Description of the Barossa Range and its neighbourhood, in South Australia

In December 1837 Colonel William Light led a small exploratory party north of Adelaide looking for a suitable route to the River Murray. He discovered an area he would call the Barossa Valley and the Barossa Range. It contained some of the finest land in South Australia.

A Special Survey of the region was conducted in 1840 and George Fife Angas, founder of the South Australian Company which owned land and was instrumental in establishing much of the infrastructure of the young colony, acquired 11,000 hectares. In 1843 his son John Howard Angas immigrated to South Australia to manage his father's lands with George Fife himself arriving in South Australia in 1851.

Writing anonymously as 'Agricola', John Howard Angas in the Introduction to Description of the Barossa Range and its neighbourhood, in South Australia extols the virtues of the young colony of South Australia, and in particular of the bountiful Barossa Valley, which he describes in glowing terms. '...the fertility and productiveness of this country are extraordinary... especially, however, does this colony promise to become a wine-growing country...'(p. 6). It is not just in the agricultural field that the colony is good, but there are mineral resources, and 'libraries [which] contain many classical works, of all times, and in almost every branch of science...' (p.8).

Plate 5 depicts Angas Town which was nestled in the German Pass: the original village comprised only one house and several dug-outs, but this quickly increased. A number of houses are shown, made of a variety of materials including timber and pug with slate, shingle or thatched roofs. A stream and a cart track are visible. A chapel for multi-denominational use was constructed in 1843-4 of locally quarried stone and was Angaston's first public building. With its rich soil, harvests were good and the village thrived. Vines were planted along with other fruits and wine was produced early. This was the beginning of the valley's wine industry. Other trades and industries including a large mill also thrived and Angaston, as it was now being called, became a service centre for the district. A stone bridge was built across the river in 1865 which provided easy access to other towns in the district and to the railhead at Gawler. The Angas family sponsored the building of many public facilities including the Institute in 1870. George Fife Angas's plan for the settlement of the district and the family's close involvement in the town's development enabled many of the founder's aspirations to come to fruition.

Plate 2 Terraworta, on the Gawler River is Angas's own property and he describes the locale as beautiful 'surrounded by a park-like country of rich grass, and the river Gawler flowing through it, undulating hills of good soil suited for sheep, and rich valleys that may be cultivated to produce any thing.' (p. 16) Plate 6 Opening of the Free Chapel at Angaston German Pass is 'The place of worship, where all Christians harmoniously associate ...opened on the 28th of February, 1844. It is well attended ...' (p. 19).

The illustrations were drawn and lithographed by John Howard Angas' older brother George French Angas, who two years previously had published the large folio volumes South Australia illustrated and The New Zealanders illustrated. George French Angas had decided to pursue an artistic career rather than work in the commercial world of his father. A trained lithographer he was interested in natural history and would become a noted conchologist and Secretary of the Australian Museum in Sydney.

The staff member selecting this book for the 'staff favourites' exhibition said she was drawn to the beauty of the scenes in the book and the sense of tranquility they gave her. The smallness of the book, particularly in comparison with the much larger volume South Australia illustrated, was also significant as was the fact that it was less well-known.

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