South Australian Company
The South Australian Company, also referred to as the South Australia Company, was formed in London on 9 October 1835, after lobbying by the South Australian Association. The founding board, headed by George Fife Angas, consisted of wealthy British merchants in order to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony by meeting an essential financial obligation of the South Australia Act 1834.
The South Australian Company ended business in its own right on 17 March 1949 when it was liquidated by Elders Trustee & Executor Company Ltd, which had been managing its Australian affairs since the death of the last Colonial Manager, Arthur Muller in 1936.
Foundation
The formation of the company followed considerable lobbying by the South Australian Association, a group consisting of philanthropists, radical thinkers, dissenters and merchants. After a years of negotiation, false starts, changes and amendments to suggested charters, the British Parliament finally gave approval and passed the South Australia Act on 15 August 1834.The founding Board of directors were George Fife Angas ; Raikes Currie; Charles Hindley MP; James Hyde; Henry Kingscote; John Pirie, Alderman; Christopher Rawson; John Rundle MP; Thomas Smith; James Ruddell Todd; and Henry Waymouth; with Edmund John Wheeler, Manager; Samuel Stephens, Colonial Manager; and Edward Hill, Secretary pro tem.
Purpose
The original purpose of the company was to help prospective colonists meet the obligations set out in the South Australia Act 1834. The United Kingdom did not want the "province" to be a financial burden, like other colonies, and imposed certain conditions through the Act. One of these conditions was the sale of real property to the value of £35,000. Each director was required to buy at least £2,500 in shares in the company. The biggest sales in land carried out by the company were done in the names of Angas, who purchased £40,000, and the Currie family, who purchased £9,000. Research published in 2018 and 2019 concluded that these sales and the creation of company, which secured the establishment of South Australia, link the colony's creation with slavery in the British West Indies.First Fleet of South Australia (1836)
After a historic meeting at Exeter Hall on 30 June 1834, where the principles, objects, plan and prospects of the new Colony of South Australia were explained to the public, hundreds of enquiries from prospective immigrants started to arrive at the South Australian Association's rooms at 7 John Street, Adelphi.Under the emigration scheme, labouring classes received free passage. They had to be between 15 and 30 years of age, preferably married, and needed two references. Steerage passengers paid £15-20, middle berth £35-40, and cabin class £70. Children under 14 years were charged £3 while those under 1 year were free.
Although the ships had been assessed for their suitability to convey immigrants, the captain was responsible for their welfare once on board.
All emigration to South Australia was voluntary. The immigrants were remarkable or the high percentage of women and children who arrived on the first fleet. The nine ships to arrive in South Australia in 1836 landed 343 males, 164 females and 129 children, for a total 636 passengers. The passengers' average age was only 19 years.
In January 1836 four ships sailed from England on behalf of the Company. They developed a settlement at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, in July 1836, but when farming proved unviable, they transferred their settlement to the mainland. The Company provided basic infrastructure for the new colony and sold or leased land to immigrants who came to settle.
