User:ScottDavis/sandbox

Special Surveys were an early way of surveying and making land available in the Colony of South Australia.

When the first settlers arrived in 1836, the primary objective was to identify a site fir the capital, already named Adelaide. Once the site was chosen, the survey department set about surveying the land for the city and town blocks. Farmers and graziers occupied land out from the town.

Following this survey, by 1839 it was becoming imperative to have more land surveyed and available for sale. A fixed price had been set as one pound per acre. A series of "special surveys" were organised. Each survey was for 15000 acres in 80 acre sections. The initiator of the special survey must pay £4000 up front for the survey. For this payment in advance, they earned the rigth to select 4000 acres of the surveyed land, before the rest was made available for sale to other colonists, also at £1 per acre.

The first special survey was funded by William Hampden Dutton in connection with McFarlane, Moore and other gentlemen from Sydney. The land they chose was centred on J. B. Hack's station near Mount Barker.^[1] The next special surveys were:^[2]

for the South Australian Company represented by David McLaren in the vicinity of Lyndoch Valley (in consideration of Preliminary Land Orders)
John Barton Hack in the district known as the sources of the Great Parra River recently named the Gawler
the neighbourhood of the Mount Barker District, including the stations of Messss Fenn, Scott, Jones, Boucher and Milne, excepting land already claimed by Dutton. This was also for The Company, represented by McLaren, in consideration of £4000.

...try to insert more surveys in chronoogical order...

Locations[edit]

By 1841, thirty-three special surveys had been conducted east of Gulf St. Vincent. A map of their locations was published in England. Numbered special surveys A map published in 1841 showed 33 surveys, numbered 1 to 33. The numbers appear to relate only to the map key, not to the order of survey^[3]

Number	subscriber	Location
1	G.M. Stephen Esquire	Banks of Gawler or N. Parra River
2	H. Murray & J Reid Esq	Junction of the N. & S. Gawler or Parra R
3	S Australian Company	On the Torrens S of Gawler Range
4	J. B. Hack Esquire	The Para R.
5	S Australian Company	Sources of the R. Torrens
6	S Australian Company	Sources of the Unkaparinga
7	S Australian Company	Sources of the Unkaparinga
8	M. Smillie Esquire	N. of Mt Barker
9	W. H. Dutton Esquire	Mt Barker District
10	J. B. Hack Esquire	The Brothers W of Mt Sturt
11	C Flaxman Esquire	The Meadows S&S.W. of The Brothers
12	J Morphett Esquire	S.E. of the 3 Brothers & E. of the Meadows
13	G. Hall & W. Mein Esq	Lower course of the R. Angas
14	Mr R Cook for others	On the R. Finnis
15	Currency Creek Assoc	Currency Creek
16	Neil Malcolm Esquire	E. end of L Alexandrina
17	J Morphett Esquire	Lower course of the Murray
18	J Morphett Esquire	Lower course of the Murray
19	E.I.Eyre & O Gilles	Below the Elbow of the Murray
20	G Hall Esquire	Below the Elbow of the Murray
21	Gilbert & Rowland	To the N.E. of Lynedoch Valley
22 to 28	G.F.Angas Esquire	Light Pass, Flaxman Valley & Barossa Range
29	S Australian Company	Lynedoch Vale
30	G.A.Anstey Esquire	On a branch of the R Parra
31	Capt Lambert R.N., E.R.Rice & R.A.Slaney Esq	On the R. Wakefield
32	Secondary Town Assoc & Eyre & Bonneys Stns	On the R.Light
33	G.F.Davenport Esq	About the Upper Course & branches of the R.Angas

References[edit]

^ "FIRST SPECIAL SURVEY". South Australian Gazette And Colonial Register. Vol. II, no. 51. South Australia. 12 January 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 15 February 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Advertising". South Australian Gazette And Colonial Register. Vol. II, no. 52. South Australia. 19 January 1839. p. 1. Retrieved 15 February 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Arrowsmith, John (1841). Map shewing the special surveys in South Australia, to the eastward of the Gulf of St. Vincent, from Lat. 33° to 35° 40'S from documents in the Survey Office, Adelaide (Map). ca. 1:550,000. London: Arrowsmith. nla.obj-231888370. Retrieved 24 February 2022 – via Trove.

[1] "FIRST SPECIAL SURVEY". South Australian Gazette And Colonial Register. Vol. II, no. 51. South Australia. 12 January 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 15 February 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

[2] "Advertising". South Australian Gazette And Colonial Register. Vol. II, no. 52. South Australia. 19 January 1839. p. 1. Retrieved 15 February 2022 – via National Library of Australia.

[3] Arrowsmith, John (1841). Map shewing the special surveys in South Australia, to the eastward of the Gulf of St. Vincent, from Lat. 33° to 35° 40'S from documents in the Survey Office, Adelaide (Map). ca. 1:550,000. London: Arrowsmith. nla.obj-231888370. Retrieved 24 February 2022 – via Trove.

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