Rosewater, South Australia

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Rosewater
Adelaide, South Australia

Eric Sutton Oval.

Population:

3,263 (2001 census)^[1]

Established:

1855

Postcode:

5013

Area:

1.4 km²

Property Value:

AUD $228,000 (Q1 2006)^[2]

Location:

12 km from Adelaide

LGA:

City of Port Adelaide Enfield

State District:

Cheltenham, Port Adelaide

Federal Division:

Port Adelaide

Suburbs around Rosewater
Port Adelaide	Gillman	Ottoway
West Lakes	Rosewater	Pennington
Queenstown	Alberton	Cheltenham

Rosewater is one of the western suburbs of Adelaide and is located 10km north-west of Adelaide's central business district (CBD). Although mainly residential, there are many shops along Grand Junction Road and the soon-to-be retired "Rosewater Loop" railway line runs through the suburb. Rosewater is split in half by Grand Junction Road and bordered on the east by Addison and on the south by Torrens Road.

Originally, the area was mainly used as vegetable and dairy farmland but became more and more residential as the railway lines and Grand Junction Road were completed and as Port Adelaide grew and developed. Rosewater was also the site of the AdelaideRadio (VIA) maritime radio station system from 1912 to 1963^[3].

1 History
- 1.1 Aboriginal culture
- 1.2 European settlement
2 Geography
3 Residents
4 Politics
5 Places of Interest
6 Notes and References
7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Aboriginal culture

The Kaurna people were stone-age hunter gatherers who inhabited the Adelaide Plains and surrounding regions. Among their unique customs were burn-offs (controlled bushfires) in the Adelaide Hills which the early Europeans spotted before the Kaurna people were pushed out by settlement. By 1852, the total population (by census count) of the Kaurna was 650 in the Adelaide region and steadily decreasing. The Kaurnas' main presence was on the River Torrens and the creeks that flowed into it. These were also the most prized areas for the new European settlers. Displaced abruptly and then afflicted by European diseases that they had no natural immunity for, the Aboriginal population went into steady decline^[1]. In 2001, a total of 91 indigenous persons were living in Rosewater.

The general area was called "Yatala" by the local indigenous population^[4], while further north was known as "Yertabulti" and "Yerta Boldingga", which means 'land of sleep or death' according to John Phillip Gell^[5].

[edit] European settlement

The original subdivision of Rosewater was created in 1855 by Philip Levi, when he subdivided Section 1189. The area just south of this, between Grand Junction and Torrens Roads, had been laid out by Osmond Gilles in 1847 and was known as "Yatala" (Sections 422 and 2072). The area west of Levi's subdivision was farmland owned by William Henry Gray and was called Graytown (Section 699). After Grays death, Graytown was subdivided and sold as residential lands in 1898. Many of the streets there are named after Gray and his family; Rosetta, Edith, Alice and Jane (now Jennifer St) were all family members.

The generally accepted explanation of the name "Rosewater" is attributed to Philip Levi who, it is claimed, said "The locality was a swamp, and the perfumes arising from the stagnant water were so offensive that I thought the name of Rosewater would, to some extent, act as a corrective"^[6]. An alternative etymology came to light in 1945 when a Commissioner of Police report accompanying a parcel of human bone fragments discovered in Rosewater stated the following:

"Mrs J. Ward, the owner of the property, where the bones were found, states that her father arrived here 100 years ago and took up land and used water from a wall on the site in question, for the manufacture of sand bricks. The water in the well was so pure that it was named "rose water" and her father often remarked to her that the district derived its name therefrom"^[7].

As the population grew the area became crowded with subdivisions. The areas north and east of Levi's original "Rosewater" were called Rosewater North and Rosewater East respectively, while to the east of Evans St were Dockville and Kingsnorth. East of these were the subdivisions of Brookesville, Ottoway and Ottoway East, which are now all part of Ottoway. East of Addison Road were Rosewater Gardens, Rosewater Gardens South and Stone's Farm (where the Flinders Hotel now stands). South of the "Yatala" area were Klemscott, Everton and Pennington.

It wasn't until 1945 that the confusion was put to an end when the Port Adelaide Council moved to reduce the number of local district areas, combining 13 into what is now known as Rosewater.

Between the 1880's and the 1980's, Rosewater grew to become a reasonably large township with two hotels, a police and firestation, churches and many shops along Grand Junction Road. The Rosewater Gasworks was the largest local industry and many of the residents of the area worked in the timber mills, rail yards and woolsheds to the east of Port Adelaide^[8].

The Redhill Bridge which goes over the Outer Harbor railway line.

Rosewater was also the site of the AdelaideRadio (VIA) maritime radio station system, the sixth built in Australia and one of 19 around the country. Opened 1st October 1912 it operated from 8am to midnight every day of the week, and was one of the first points of contact for ships sailing south from Hong Kong and Japan. Apart from its major function of listening for ships' messages, Adelaide also handled traffic to and from the State telegraph system, and broadcast time signals to shipping. By 1963 the rapid industrialisation of the Rosewater area had increased electrical interference to the point where a move to a new site became necessary and the operation was moved to McLaren Vale where it operated until 1993 when it was shut down^[9].

In the 1980s the extension and widening of Grand Junction Road and the construction of the Redhill Bridge spelt the end for many of the small shops in the area and property value experienced a slump. Since the start of the 21st century, with the new developments of Port Adelaide the area is experiencing somewhat of a revival as is evidenced by the rising property value.

[edit] Geography

A small recreational area in Rosewater called "Duffield Playground".

Prior to European settlement the Rosewater area was mainly swampy marshlands of stagnant water. Today the area is almost entirely urbanised with only a small swamp area left next to the Redhill Bridge. The Eric Sutton Oval is one of two reserves in the area, with the other, Duffield Playground, a short distance away.

[edit] Residents

According to the 2001 Census the population of Rosewater is 3,274 and this is split almost evenly between male and female with only 8 more women than men. Of the local population 66% were born in Australia and 90% are Australian citizens, while the indigenous population makes up 2.7% of the total.

Using the selected averages from the 2001 Census, the average Rosewater resident is 38 years old, with a median weekly individual income of $200-$299. The median family income is $600-$699 per week with an average household size of 2.2 people.

As a whole, the Rosewater area has an average religious affiliation (67.8%) with Christians accounting for 59.2% of the total population. The top ten religious affiliations (in decending order) were: Catholic, Anglican, Uniting Church, Buddhism, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Baptist and Islam^[10].

2002 State Election
	Labor	49.8%
	Liberal	18.7%
	Independent	12.5%
	Democrats	6.4%
	SA First	4.4%

2004 Federal Election
	Labor	54.5%
	Liberal	31.9%
	Greens	5.4%
	Family First	4.8%
	Democrats	2%

[edit] Politics

Rosewater is split between two state electoral districts - north of Grand Junction Road is considered part of the Port Adelaide district, while south is considered part of the Cheltenham district. In federal politics, the suburb is part of the division of Port Adelaide, which is represented by Rod Sawford. The results shown here are from the Rosewater polling booth which is located at Mount Carmel College.