District Council of Yatala
The District Council of Yatala is a historic local government area of South Australia established in 1853.
Etymology
The council was named after the Hundred of Yatala which was proclaimed in 1846 in the County of Adelaide, Yatala being a word from the Weira group of the Kaurna Aboriginal people meaning water running by the side of a river.[1]
History
At the time of establishment in 1853, Yatala covered an area of approximately 58 square miles (150 km2)[2] on what is now the inner suburbs north-west, north and north-east of Adelaide.[3] It extended from Salisbury in the north, to the River Torrens in the east and to the borders of the former City of Port Adelaide local government area in the west. North Adelaide's parklands clearly formed part of the southern boundary of the council area. The council area included the villages of Enfield, Prospect, Klemzig and Walkerville. Surveying of Yatala was started in 1837 and continued until completed in late 1850s. The area had limited fresh water.[3]
The first Clerk, Collector, and Surveyor to the District Road Board of the Hundred of Yatala, was appointed in 1850. This was architect Edward Prowse, who later came to prominence in Geelong, Victoria.[4] Prowse resigned in 1852, [5]
In 1854 Yatala Labour Prison was established near Dry Creek, which passed from east to west through the centre of Yatala, to enable prisoners to work at the creek quarrying rock for roads and construction.[6]
In the first twenty years after the establishment of Yatala council, three pockets of land were removed from Yatala to be local government areas in their own right. The then Village of Walkerville split from Yatala in 1855 and is now incorporated as the Town of Walkerville.[3][7] In 1868 the District Council Yatala was divided at Dry Creek into Yatala South and Yatala North.[3] As of 2011, Yatala North is roughly analogous to the City of Salisbury. In August 1872 the then Village of Prospect split from Yatala South and now incorporated as the City of Prospect.[3][8]
Bailliere's South Australian gazetteer and road guide, published in 1866, contains a brief description of the Yatala council area before its division into Yatala North and South. It recorded the population of the district as being 3091, the number of houses as 642, the cultivated land as being 15,194 acres (6,149 ha), and the council chair as J.W. Sudholtz of Gilles Plains.[2]
Well over half a century later, in July 1935, Yatala South was renamed to be the District Council of Enfield. Enfield council was eventually amalgamated with the City of Port Adelaide in 1996 to now be part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.
Notes
- ↑ "Place Names of South Australia - XYZ (Yatala)". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2007.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Whitworth (1866) p. 283
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Enfield History". City of Port Adelaide Enfield. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ↑ "DISTRICT ROAD BOARD.". South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 8 February 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ↑ "RESIGNATION.". South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 6 February 1852. p. 3. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
- ↑ Lewis (1985) pp. 174–175
- ↑ "Corporation of the Town of Walkerville". Local Government Focus. May 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ↑ "Historical Timeline". City of Prospect. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
References
- Whitworth, Robert Percy, ed. (1866). Bailliere's South Australian gazetteer and road guide: containing the most recent and accurate information as to every place in the Colony. F.F. Bailliere.
- Lewis, H. John (1985). Enfield and The Northern Villages. The corporation of the city of Enfield. ISBN 0-85864-090-2.