Government thereof, the senior member of the Council of Government (except his Honor the Judge) shall take upon him the administration of the government of the said province, and should execute the said commission and the instructions under the Royal Sign Manual therewith given, and the several Powers and Authorities therein contained, until the return of me the said John Hindmarsh to the said Province, or until His said Majesty's further pleasure should be known therein : And whereas by the said Commission and Instructions, the seniority of the said Members of Council is declared to be as follows : that is to say—

The Judge, or Chief Justice, for the time being, the Colonial Secretary for the time being, the Advocate-general for the time being, and the Resident Commissioner for the time being: And whereas Thomas Bewes Strangways, Esq., has resigned the office of Colonial Secretary, and no other person has been appointed to that office ; And whereas I, the said John Hindmarsh, am about to depart immediately from the Province aforesaid : Now, therefore, I, the said John Hindmarsh, do hereby proclaim that, immediately upon my departure, all and singular the powers and authorities given and granted by the said letters patent, and hitherto exercised by me as such Governor and Commander-in-Chief as aforesaid, will become vested in the Advocate-general for the time being, the Honorable George Milner Stephen, being the senior Member of Council (except as before is exempted), to be by him executed end enjoyed until my return to the Province or until her Majesty's royal pleasure shall be known.

 And all officers and ministers and other inhabitants of the said Province are hereby required to be obedient, aiding and assisting to the said George Milner Stephen accordingly.

Given under my hand and the seal of the said Province at Government House, Adelaide, this fourteenth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty eight.

(Signed) J. HINDMARSH.
Governor.

Editor's Note: On the reverse of the paper, also in Hindmarsh's hand is the following

And if I never see John Hurtle Fisher again, it will be too soon. A sailor's farewell to him: "Good-bye and be buggered!"

Monday, 16th July, 1838

__________________________________

All PUBLIC ACTS appearing in this Gazette, signed by the proper authorities, are to be considered official and obeyed as such.

By command, GEO. STEVENSON, 

Clerk of Council.

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ON Saturday last, the 14th instant, his Excellency Governor Hindmarsh embarked on board H. M.S. Alligator, 28, Capt Sir J. Gordon Bremer, C.B., K.C.H., for England, via Sydney. His Excellency was accompanied to the place of embarkation, at Glenelg, by a numerous body of the most respectable landholders and colonists

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Government House, Adelaide, July 16, 1838.

HIS EXCELLENCY George Milner Stephen, Esq., this day took the oaths of office as Acting Governor and Commander-in-chief of her Majesty's Province of South Australia, required by his late Majesty's commission. The Oaths were administered by his Honor the Judge in presence of the principal officers of the government, landholders, and colonists. 

GEO. STEVENSON, 

Clerk of Council. 

_________

The following Proclamation was then read by the Sheriff:—

PROCLAMATION.

 By His Excellency George Milner Stephen, Esq., Acting Governor and Commander-in-chief of her Majesty's Province of South Australia. 

WHEREAS by a Proclamation dated the fourteenth instant, made by his Excellency Jobn Hindmarsh, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Captain in the Royal Navy, Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Province of South Australia, it was proclaimed that, by virtue of certain Letters Patent in the said Proclamation mentioned, upon the death or absence from the said Province of the said John Hindmarsh the senior member of the Council of Government (except his Honor the Judge) should take upon him the administration of the Government of the said Province, and should execute the said Com-mission and the Instructions under the Royal Sign Manual therewith given, and the several powers and authorities therein contained.

And whereas his Excellency, the said John Hindmansh, departed from the Province aforesaid on the fourteenth instant; and whereas his Honor the Judge has this day administered to me, the said George Milner Stephen, being the senior member of Council (except as before is excepted), the several oaths mentioned in the said Letters Patent: Now, therefore, it is hereby proclaimed that, immediately upon the said departure of his Excellency the said John Hindmarsh, all and singular the powers and authorities given and granted by the said Letters Patent and hitherto exercised by the said John Hindmarsh as such Governor and Commander-in-chief as aforesaid, became and now are vested in me, the said George Milner Stephen, to be by me executed and enjoyed until her Majesty's royal pleasure shall be known : And all officers and ministers, civil and military, and all other inhabitants of the said Province are hereby required to be obedient, aiding, and assisting to me the said George Milner Stephen accordingly.

