House ruin at Poonindie Mission Station established 1850 by Archdeacon Matthew Hale. Eyre Peninsula South Australia
Poonindie Mission Station originally the Poonindie Native Training Institution
Poonindie was founded 10 September 1850 by Archdeacon Matthew Hale who arrived in South Australia in 1848 with Bishop Augustus Short. They were concerned at attempts to christianise aboriginal people in South Australia and Hale determined to set up a suitable village near Port Lincoln. In 1850 Hale succeeded in obtaining a grant from the government ‘to fund an institution for aborigines at Poonindie’. Hale took only teenagers from the Adelaide Boarding School for Aborigines for his institution.
In 1852 when the last Adelaide school for aborigines closed there were no more young people with qualifications in reading, writing and christianity available for the institution. The Government advised Hale that if he wanted government assistance he would have to take any persons sent to him by the Protector of Aborigines, even those of mixed descent, and he was to make Poonindie a distribution point for rations for the local aborigines.
Hale agreed to these conditions and succeeded in setting up his christian village. However in 1856 he moved to Western Australia where he was appointed the first Bishop of Perth.
In 1856 the Reverend Octavius Hammond was appointed to succeed Hale as Superintendent of the Poonindie mission. As a doctor and surgeon, Octavius Hammond had been in practice in Adelaide and was persuaded to take up Poonindie to stem the prevalence of mortality. His skill was a blessing to the rest of the district as well as the mission.
The Aboriginal people grew into a close-knit community, even as Superintendents, farm managers and teachers came and went.
By early 1890 pressure was being put on the government to close the mission and the land to be sold.
The mission closed after 44 fruitful years and the land was subdivided and sold. St Matthew’s and a small area of land remained the property of the Anglican Church.
Aboriginal residents were relocated to Point Pearce and Point McLeay missions.
Approximately 300 acres of land east of St Matthew’s Church was dedicated as an aboriginal reserve which is now being managed by the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community Council. [Ref: Story Board]
Poonindie – It consists of 15,455 acres of fair land, some arable, and all good sheep country. Of this 250 acres are under crop 220 wheat and 30 hay. This year the yield has been 2,400 bushels of wheat and about 60 tons of hay: 9,000 sheep are depastured, from which the clip last season gave 115 bales. There are also 150 head of horned cattle and 30 horses.
The settlement is on a plain a short distance from a small river containing permanent water.
There is quite a little township, consisting of a chapel, school, store, superintendent’s and farm manager’s residences, eleven neat brick and eight upright log cottages standing close together, all as spotlessly white as whitewash can make them, and three detached cottages for boundary riders.
There are at present 78 natives on the station, which is under the superintendence of the Reverend R W Holden, and of these all the adults, with the exception of one or two who are incapacitated, are earning their own living.
There is a school with an attendance of 26 scholars, presided over by Mr W G Blackmore. The scholars were examined in several subjects, and showed much aptness and intelligence, whilst the copy-books submitted for inspection would do credit to any school in the country.
The chapel, which is of stone with brick facings, is a quaint-looking little building with a clock, and circular plate in front bearing the inscription “Native Institution founded Oct 10, 1850.”
It will accommodate 150, and contains a neat reading-desk, communion table, harmonium, comfortable seats, and a punkah.
Close to the chapel in a hollow is a fruit and vegetable garden, and on the opposite bank of the creek is the cemetery.
The management of the farm and stock is in the hands of Mr Watts Newland, a thoroughly practical man.
The wheat and other produce of the station are shipped direct for Port Adelaide from Louth Bay, thus saving any land carriage.
Mr Newland has to assist him fifteen able-bodied men, to whom regular wages are paid as to European labourers.
There are a number of married couples on the station, and the people are all well behaved, and seem very happy and comfortable.
The mission, which is self supporting, is going good work, and is deserving of the encouragement of all who have the welfare of our native population at heart. [Ref: Register 15-2-1876]
St Matthew’s Church
The church was built in 1854–1855, by Tom Coffin the master mason, with assistance from the residents of the mission at the time. At first Hale intended it to be the school but on completion it became the church serving the mission and the local community.
The Willochran 1-10-1931, extract of article by Archdeacon Snow] “The then Bishop of Adelaide, Bishop Short, speaks once of a ‘chapel’ in one of his letters and some visitor writes of what he calls the village of Poonindie … the very masonry of the walls is of interest to architects. The stone came from the bed of the Tod River and is of many colours, the stone of one course is laid diagonally, the next in an opposite direction. The quoins are of warm red bricks: handmade from the clay from the clay pits and puddled by bullocks a few hundred yards away and the roof was thatched with grass from the nearby swamps. But the great feature of interest on the wall facing towards the hills, is the handsome chimney-stack of Tudor design, which provides a fireplace for which is now the nave, and one for the loft above, where once the schoolmaster lived, visitors often slept and classes were held on occasions. A winding staircase gives entrance from the nave.”
By May 1855 the fine school building was almost complete: Archdeacon Hale was able to conduct the first divine service on the loft on May 17.
