Category: Local History

  • South Aussie Stories: Kate Cocks, the empire’s first female constable

    South Aussie Stories: Kate Cocks, the empire’s first female constable

    We learned a lot of things working with the South Australian Police Historical Society recently. One of those things is the story of Kate Cocks, the first female police constable in the British Empire. In 1915, Kate Cocks was the first woman to be sworn in as a police officer with equal pay and conditions […]

  • South Aussie stories: Public School Swimming Champ 1920

    South Aussie stories: Public School Swimming Champ 1920

    ?‍♂️ Today we’re sharing the story of N.Webber, public schools swimming champ in 1920. We found this great photo in the State Library of South Australia digital collection, and after some sleuthing found a few articles on Trove about the same event. ? Webber (sometimes listed as Weber) was entered in the Junior Championship of […]

  • South Aussie stories: The SA Beef Riot

    South Aussie stories: The SA Beef Riot

    Today is the anniversary of the South Australian Beef Riot, 1931. At a time when many South Australians were out of work and relying on government rations, more than 1000 unemployed men and their families assembled to protest the replacement of beef with mutton on their ration tickets. The protest began in Port Adelaide and […]

  • The Start of South Australia’s Proud History

    The Start of South Australia’s Proud History

    This week is an auspicious week for Adelaide’s queer community. Many people know that September 15th was the date of Adelaide’s first gay pride march, but did you know that was the culmination of an entire week of gay pride events held around the country? What was Gay Pride Week? Gay Pride Week 1973 was […]

  • Elder, Smith and Co’s Bonded and Free Stores

    Elder, Smith and Co’s Bonded and Free Stores

    Over the weekend we posted a few photos from the South Australian Maritime Museum’s exhibit Leviathan. More than anything the people we talked to in the few days after remarked about how awesome the building looked. Always eager to learn more, I thought I might spend a few reading up on the historic home of […]