Given under my hand and the seal of the said Province at Government-house, Adelaide, this sixteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.

GEO. M. STEPHEN, 

Acting Governor and Commander-in-chief. 

By his Excellency's command, 

GEO. STEVENSON, 

Clerk of Council. 

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

__________

His Excellency the Acting Governor then made this address:—

Gentlemen —
Commanded, as I am, by his late Majesty's commission to " take upon myself" the temporary administration of the government of this experiment in colonization, I have before me no cheering prospect to contemplate.

Called upon to conduct the responsible duties of a high office which an able and gallant officer who has fought all the naval battles of his country for the last half century, and been publicly applauded by the great Nelson for his gallantry and judgment, and who, possessing all that energy and uprightness which characterise his profession, and at the same time a devotion to the best interests of the colony, which it will be my desire to emulate—which such a gentleman, I say, has not succeeded in discharging to the satisfaction of the Board of Commissioners entrusted with the carrying out of the principles upon which this colony is established, it would be presumptuous in me to anticipate their approba-tion. If, however, I shall succeed in allaying the feelings that are now rife in this community, and in restoring peace and harmony to our infant society, and at the same time protect it from the miseries, if not dangers, which seem to threaten it, my ambition will be amply satisfied.

That I can look forward to effecting little more than what I have enumerated during the short interval that my administration will last, you, gentlemen, will acknowledge when you shall reflect upon the state of public affairs at the moment I am addressing you; and I owe it to my own official character, now of ten years' standing, to confess openly the position in which the Colonial Government is now placed; that by boldly looking our affairs in the face you may be able the better to afford me the advice which I shall so much require, and shall at all times anxiously seek; and that by pointing out the difficulties which I have to encounter I may meet with sympathy should my exertions be attended with disappointment.

I have first to announce with regret that there are no funds whatever in the Treasury, and that the quarter's salaries due to the whole of the public servants on the 30th June last, are at this day unpaid. We have, therefore, to fear that the tempting remuneration held out for the exercise of ability in private undertakings in this province, added to the distress which they are beginning to experience from the want of money, will induce many indispensable public officers to leave the service of the government.

Secondly— By the departure of the marines in H.M.S. Alligator, this province, with a population exceeding 4000 persons, is abandoned to the protection of eighteen policemen, lately embodied by Governor Hindmarsh, while there are now twenty-one prisoners confined in the weather-boarded building used as a gaol! and perhaps double that number of desperate runaway convicts in the neighbourhood of the town. At the same time, as I have observed, there are no funds for the support of the force now constituting our only protection; and the Resident Commissioner is restricted by his instructions from providing money for such purpose. And, although our critical circumstances would seem to warrant the course, I shall scarcely dare to take upon myself the responsibility of drawing upon the Lords of her Majesty's Treasury for their maintenance unless the general voice of the community shall require it.

 We have happily no immediate cause to aprehend hostility from the aborigines, or our situation would indeed be deplorable; but they have ere now sacrificed two fellow creatures: and you have too recently witnessed the outrages that terminated in a public execution to regard with indifference our piesent unprotected state. And though it gives me pain to set such a picture before the many private gentlemen now present, who have embarked their fortunes in this land in the just expectation that the Government would afford themselves and their families the protection which they have perhaps already paid for, I ought not to conceal from them our extraordinary condition. I will, however, earnestly assure you all, gentlemen, that should you become appre-hensive of danger from the want of the sinews of Government — finances — I will unhesitatingly submit to the Council the propriety of departing from the royal instructions in providing them.

Thirdly, gentlemen, it may be necessary for my future justification to allude to the embarrassed state of the Survey Department, occasioned by the recently received instructions. The Government, I am fully aware, exercises no authority over the Land Department; nor is it charged with the responsibility of the surveys. As it is, however, incidentally affected by the state of that department I may be pardoned for referring to it; especially as the want of land may increase your disquietude and have a tendency to add to the cares of the administration which has just devolved upon me.