Over the course of six months nine ships, which may be termed the First Fleet of South Australia, arrived in the new colony:
| Date | Ship | Size | Purpose | Passengers |
| 27 July | Duke of York | S.A. Company | 38 passengers | |
| 30 July | S.A. Company | 29 | ||
| 16 August | S.A. Company | 28 | ||
| 21 August | Commissioners | 24 | ||
| 11 September | Commissioners | 84 | ||
| 5 October | S.A. Company | 22 | ||
| 2 November | Various | 76 | ||
| 20 November | Tam O'Shanter | O. Gilles | 74 | |
| 23 December | Commissioners | 171 |
Colonial Managers
The Colonial Managers of the South Australian Company were:| Manager | From | To | Notes |
| 1836 | 1837 | ||
| 1837 | 1841 | ||
| 1841 | 1861 | ||
| 1861 | 1894 | ||
| 1894 | 1900 | ||
| 1901 | 1929 | ||
| 1930 | 1936 | ||
| 1936 | 1949 |
Officers of the company
Most of the major streets in the Adelaide city centre were named after the founding directors of the company;Chairmen
- 1836–1848 George Fife Angas
- 1848–18?? James Ruddell Todd
- 1886–1888 Sir John Rose
- 1889–1897 Charles Gay Roberts
- 1898–1898 Godfrey Webb
- 1899–1923 Henry Joslin
- 1836–18?? Raikes Currie
- 1836–18?? Charles Hindley
- 1836–18?? James Hyde
- 1836–18?? Henry Kingscote
- 1836–18?? John Pirie
- 1836–18?? Christopher Rawson
- 1836–18?? John Rundle
- 1836–18?? Thomas Smith
- 1836–18?? James Ruddell Todd
- 1836–1848 Henry Waymouth
- 1880–1911 Major General Sir Stanley De A.C. Clarke, G.C.V.O., C.M.G.
- 1889–1919 Sir John H. Kennaway, Bart. C.B., M.P.
- 1891–1922 Andrew Johnston
- 1895–1931 John Henry Grant
- 1899–1931 Sir R.H. Hermon Hodge
- Joseph Fisher
- Robert Barr Smith
- Tom Elder Barr Smith
- 1878–1911 James Hutchison
- 1911–1930+ Henry Brandreth Gibbs F.C.I.S.
- William Bartley
- 1850–1906 Sir Samuel Davenport, K.C.M.G.
- 1876–1923 John Warren Bakewell
- 1841–1885 William Bartley
- 1841–18?? Edward Stephens
- 1856–1870 William Bakewell, M.P., Crown Solicitor
- 1876–1923 John Warren Bakewell
- 1886-1930+ Joseph Fisher
- 1894–1932 Sir John Lancelot Stirling K.C.M.G., M.L.C.
- Edward Stephens
- Edward Robert Simpson
Company offices
List of people associated with the South Australian Company
Most of the major streets in the Adelaide city centre were named after the founding directors of the company. Naming of the settlements streets was completed on 23 May 1837 and gazetted on 3 June by the Street Naming Committee.| Who | Association | Streets | Notes |
| Commissioner | Angas Street | ||
| Founding director | Currie Street | ||
| Divett, Edward | Trustee | Divett Place | |
| Resident Commissioner | Hurtle Square | ||
| Fussell, John | Trustee | Took over from Henry Waymouth after his death in January 1848. | |
| Governor of SA | Gawler Place | Gawler, Gawler Ranges, etc. | |
| Colonial Manager | |||
| Colonial Secretary | Gouger Street | ||
| South Australian Church Society | Grenfell Street | ||
| Governor of SA | |||
| Founding director | Hindley Street | ||
| Governor of SA | Hindmarsh Square | ||
| Commissioner | Hutt Street | ||
| Founding Director | Kingscote, Kangaroo Island | ||
| Deputy Surveyor General | Kingston SE | ||
| Surveyor General | Light Square | ||
| Colonial Manager | |||
| Moore, Henry Percival | Colonial Manager | ||
| Land Agent | Morphett Street | ||
| Muller, Arthur Leopold Albert | Colonial Manager | ||
| Founding director | Pirie Street | ||
| Rawson, Christopher | Founding director | ||
| Governor of SA | Robe, South Australia | ||
| Founding director | Rundle Street | ||
| Smith, Thomas | Founding director | ||
| Sparks, Henry Yorke | Colonial Manager | ||
| First manager of SA Banking Co | |||
| Colonial Manager | |||
| Todd, James Ruddell | Founding director | ||
| Commissioner | River Torrens | ||
| Drafted the bill that became the founding act | Wakefield Street | ||
| Early proposer of colonisation | |||
| Founding director | Waymouth Street | ||
| South Australian Church Society | Whitmore Square | ||
| Governor of SA |