Adelaide Northern Districts Family History Group Inc.

27/12/2025

Goyder's Forgotten Botanist was an original settler at Buchsfelde

26/12/2025

21/12/2025

LYNDOCH, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
c. 1910

With Christmas and New Year coming up, I’ll be taking a short break from colouring. While I’m away, I’ll share a mix of favourite historical photos and some new colourisations, so keep an eye out.

This lovely photo gives us a look at Lyndoch around 1910. Called Phaeton Buggy, Lyndoch and kept by the State Library of South Australia, it shows two well-dressed women standing near the local schoolhouse. If you look closely, you can spot two, maybe even three, children in the background. Were they saying goodbye to their teachers or just watching out of curiosity? It’s a charming glimpse of daily life from over a hundred years ago.

The original black-and-white photograph can be viewed here:

https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+32001

Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History.

© Kelly Bonato 2024. All image editing, enhancement and colourisation is subject to copyright. You’re very welcome to share this post; the image itself may not be copied or shared separately without permission.

17/12/2025

Olive trees imported from Marseilles under the care of John Bailey, Colonial Botanist....180 years ago.

🗞"LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Many of our fellow-colonists will be gratified to know that the olive truncheons imported some months ago from Marseilles, by the South Australian Company, are likely to do well, under the care of Mr Bailey, of the Hackney Nursery.

The truncheons were planted within an enclosure of the Company's, adjoining Mr Bailey's nursery, and notwithstanding the sinister predictions of the uninitiated, most of them are now exhibiting indubitable proofs of vitality.

The mulberry tree flourishes in South Australia surpassingly. Amongst numerous other proofs of the perfect adaptation of soil and climate, a solitary plant imported by Dr Everard not only produced (last summer) some of the largest fruit ever seen, but has furnished cuttings, which have thriven remarkably well.

The fruit season may now be said to have commenced. Apricots are coming in by dozens; fine Morella cherries by the dozen pounds; and ere another week elapses we shall, in all probability, have abundance as well as variety."🗞

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Wednesday 17 December 1845, page 3

"Olives have been grown in the Adelaide Parklands since 1837. Six olive trees were brought on the HMS Buffalo in 1836 by Governor John Hindmarsh and planted in his garden, now Elder Park. These trees were reportedly later moved to George Stevenson's garden in North Adelaide. In 1844 the South Australia Company imported more olive trees. These were planted in John Bailey's Hackney Nursery on the northeast corner of Hackney Road and North Terrace."
https://www.weekendnotes.com/history-adelaide-olive-trees/

https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/blog/2021/6/24/ancient-olive-groves-in-the-spotlight

https://www.burnside.sa.gov.au/Latest-News/History-Corner/Olives-From-the-Buffalo-to-Beaumont





📷John Bailey,
https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/bailey-john-b.html

17/12/2025

BAROSSA VALLEY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 1926

Today, we're in the past of the beautiful wine region of the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

The original photograph of this edited and colourised picture was taken in approximately 1926 and is called "Dorrien Wine Cellars" (B 69038). The photo is from the State Library of South Australia, Barossa Collection. The unedited black and white picture can be found in the comments.

https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+69038

The library provides the following summary, "Grapes being delivered by horse-drawn carts to Dorrien Wine Cellars (between Tanunda and Nuriootpa). The note on the back reads 'Dorrien Wine Cellars vintage 1926'."

I understand that the Martin family purchased the winery from the Seppelt family in 1984 and opened it as Chateau Dorrien on 13 January 1985. It's nice to see history is still being made!

https://www.chateaudorrien.com.au

Source: State Library of South Australia and Chateau Dorrien.

Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History

Copyright © Kelly Bonato 2023. All image editing, enhancement and colourisation is subject to copyright. You are welcome to share this post, but the image alone cannot be copied or shared without permission.

16/12/2025

10/12/2025

SALISBURY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Circa 1910

I promised someone I’d keep an eye out for a suitable image of the Old Spot Hotel to colour, and while options were limited, I did manage to track down this early photograph from the State Library of South Australia’s collection (B 14954), and gave it a touch of new life with colour.

The photograph shows a long, low building nestled beside the Little Para River, with a sturdy stone bridge spanning the water nearby. Simple post-and-rail fences line the roadside, and on the right-hand side of the image, a flock of sheep has gathered, hinting at the region’s agricultural roots.

The Old Spot Hotel is one of the earliest licensed establishments in South Australia, with its first publican, J. Ilberry, holding the license from 1841 to 1842.
A few years later, the town’s founder, John Harvey, took over as licensee from 1845 to 1848. The hotel has gone by several names over time, including the Traveller’s Rest, the Little Para Inn, and the Para Inn, before settling on "The Old Spot Hotel" in 1849.

According to Discover Salisbury, the hotel saw a major transformation at the turn of the 20th century. In 1899, Frederick Heinrich Kuhlmann purchased the property and undertook significant renovations a decade later. In 1909, parts of the original structure, such as the tap room, sitting room, and several bedrooms, were demolished to make way for a more substantial hotel, with 14 guest rooms designed by architect J.H. Laity.

Kuhlmann was more than a publican, he was also an enterprising horticulturist. Behind the hotel, he established a nursery, an orangery, and productive gardens filled with fruit and vegetables. He even exported oranges and roses interstate and abroad. To irrigate his crops, he had a water wheel built by a blacksmith named Mr Lee. While innovative, the wheel proved to be of limited practical use.

So, while the hotel you see in the photo has changed over time, the spirit of the place, its connection to the town's earliest days and its link to local industry and ingenuity, remains very much alive.

Sources: Thanks to the State Library of South Australia and Discover Salisbury
Edited and colourised by Kelly Bonato of A Colourful History

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