Gentlemen, you are probably too much interested to feel fatigued with this address; but I must apologise for having so long taxed your patience. It was essential to my interests that I should detail the difficulties of my situation, and it now becomes my duty to pledge myself and the other members of the Council that our utmost exertions shall not be spared in preserving the efficiency of this Government.

For all our present embarrassment it is "certain that Governor Hindmarsh is not, and I believe that no one else in this colony is, answerable; and it is proper that I should remind you that neither is her Majesty's government responsible for it.

Finally, gentlemen, I look to your kind assistance and beneficial example for assisting myself and the Council in administering the government and preserving good order in the community. And when I resign the government into abler hands believe me, gentlemen, that I shall feel proud in being regarded—though now out of court—as the " amicus curie" of the Province !

I must now take leave of you, gentlemen, for the purpose of attending to important duties in the Council; and I beg to express my acknowledgments for the respect that you have evinced for the constituted authorities in favoring me with your presence upon this occasion.

I regret that the Resident Commissioner, at such a moment as the present, has not afforded me the support of his presence which, as the representative of my Sovereign, I perhaps had a right to expect; but I presume that more important avocations art now engaging his attention.

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Clerk of Council's Office, 

Adelaide, July 16, 1838.

HIS EXCELLENCY THE ACTING GOVERNOR this day appointed Robert Bernard, Esq., A. M., Barrister at Law, Advocate General and Crown Solicitor for the Province till her Majesty's pleasure be known.

By his Excellency's command,
 GEO. STEVENSON,
Clerk of Council.

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Government House, Adelaide, 

July 16,l838. 

HIS EXCELLENCY THE ACTING GOVERNOR, George Milner Stephen, Esq., has this day appointed William Nation, Esq., his Aid-de-camp.

By his Excellency's command,
GEO. STEVENSON,
Clerk of Council.

____________________________________

Colonial Secretary's Office, 

July 16,1838. 

THE ACTING GOVERNOR will be happy to receive the Civil Officers and others on public and private business between the hours of twelve and two daily, at this office, where all communications for his Excellency are to be addressed.

By his Excellency's command, 

WILLIAM NATION, 

Aid-de-camp to his Excellency.

___________________________________

ADELAIDE:—Printed and Published by authority by Robert Thomas and Co., Government Printers, Hindley-street.

Friday. 13th July, 1838

This morning, in a spontaneous and unlooked for outpouring of gratitude and affection, for the which I had long prepared, a large group of Colonists appeared at my door in order to present me with an address signed by close to four hundred within the Province.

I need hardly add that a number of prominent signatures were missing from the document and I shall treasure it all the more for their absence.

Charles Dutton read the thing out and looked very pleased with himself, although I imagine the grin will be wiped from his face pretty smartly come Sunday, when Widow Harvey takes possession of his kitchen.

The address itself praised me as a man of "integrity", which is more than can be said for some, and as a "kind friend, affectionate husband, and indulgent father". Mrs Hindmarsh gave me a dig in the ribs with her elbow at the "affectionate husband" and Mary seemed to develop an unfortunate cough at the "indulgent father" but otherwise all was sunshine and rainbows.

I proceeded to give them the usual flannel about a bright and golden future and respect for the Law and Religion as well as getting in a couple of digs at Fisher which were met with knowing chuckles and sniggers.

I gave them the "thank you all" and "you've all done very well!" and shut the proceedings down before Rev Howard could rise to his feet with "a word in due season".

It was at that point that Strangways chose to tell me that a light luncheon would be offered to the guests and that I would then "mingle".

Mingle? I do many things and many of them I do well, but mingle I do not. This is what comes of it being Friday 13th, I suppose.

Besides Howard and Dutton, there were a number of the better sort there. Lipson, Stevenson, Wyatt, Stevenson, Jickling and Hutchinson were present. Gilles was there, at least in the flesh, although his spirit was soaking in a bottle somewhere.

But many of the party were persons connected in some way with Trade and even a number of Farmers. I am not, I hope, one who looks down on those of a lower station, but the presence of these horny handed sons of toil made "mingling" even more of a trial.

The farmers kept approaching me, smelling faintly of cow manure, to say comforting things such as "Ah, better 'alf a proper wurzel 'an a rotten tattie!" or "ne'er 'oo be afeared, for many a mickel macks a muckel". All I could do was to assume a neutral expression and say "So true!"

