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This information is part of Stories of the Sturt River, an interpretive trail where you can listen to the history of the Sturt River at six state-of-the-art signs along a 3km stretch of the Sturt River Linear Park walking and cycling trail from Warriparinga to Oaklands Reserve.
Marion during the mid to late 1800s was primarily a rural community with a handful of local industries including mining and brickmaking.
In 1836 Colonel William Light and his survey team arrived and by 1838 he had mapped out the village of Marion.
The Adelaide Plains, including the Sturt River area, with its fertile wooded land and abundant supply of fresh water, immediately impressed Light.
The Sturt River Warripari provided fresh water for most months of the year, and the alluvial soils on the plains adjacent to the river were exceptional for agriculture.
The European settlers grew an abundance of produce including vegetables, almonds, stone fruits, wheat, oats, maize and grapes.
Richard Hamilton had secured 80 acres of land on the banks of the Sturt River in the Marion district on the advice of his son John, who was working in Colonel Light’s survey party.
While establishing his farm, Richard Hamilton wrote to a friend in South Africa asking:
“Would you kindly send a few vine plants as the health of the family requires a little wine.”
By 1841 the Hamilton family was producing the first commercial wine in South Australia, selling it to nearby farmers from the back of a horse and cart.
By the early 1860s other significant vine growers and winemakers in the area were the Kearnes and Crozier families at Oaklands, W.H Trimmer at Fairford, and Thomas Hardy and Sons at Brookside.
In Marion there remains a small number of gnarled old Shiraz and Grenache Vines from the Hamilton Estate.
To this day they still bear fruit, in one of the world’s last urban vineyards.
“In the late 1800s local men and women could earn 2 shillings a day grape picking. After work they would relax by sitting under a tree and have a swig of ‘pinky’ from their flagon. Even the old ladies were drinkers. It was part of their social life.”
- DOLLING, A. 1981, THE HISTORY OF MARION ON THE STURT
In the 1850s tobacco was grown extensively in the Marion area. The nicotine was used for treating scab disease in sheep.
Wagon loads of tobaccos were carted from Oaklands to Hindmarsh for drying, then distributed throughout the colony of South Australia.
You can listen to all this on a video on YouTube:
The City of Marion recognises the importance of preserving our cultural heritage, valuing the past and planning for the future.
Our cultural heritage is precious and irreplaceable. It includes stories, memories, events and traditions as well as landscapes and places, buildings and objects that have significance to our local community.