Nairne Wesleyan Methodist Church built in 1852. Elizabeth Smillie wife of the founder of Nairne used to worship here. Now a private residence.
This church is hardly visible in the summer months when the leaves are on the trees. It has been sympathetically added to with Gothic windows in the new part. This is the church that Elizabeth SMillie the major land owner of the district used to attend in the 1850s. Her black African servant John Ferguson used to drive a flat bullock dray into Nairne to this church. He wore a suit and top hat. A large sofa was strapped to the bullock dray and Mrs Smillie as grand dame of the district rode this way into Nairne three miles from her home. What a sight that must have been.
Scottish settler Matthew Smillie took out a Special Survey in 1839 of areas near Mt Barker. It was the eighth Special Survey in SA and named the Native Valleys Survey although the survey stretched between what is now Nairne and Woodside. This cost him £4,000 for 4,000 acres in the Hay Valley. Smillie had a vision of becoming a Scottish lord with many tenant farmers on his large estate. He built his fine two-storey residence, which he called, The Valleys (1844) north of Nairne. To cement his role of local lord of the region he subdivided a small part of his land to create the village of Narine in 1839. It was named after his wife’s maiden name. He advertised the blocks for sale and many sold quickly. He donated small portions of land for a reserve, a town market and a town cemetery. A few years later in 1847 Matthew Smillie died but his wife Elizabeth continued with the role of estate manager until her death in 1861. As late as the 1880s there were still around 15 tenant farmers on Smillie land and the Smillie family still owned around 2,500 acres. Matthew and Elizabeth were buried in the Nairne cemetery after their deaths in 1847 and 1861 respectively.
But the Smillie family had a significant impact on SA and the local community. Before her death Mrs Elizabeth Smillie used to have her black African servant, John Ferguson dressed in suit and top hat, drive a bullock dray from The Valleys into Nairne for her to worship at the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Mrs Smillie sat atop of large sofa strapped onto the flat bullock dray! What a sight that must have been! But legal relations within the Smillie family were not good. When son William, the Advocate General of SA from 1840 suddenly died in Paris in 1852 legal battles ensued. William had mixed with SA governors since his appointment in 1840. He travelled with Governor Robe often and when in 1845 the town of Robe was surveyed after Robe’s visit there the main street was named after Robe’s good friend William Smillie. In 1844 he married Eliza Farquharson from Scotland. Despite his busy life style as Advocate General he was soon the father of three children born at his home in Kensington. They were daughter Elizabeth was born in 1847, followed by daughter Jane in 1848 and son Matthew in 1849. Thus when father William died at age 42 years in 1852 he left a family of small children and his wife with no legal access to the tenanted properties or their income at Nairne which William had run in partnership with his father and mother. In 1852 a cottage was erected in Junction Street for Eliza Smillie and her children. Because of legal battles with her mother-in-law Eliza Smillie returned to Scotland. The legal battles were settled by an act of the SA parliament in 1858. Eliza only returned to Nairne after her mother-in-law died in 1861. Tenants came out to greet the arriving Mrs Eliza Smillie and her daughters in 1867 when they moved into The Valleys homestead. The Smillie son Matthew had died at 18 years of age in 1867 in Scotland where he was buried there. Then daughter Elizabeth died in 1869 whilst visiting Scotland and finally daughter Jane died in 1880 whilst visiting Italy. (The headstone memorial in Nairne cemetery is incorrect as it states she died in 1890. Three local newspapers reported her death in 1880 which tallies with her birth date.)
From 1867 onwards Eliza Smillie managed the Smillie tenant farmers and estates at Narine. She sold off the remaining Smillie owned town blocks of Nairne in 1884 followed by around 2,500 acres with tenant farmers on them in 1886. The last 15 or so tenants paid their last rentals in 1887. Mrs Smillie erected the memorial to her family in 1896 and died in 1898 when her estate was settled. That completed the Smillie stewardship in the Nairne district.
Nairne began as a wheat-producing district and another Scot, John Dunn of Mt Barker established a wind-powered flourmill in Nairne in 1842. It no longer stands but the more recent flourmill built in 1857 and acquired by John Dunn in 1864 still stands in the Main Street. Another early settler of Nairne was Samuel Day who also worked for a time for Matthew Smillie. He established a lime burning industry in the town in the 1850s. Henry Timmins was also an early settler and he established a tannery on Nairne Creek in 1851. James Shakes established the first inn in Narine in 1845 which he called the Crooked Billet- depicted above. You can see it behind the Millers Arms Hotel in Leith Street. Leith in Scotland was the birthplace of Matthew Smillie. One of the old cottages built in Nairne beyond the creek behind the Albert Mill in Junction Street was the home of Eliza Smillie and her children. The cottage was built in 1852 the year William Smillie died in Paris but the gable section were added in the 1870s or 1880s after Eliza had sold her Nairne properties.
As time passed the early Scottish heritage of Nairne waned but many fine stone buildings remain, especially heritage listed properties- the District Hotel built in 1851 in a classical Georgian style and the Henry Timmins Georgian style two-storey house built in 1870. This is shown above.
In Hay Valley a public buildings was erected near The Valleys homestead. It was the Primitive Methodist Church which opened in 1860. A school operated in the Hay Valley for some years from 1859 in this Church. This fine stone church still stands as a private residence. Although John Dunn built a windmill in Nairne in 1842 he also built a primitive wooden flourmill in Hay Valley on his own land near the Smillie property in 1840. This was not used for long. The Smillie homestead called The Valleys was not far from the Primitive Methodist Church.