Luncheon was served and I noticed Dutton toying with his food and looking puzzled, so that "mingling" also became a game of "Avoid Dutton". I fear it dawned upon him that perhaps his employment of the Vice-Regal cook was not the bargain he hoped.

Newspaper cutting found between the pages of Hindmarsh's diary.

South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, Saturday 14 July 1838, page 1

---

 ADDRESS TO HIS EXCELLENCY.

YESTERDAY, at twelve o'clock, a deputation of the most influential colonists assembled at Government House to present the address to his Excellency which had been so numerously and respectably signed.

The address was then read by C. C. Dutton, Esq., the Sheriff, as follows:—

To His Excellency Captain Hindmarsh, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of South Australia. May it please your Excellency The recent intelligence that it has pleased Her Majesty to relieve you from the duties of your high office having been communicated to us, we hasten to offer our expressions of attachment to your person and respect for your character, which, at such a moment, may be more acceptable to your Excellency, as indicative of the sincerity in which they are conveyed.

With the immediate causes that have led to your Excellency's recall most of us are unacquainted. Knowing, however, that this Province and its Government are founded upon principles which boldly discard the system of colonization that has existed for so many centuries, we are conscious of the vast difficulties that have encompassed your Excellency, as the first Governor, in conducting such a novel experiment.

If, as alleged, your Excellency has failed in carrying out those principles to the full extent anticipated by the founders of this colony, it must be universally conceded that your capacity to fill other high stations of responsibility cannot be questioned. For persons the most conversant with the art of government, might in the onset have been unsuccessful in their exertions to work out so peculiar a constitution.

We have witnessed your Excellency's disinterested energy in the discharge of your responsible duties, and have admired the integrity that appears to have dictated all your actions. And in your private relations as the kind friend, affectionate husband, and indulgent father, you have always commanded our respect and attachment; and, when the period of your departure may arrive, we shall regret the loss of a colonist who has in so many instances set us a bright example of patent self-denial and energetic exercise of manly accomplishments.

Adelaide, June 20, 1838.

C. B. Newenham, H. P, ordnance department
Robert Bernard, barrister at law
J. Fletcher, merchant
R. S. Breeze, builder
John Hallett, merchant
A. H. Davis, merchant
Andrew Smith, commander Lord Goderich
Geo. M, Stephen, advocate general
H. P. Watts, late 47th regiment
John Newman, ship-agent
George A. Anstey, proprietor
J. Bishop, merchant
Y. B. Hutchinson, landholder
Matthew Smith, solicitor
Charles B. Howard, colonial chaplain
F. W. Allen, Southern Cross
Thomas Wilson, farmer
H. R. Wigley, resident magistrate
William Shepherd, merchant
John White, landholder
Thomas G. Stow, minister
William Nation, colonial secretary's office
Frederick Handcock, landholder
John Allen, merchant
Bernard Shaw, merchant
S. Fairlie, merchant
William Parcell, merchant
T. Wilson, timber merchant
Thomas Fewson, commander barque Hartley
Henry Jickling, judge
Robert Cock, land agent
C. C. Dutton, sheriff
John Bruce, landholder
J. C. Hawes, auctioneer
William Kingdom, clerk of court
Robert Thomas, government printer
Thomas Orsmond, merchant
John Richardson, land agent
William Edwards, law stationer
William Wilkinson, ship agent
Thomas Stephenson, master of ship
Hetty F. C. Hopkins, merchant
Charles Fenn, merchant
P. M. Richards, landholder
D. Mactavish, landholder
William McBean, landholder
Thomas Martin, landholder
Henry Osborn, merchant
John Stuckey, baker

