Newly opened country lands...Minburra

This map of country areas in South Australia from various regions, shows land for sale by name of Hundred. The detail shows topography, section numbers, and description of vegetation, soil and arability of the land. The Hundreds of Minburra, Pekina, Willunga, Erskine and Gumbowie are shown. These areas were surveyed by the Surveyor-General at that time, George W. Goyder, who believed that land should be surveyed before being released for land sales.

George Woodroffe Goyder was born in Liverpool, England in 1826. He emigrated to Sydney in 1848 and subsequently moved to Adelaide and joined the South Australian public service in 1851. Goyder joined the Department of Lands in 1853 and was appointed Surveyor-General in 1861. As Surveyor-General he undertook several surveys in northern South Australia (1857-1866) and was responsible for determining the line of demarcation between agricultural and pastoral land, which became known as Goyder's Line.

The line was based upon a survey of rainfall taken by Goyder, which allowed him to determine which areas received adequate rainfall to support agriculture and which was only suitable for grazing. Demand for more agricultural land and several seasons of above average rainfall encouraged the Government and farmers ignore Goyder's survey result, and to extend farming to the north of Goyder's Line, resulting in the ruin of many farmers.

Goyder also conducted surveys in the Northern Territory in 1869, and was Chairman of the Forest Board (1875-1883). He retired in 1894 and died in 1898.

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