Nairne Wesleyan Methodist Church built in 1852. Elizabeth Smillie wife of the founder of Nairne used to worship here. Now a private residence.
This church is hardly visible in the summer months when the leaves are on the trees. It has been sympathetically added to with Gothic windows in the new part. This is the church that Elizabeth SMillie the major land owner of the district used to attend in the 1850s. Her black African servant John Ferguson used to drive a flat bullock dray into Nairne to this church. He wore a suit and top hat. A large sofa was strapped to the bullock dray and Mrs Smillie as grand dame of the district rode this way into Nairne three miles from her home. What a sight that must have been.
Scottish settler Matthew Smillie took out a Special Survey in 1839 of areas near Mt Barker. It was the eighth Special Survey in SA and named the Native Valleys Survey although the survey stretched between what is now Nairne and Woodside. This cost him £4,000 for 4,000 acres in the Hay Valley. Smillie had a vision of becoming a Scottish lord with many tenant farmers on his large estate. He built his fine two-storey residence, which he called, The Valleys (1844) north of Nairne. To cement his role of local lord of the region he subdivided a small part of his land to create the village of Narine in 1839. It was named after his wife’s maiden name. He advertised the blocks for sale and many sold quickly. He donated small portions of land for a reserve, a town market and a town cemetery. A few years later in 1847 Matthew Smillie died but his wife Elizabeth continued with the role of estate manager until her death in 1861. As late as the 1880s there were still around 15 tenant farmers on Smillie land and the Smillie family still owned around 2,500 acres. Matthew and Elizabeth were buried in the Nairne cemetery after their deaths in 1847 and 1861 respectively.
But the Smillie family had a significant impact on SA and the local community. Before her death Mrs Elizabeth Smillie used to have her black African servant, John Ferguson dressed in suit and top hat, drive a bullock dray from The Valleys into Nairne for her to worship at the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Mrs Smillie sat atop of large sofa strapped onto the flat bullock dray! What a sight that must have been! But legal relations within the Smillie family were not good. When son William, the Advocate General of SA from 1840 suddenly died in Paris in 1852 legal battles ensued. William had mixed with SA governors since his appointment in 1840. He travelled with Governor Robe often and when in 1845 the town of Robe was surveyed after Robe’s visit there the main street was named after Robe’s good friend William Smillie. In 1844 he married Eliza Farquharson from Scotland. Despite his busy life style as Advocate General he was soon the father of three children born at his home in Kensington. They were daughter Elizabeth was born in 1847, followed by daughter Jane in 1848 and son Matthew in 1849. Thus when father William died at age 42 years in 1852 he left a family of small children and his wife with no legal access to the tenanted properties or their income at Nairne which William had run in partnership with his father and mother. In 1852 a cottage was erected in Junction Street for Eliza Smillie and her children. Because of legal battles with her mother-in-law Eliza Smillie returned to Scotland. The legal battles were settled by an act of the SA parliament in 1858. Eliza only returned to Nairne after her mother-in-law died in 1861. Tenants came out to greet the arriving Mrs Eliza Smillie and her daughters in 1867 when they moved into The Valleys homestead. The Smillie son Matthew had died at 18 years of age in 1867 in Scotland where he was buried there. Then daughter Elizabeth died in 1869 whilst visiting Scotland and finally daughter Jane died in 1880 whilst visiting Italy. (The headstone memorial in Nairne cemetery is incorrect as it states she died in 1890. Three local newspapers reported her death in 1880 which tallies with her birth date.)
From 1867 onwards Eliza Smillie managed the Smillie tenant farmers and estates at Narine. She sold off the remaining Smillie owned town blocks of Nairne in 1884 followed by around 2,500 acres with tenant farmers on them in 1886. The last 15 or so tenants paid their last rentals in 1887. Mrs Smillie erected the memorial to her family in 1896 and died in 1898 when her estate was settled. That completed the Smillie stewardship in the Nairne district.
Nairne began as a wheat-producing district and another Scot, John Dunn of Mt Barker established a wind-powered flourmill in Nairne in 1842. It no longer stands but the more recent flourmill built in 1857 and acquired by John Dunn in 1864 still stands in the Main Street. Another early settler of Nairne was Samuel Day who also worked for a time for Matthew Smillie. He established a lime burning industry in the town in the 1850s. Henry Timmins was also an early settler and he established a tannery on Nairne Creek in 1851. James Shakes established the first inn in Narine in 1845 which he called the Crooked Billet- depicted above. You can see it behind the Millers Arms Hotel in Leith Street. Leith in Scotland was the birthplace of Matthew Smillie. One of the old cottages built in Nairne beyond the creek behind the Albert Mill in Junction Street was the home of Eliza Smillie and her children. The cottage was built in 1852 the year William Smillie died in Paris but the gable section were added in the 1870s or 1880s after Eliza had sold her Nairne properties.
As time passed the early Scottish heritage of Nairne waned but many fine stone buildings remain, especially heritage listed properties- the District Hotel built in 1851 in a classical Georgian style and the Henry Timmins Georgian style two-storey house built in 1870. This is shown above.
In Hay Valley a public buildings was erected near The Valleys homestead. It was the Primitive Methodist Church which opened in 1860. A school operated in the Hay Valley for some years from 1859 in this Church. This fine stone church still stands as a private residence. Although John Dunn built a windmill in Nairne in 1842 he also built a primitive wooden flourmill in Hay Valley on his own land near the Smillie property in 1840. This was not used for long. The Smillie homestead called The Valleys was not far from the Primitive Methodist Church.