R. Bradshaw, landholder
William Wyatt, protector of the aborigines
Thomas Shepherd, merchant
R. Adams, merchant
Andrew Birrell, chief constable
A. F. Lindsay, landholder
William Bradshaw, landholder
Samuel Chapman, merchant
John Tozer, watchmaker
Henry Hewitt, merchant
William Finke, ship agent
T. B. Strangways, colonial secretary
Osmond Gilles, colonial treasurer
G. H. Barnard, merchant
J. G. Nash, surgeon
Charles Calton, merchant
Anthony Lillyman, brewer
W. H. Gray, land proprietor
W. Anthony, merchant
T. Morris, commander brig Freeling
Henry Jones, merchant
George Stevenson, clerk of council
Henry Inman, Inspector of police
George Evans, custom-house
Edward Surflen, do.
D. Beatten, do.
Lindsay Craig, do.
Thomas Lipson, harbour master
Daniel Simpson, ship builder
Stephen Whettem. R.N.
T. W. Beare, South Australian Company
A. Jamieson, master ship Trusty
J. Mordaunt, master ship Canton
J. Walker, lieut. R.N.
John Warren, brewer
D. Nihill
S. Blunden, farmer
George North, farmer
William Cameron, farmer
William Kyffin Thomas, printer
Benjamin Portbury, printer
George Dehane, printer
James Halliday, printer
W. H. Nash
John Hill, proprietor
William Hanson
Henry Barnes
And about three hundred other colonists

His Excellency answered in the following terms:—

Gentlemen— I receive your expressions of attachment in the same sincerity of feeling with which I believe they are offered, and I assure you that the regret I feel deeply at this moment is influenced less by the political change to which you refer, or by the reflection that such change has been effected by unworthy means, than by the necessity I am under of leaving you for a time to vindicate my public conduct and justify in England any administration of the Government of the Province.

The share which a Governor of South Australia possesses in conducting the new experiment in colonization is so small that under no circumstances can he be justly responsible for its result. That responsibility rests with the Colonization Commissioners, to whom the charge of " working out so peculiar a constitution" is entrusted. The principle, though novel, is simple, as I believe it to be sound. Its successful practical application, however, depends not on the Colonial Government, but on the integrity and ability of the individuals entrusted by the Colonization Commissioners with its development, and it must be to a deficiency of these qualities alone that anything approaching to failure ought to be attributed.

Notwithstanding all that has taken place I do not anticipate such a calamity. Blessed as South Australia is with the finest climate and the most fertile soil yet discovered in this vast continent, its progress cannot be materially retarded either by political differences or by the more serious mismanagement of the parties entrusted with the disposal of the unappropriated land and with the distribution of the public monies.

If the colonists do themselves justice—if they respect the laws and attend to the observances of religion—if they continue the same habits of temperance and industry which have so happily prevailed, and which are rapidly raising the proprietors of the soil to wealth and the laborers to independence—South Australia must, in its abundance of all the sources of national wealth, realise the most ardent wishes of its friends and acquire in a few years a rank among the provinces of the British Crown unknown and without example in Colonial History.

In leaving you now I wish you individually and the colonists without exception every temporal happiness and spiritual blessing. Believe me, gentlemen, that in whatever position I may be ultimately placed I shall never forget either the support which you have afforded me through so many of the difficulties I have been forced to encounter in this Province nor the present expression of your kindness.

J. HINDMARSH. 

Undated Notes Written Some Time Either on 11th or 12th July, 1838

Note One

I was busy packing for the voyage home this morning and looked up to discover young Johnny standing in the room.

With no ship travelling from Van Dieman's Land to Adelaide, he travelled, with all the boundless optimism of the young, to Launceston, where he managed to work a passage to Port Phillip Bay on a trading ketch bound for Sydney, then sailed on a fishing boat from Port Phillip to Glenelg. 

What a delightful surprise! 

I told him how much I appreciated the effort to which he had gone and he said, "I couldn't let you head off for London without seeing your ugly old face one more time." The cheeky monkey!

It seems that the surveying job in Hobart did not come to fruition for the nonce, but something might come of it in a year or two,

Good for him!

___________________________________

Note Two

There is an allegedly hilarious lampoon doing the rounds of the town at present. 

It purports to be a Mother Goose tale and in it, with a wave of a wand I am transformed from a Governor to a Sea Captain; Milner Stephen is transformed from an Advocate General to a Postmaster General to a Governor; Strangways is released from the enchanted Castle of the Colonial Secretary's Office; and Stevenson is changed into "Giant Despair".

Margaret Stevenson is completely scathing about the thing. It is, she says "exactly the sort of ham-fisted, lifelessly unfunny production that the untalented think will raise the roof."

