Item #116710 Province of South Australia. Land Grant. Country Section. Under Treasurer's Receipt in England... [A printed document, with manuscript insertions]. George GAWLER.
Province of South Australia. Land Grant. Country Section. Under Treasurer's Receipt in England... [A printed document, with manuscript insertions]

Province of South Australia. Land Grant. Country Section. Under Treasurer's Receipt in England... [A printed document, with manuscript insertions]

Folio (378 × 237 mm), a bifolium (centrefold blank, last page docketed); the first page, with a small hand-coloured diagram of the block (showing the orientation of the land), and a paper-over-wax impressed seal, is signed by George Gawler as Resident Commissioner, 27 August 1839.

Three horizontal creases (when the document is folded thus, the docketed portion of the last page becomes visible on one of the exposed panels); short splits to the open ends of two creases expertly sealed; trifling signs of wear; the exposed panels of the folded document are a little marked and discoloured; overall, the document is in very good condition.

The grant is for 'Eighty acres numbered 161 in the Provincial Survey', purchased by 'Henry Giles of Adelaide | Merchant' for the sum of £80. Henry Giles (1812-1892) was born at 'Farrington-Gurney, Somerset, England and came to South Australia on the ship 'Buffalo' in 1836, listed as a Labourer. He had been recommended for government service, particularly in agriculture. He firstly settled at the Tiers (near present-day Crafers) and then moved to the Mount Pleasant district, where he first bought land in 1842' (online history of Mt Pleasant). George Gawler (1795-1869) was South Australia's second governor. 'Disputes between the first governor, Captain (Sir) John Hindmarsh, and the resident commissioner, (Sir) James Fisher, over their respective jurisdictions had retarded the colony's development, so the two offices were combined in Gawler. Thus, as governor he became representative of the Colonial Office in the province, and as resident commissioner, representative of the non-governmental Colonization Commission which was responsible for the control of land sales, for applying the proceeds to the emigration of labourers and for raising loans until such time as the colony had sufficient revenue to support itself.... On 12 October 1838 Gawler with his wife and five children arrived in Adelaide in the "Pestonjee Bomanjee" and found conditions far worse than he had been led to expect.... The most urgent necessity, he believed, was to promote rural settlement. He persuaded Charles Sturt to accept the post of surveyor-general and, until he could assume office, Gawler himself took charge of the Survey Department, reorganizing it and conducting preliminary explorations. He also hired every available surveyor, including some of Light's former officers. In October 1839, to his dismay, he was ordered to dismiss them. The commissioners had appointed Lieutenant Edward Frome as surveyor-general and sent him out with a party of sappers. Gawler solved the problem by amalgamating the two forces, feeling justified by the increasing volume of land sales. In 1839 over 170,000 acres (68,797 ha) were sold'. Gawler produced results: within twelve months 200,000 acres had been surveyed, and by May 1841 mapping of 7000 square miles had been completed, and over 500,000 acres divided into sections. This rare land grant is evidence of Gawler's energy and zeal. Unhappily for him, history was about to repeat itself: his 'major weakness was his complete failure to understand political realities.... His recall and his successor, Captain (Sir) George Grey, arrived together on 10 May 1841' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography').

Item #116710

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