House ruin at Poonindie Mission Station established 1850 by Archdeacon Matthew Hale. Eyre Peninsula South Australia
Poonindie Mission Station originally the Poonindie Native Training Institution
Poonindie was founded 10 September 1850 by Archdeacon Matthew Hale who arrived in South Australia in 1848 with Bishop Augustus Short. They were concerned at attempts to christianise aboriginal people in South Australia and Hale determined to set up a suitable village near Port Lincoln. In 1850 Hale succeeded in obtaining a grant from the government ‘to fund an institution for aborigines at Poonindie’. Hale took only teenagers from the Adelaide Boarding School for Aborigines for his institution.
In 1852 when the last Adelaide school for aborigines closed there were no more young people with qualifications in reading, writing and christianity available for the institution. The Government advised Hale that if he wanted government assistance he would have to take any persons sent to him by the Protector of Aborigines, even those of mixed descent, and he was to make Poonindie a distribution point for rations for the local aborigines.
Hale agreed to these conditions and succeeded in setting up his christian village. However in 1856 he moved to Western Australia where he was appointed the first Bishop of Perth.
In 1856 the Reverend Octavius Hammond was appointed to succeed Hale as Superintendent of the Poonindie mission. As a doctor and surgeon, Octavius Hammond had been in practice in Adelaide and was persuaded to take up Poonindie to stem the prevalence of mortality. His skill was a blessing to the rest of the district as well as the mission.
The Aboriginal people grew into a close-knit community, even as Superintendents, farm managers and teachers came and went.
By early 1890 pressure was being put on the government to close the mission and the land to be sold.
The mission closed after 44 fruitful years and the land was subdivided and sold. St Matthew’s and a small area of land remained the property of the Anglican Church.
Aboriginal residents were relocated to Point Pearce and Point McLeay missions.
Approximately 300 acres of land east of St Matthew’s Church was dedicated as an aboriginal reserve which is now being managed by the Port Lincoln Aboriginal Community Council. [Ref: Story Board]
Poonindie – It consists of 15,455 acres of fair land, some arable, and all good sheep country. Of this 250 acres are under crop 220 wheat and 30 hay. This year the yield has been 2,400 bushels of wheat and about 60 tons of hay: 9,000 sheep are depastured, from which the clip last season gave 115 bales. There are also 150 head of horned cattle and 30 horses.
The settlement is on a plain a short distance from a small river containing permanent water.
There is quite a little township, consisting of a chapel, school, store, superintendent’s and farm manager’s residences, eleven neat brick and eight upright log cottages standing close together, all as spotlessly white as whitewash can make them, and three detached cottages for boundary riders.
There are at present 78 natives on the station, which is under the superintendence of the Reverend R W Holden, and of these all the adults, with the exception of one or two who are incapacitated, are earning their own living.
There is a school with an attendance of 26 scholars, presided over by Mr W G Blackmore. The scholars were examined in several subjects, and showed much aptness and intelligence, whilst the copy-books submitted for inspection would do credit to any school in the country.
The chapel, which is of stone with brick facings, is a quaint-looking little building with a clock, and circular plate in front bearing the inscription “Native Institution founded Oct 10, 1850.”
It will accommodate 150, and contains a neat reading-desk, communion table, harmonium, comfortable seats, and a punkah.
Close to the chapel in a hollow is a fruit and vegetable garden, and on the opposite bank of the creek is the cemetery.
The management of the farm and stock is in the hands of Mr Watts Newland, a thoroughly practical man.
The wheat and other produce of the station are shipped direct for Port Adelaide from Louth Bay, thus saving any land carriage.
Mr Newland has to assist him fifteen able-bodied men, to whom regular wages are paid as to European labourers.
There are a number of married couples on the station, and the people are all well behaved, and seem very happy and comfortable.
The mission, which is self supporting, is going good work, and is deserving of the encouragement of all who have the welfare of our native population at heart. [Ref: Register 15-2-1876]
St Matthew’s Church
The church was built in 1854–1855, by Tom Coffin the master mason, with assistance from the residents of the mission at the time. At first Hale intended it to be the school but on completion it became the church serving the mission and the local community.
The Willochran 1-10-1931, extract of article by Archdeacon Snow] “The then Bishop of Adelaide, Bishop Short, speaks once of a ‘chapel’ in one of his letters and some visitor writes of what he calls the village of Poonindie … the very masonry of the walls is of interest to architects. The stone came from the bed of the Tod River and is of many colours, the stone of one course is laid diagonally, the next in an opposite direction. The quoins are of warm red bricks: handmade from the clay from the clay pits and puddled by bullocks a few hundred yards away and the roof was thatched with grass from the nearby swamps. But the great feature of interest on the wall facing towards the hills, is the handsome chimney-stack of Tudor design, which provides a fireplace for which is now the nave, and one for the loft above, where once the schoolmaster lived, visitors often slept and classes were held on occasions. A winding staircase gives entrance from the nave.”
By May 1855 the fine school building was almost complete: Archdeacon Hale was able to conduct the first divine service on the loft on May 17.