Ardrossan

History

The Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of the land on which Ardrossan was developed were the Narungga people. They comprised four clans sharing the Guuranda (the Yorke Peninsula): Kurnara in the north, Dilpa in the south, Wari in the west and Windarra in the east. The first European settlers after the British colonisation of South Australia were pastoralists who established sheep runs. Pastoral Lease No. 232, comprising , was taken up in 1852 by William Sharples. Stretching along the coastline, this was known as Parara (or Parrana/Pirana), meaning "middle" in the Narungga language, with the homestead near Parara Landing, about south of present Ardrossan. Northward of Ardrossan are coastal springs, named Tiddy Widdy or Tittiwitti by the Narungga, being a scarce natural source of fresh water in this region. In 1859 partners Parker Bowman (1831–1911) and Edmund Parnell (1834–87) took over the Parara leases. After these expired in 1865 the government moved toward establishing closer settlement and grain farming. The Hundred of Cunningham was proclaimed on 19 June 1873, comprising , and surveying commenced. The Hundred had two government surveyed towns, namely Ardrossan, proclaimed 13 November 1873, and Price, proclaimed 3 August 1882. Being at a site formerly known as Clay Gully, after a deep gully leading to its red clay coastal cliffs, the surveyed town of Ardrossan was named by Governor Fergusson after the Ardrossan seaport in Scotland which shared similar geography – "ard" meaning a height, and "ros" prominent rock or headland. The site was largely chosen because of its potential for shipping infrastructure, allowing wheat farmers to ship their produce across the Gulf St Vincent to Port Adelaide. The residents of the new township…

Most-observed species

• Silver Gull

  Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae (Stephens, 1826) · Aves
  125
• Singing Honeyeater

  Gavicalis virescens (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  94
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  91
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  87
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  87
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  81
• Pied Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax varius (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  70
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  70

Most recent

• M 3.3 — 2011-10-18
  3 km ESE of Hawthorndene, Australia
• M 3.4 — 2006-07-17
  55 km S of Cowell, Australia
• M 2.9 — 2003-05-02
  26 km ENE of Kadina, Australia