So it will almost certainly appear in Fisher's pet newspaper this week. I suggested to Mrs Stevenson that a proper ending for the thing might have been a scene where a Princess kissed a toad, whereupon it turned into Mr Fisher, leaving the Princess lamenting that she was better off with the slimy amphibian.

___________________________________________

Note Three

Mr Morphett is currently offering ten pounds reward for the recovery of the chain and anchor of the Brig Dart, currently lying, though not securely, in Holdfast Bay.

Who but Morphett would be sufficiently fat headed as to lose the anchor of a ship while it was actually anchored in the Harbour?

Fix this teanged into "Giant Despair".

Tuesday, 10th July, 1838

There were extraordinarily distressing scenes at home tonight that have left me quite disturbed.

We were sitting eating what Widow Harvey assured us was Supper when Mary suddenly put down her knife and fork and spoke:

"Father, I must speak with you frankly."

Thinking she was about to comment on the food, I gestured for her to continue.

"Pappa, as you know, I have been taking watercolour lessons from Mr Milner Stephen  of late."

I nodded. I did not really approve of Mr Milner Stephen and I think I have made that quite clear within the family. En famille Milner Stephen is de trop.

Mary continued.

"Pappa, Mr Milner Stephen and I have been seeing rather a lot of each other and..... we have an understanding."

The food I was eating turned to ash in my mouth. Though considering how burnt it was to start with, this was probably not as dramatic as it sounds.

"An understanding?" I managed to choke out. And then Mary dealt the fatal blow.

"We intend to be married." 

I quietly place my cutlery upon the table and said, with all the dignity I could muster: "It would be my preference that Mr Milner Stephen did not become a member of this family."

Mary stood, struck a pose and, with all the melodrama of Mr Shepherd's drama, cried out, "But I love him father! You cannot keep us apart!"

Of course, there she was completely wrong. She was underage and consequently, without my permission, she was in the lurch.

I spoke again, calmly and reasonably. "Mr Milner Stephen is a mountebank, a charlatan and a fraud. His chief ability is to eat me out of house and home and he cheats at cards! I would not give him house room except that once he is through the door there is no getting rid of him! And his faith healing nonsense is the belief of a simpleton. Only the other day he offered to lay on his hands to help the vision in my bad eye!"

"You don't know!" Mary said. "He might have helped you!"

"It's a glass eye!" I said, which seemed to annoy her. "You will not marry him," I said.

"You forget, Father. I am over nineteen. In a year and a half I shall be twenty-one and there will be nothing you can do to stop me behaving exactly as I like!"

"I forbid this family from having further dealings with Mr Milner Stephen!"

Mary swept to the door, then turned dramatically. "Then you had best speak with Mamma and forbid her dealings with him as well!"

And with that she was gone. I turned to Mrs Hindmarsh. What, exactly, did Mary mean by "her dealings" with Milner Stephen?

"Oh now John.... " began Mrs Hindmarsh.

"Oh-now-John me no Oh-now-Johns Madam! To what is Mary referring when she speaks of your dealings with Milner Stephen?"

She sat quietly for a moment and then spoke. "Mr Milner Stephen is assisting and advising me with the arrangements for the selling of our land here in the Colony." I began to speak, but she held up a hand. "And before you say anything, remember what you have told me in the past. You have said that the man is as cunning as a rat and so I thought that he would be exactly the one to ensure that we received the greatest profits from our dealings. And besides: with the ridiculous state of the property laws it is useful to have a man about the place to sign the cheques and deal with the bank. Those are my dealings with Milner Stephen. Forbid them if you want to."

My first thought was "My ducats and my daughter!",  but after another moment I saw the justice of what she said. 

"Well then..... No harm done. All well and good," I said. "But what shall we do about Mary?"

Mrs Hindmarsh pulled a face.

"Oh, Mary!" She smiled. "There is not a problem in the world there. You know as well as I that she can not wait a half an hour for something without losing interest or being distracted by some shiny bauble."

This was true. 

"What chance is there then of the girl waiting eighteen months for her beloved Milner Stephen?"

Once again, I acknowledged the truth of this.

"Three months," I said. "Three months before some boy captures her heart."

"Three weeks!" said Mrs Hindmarsh.  

We said no more, but I am still troubled.

I have no doubt that Mary will lose interest in him. But I have seen George Milner Stephen's limpet-like abilities at clinging "to a good thing". Mary might lose interest in him. But will he lose interest in her?

Monday, 9th July, 1838

Grand news for the Reverend C. B. Howard today as the title of "Dullest Thing in the Colony" is now indisputably his.

Most thought he had it in the bag after his two hour prophetic effusion farewelling me yesterday, but now, with the news that the Adelaide Theatre is to close, his only rival for the title is dispatched.

It was only a month or two ago that the Theatre held its glittering opening night and Bill Shephard spoke ecstatically to the audience, saying, "I find that the Theatre gives me something to live for!"

It seems that what he did not find was that the Theatre gave him something to live on.

When one is aware that the glittering throng on opening night were largely there, glittering, because of a deluge of complimentary tickets sent crashing onto the great and the good of the Province by the organisers and that on subsequent evenings, when people had to stump up hard cash, the crowd was decidedly unthrongful, one can begin to see where the thing capsized.

The costs of the land and building, fitting out the Theatre - in the French Fashion! - added to the costs of producing the theatrical performance could hardly be met by the meagre ticket sales that were forthcoming from the people of Adelaide. I have heard that even the profits over the bar selling beer and spirits to Old Soaks have themselves been soaked up by the Theatre, the biggest Old Soak of them all.

Such was the drain on Shepherd's finances that a second production was promised and advertised, but did not appear, due, I surmise, to a lack of the ready cash.

There are two schools of thought here (1) That the people of Adelaide are uncultured Philistines and hence would not part with the money to support a new theatrical venture. (2) That the people of Adelaide are cultured theatre lovers who valued good theatre too much to part with money to support a theatrical venture of the sort being offered by Shepherd. 

Either way, Bill Shepherd has discovered that the best way to deal with his innumerable creditors is to cut his losses and sell up.

I am by no means one to take pleasure in the misfortunes of others, but after the evening I spent in that Theatre I cannot help but feel a twinge of satisfaction. 

A Paper Found Between the Pages of Hindmarsh's DIary

Southern Australian (Adelaide, SA : 1838 - 1844), Saturday 7 July 1838, page 1

---

Valuable Freehold Property.

Mr ROBERT COCK has the honour to announce that he has received instructions to Sell by Private Contract

SECTION 251, FRANKLIN STREET,

SOUTH ADELAIDE,

(Near the intended Market) upon which is situated that most commodious and valuable Building, known as the

ADELAIDE TAVERN,

Now in the occupation of Mr. SHEPHARD, and in full business. The House is most substantially built, regardless of all expence, and is replete with every convenience necessary to carry on a first rate establishment; at the same time it is so admirably arranged that a person of small capital may make a

HANDSOME FORTUNE

By a partial occupation only. The general character of this House is sufficiently well known to render a lengthy description unnecessary, and the limits of an advertisement would not suffice to describe its numerous advantages; enough to say, that to those possessed of the talent and activity to carry on so flourishing a business and a little capital, it would be a certain fortune

IN A FEW YEARS.

The HOUSE is built of Stone, with handsome Stone Portico in front; and contains on the Ground Floor, a roomy and convenient Bar, and five capital Parlours and private rooms, besides, a Kitchen, 34 feet by 14, and large Cellar.

The Large Ball Boom

On the upper Story is too well known to need description. The excellent Public Dinners that have been held of late, afford ample testimony of the great value to the Hotel of so splendid and convenient a room. This room is 50 feet long by 18 feet wide, will dine 200 persons, and is now most profitably turned to account by being used for the

ADELAIDE THEATRE,

And affording accomodation for an audience consisting of400 persons.

A smaller Ball Room adjoins, and numerous Bed Rooms, with ample space over the Kitchen, for three or four rooms additional.

A quantity of material is upon the spot for the purpose of completing some of the unfinished portions, and the size may be increased to almost anv extent at the option of the owner.

In addition to the Tavern there is a double Stone Cottage on the acre, replete with convenience for small families; at present in the occupation of Messrs. Abbott and Lerwin.

A portion of the purchase-money may remain on security of the Property if required.