Yankalilla Regional News - September 2011 - Normanville Central

Yankalilla Historical Society
ne hundred and seventy-five
O years ago, on the 8th of
September, 1836, after calling in at
Kangaroo Island, Captain Light
landed at Rapid Bay. Named in
honour of the ship which had brought
him here, Captain Light was
“enchanted” with the area, its “fine
stream of fresh water and rich soil”
beyond his expectations. Dr. John
Woodforde (1810-66), who had been
appointed as a surgeon on board the
Rapid, kept a daily diary; much of
what we know of those early days is
gleaned from it, some of his
comments showing us his reactions,
such as, “…the cape … consists of
beautiful vallies (sic) and
corresponding hills. The soil is very
good and the grass growing in its
natural state is abundant”. Two days
later the ship’s officers dug a piece of
ground and planted seeds for a supply
of vegetables. Woodforde also
observed that there were many areas
of pasturage that seemed likely to
fatten livestock.
Soon after his arrival Captain Light
began surveying the peninsula, his
excursions eventually taking him
north to Holdfast Bay (Glenelg), and
eventually to Adelaide, Woodforde
noting that Holdfast Bay was given
its name after one of Light’s
exploratory groups had ridden out
two severe gales while moored there.
Throughout his stay in this area Dr.
Woodforde went hunting and fishing
in order to help keep up a supply of
fresh meat, and, in his diary,
described the fish and birds that were
new to him, some of them good
eating, others poor. On some of his
excursions he was accompanied by
Captain Field who later took up land
in this district.
On the 8th of October Dr. Woodforde
and his companions, on board the
“Rapid”, arrived at Yankalilla to pick
up two native women who had gone
on ahead to hunt game, in which they
were unsuccessful. Woodforde had
written in his diary that though the
women may have suffered from
hunger they were not so badly off
“always having the means of kindling
a fire.”
On October 12th Woodforde wrote
that the natives they had left to care
for the garden had proved honest and
were there to welcome them back and
claim their reward, the garden
“looking well and the seeds having
nearly all come up.” On the 13th he
spent his first night ashore, and on
the 14th was entertained when the
natives danced a corroboree, which
he described as “chiefly characterised
by feats of activity and violent
contortions of muscle having nothing
of grace in its composition … they
dance it to a very monotonous and
harsh kind of vocal music, constantly
repeating the same words.”
Throughout his diary Woodforde’s
view of the “first owners” of the
district are positive, as in “…the
Cape Jervis tribe have evinced much
goodwill and not the slightest
disposition to thieve. They are very
useful to us fetching our wood and
working in any way with great
cheerfulness.”
Meanwhile, the Rapid had been
sailing backwards and forwards
bringing surveyors and labourers
from Kangaroo Island. The party
then divided, some, including Dr.
Woodforde, remaining here, the
others sailing on to Holdfast Bay.
On 7th of November Dr. Woodforde
was called to attend Mrs. Hoare, the
wife of a labourer, when she gave
birth to a boy, the first white child
born in the colony. At Dr.
Woodforde’s request the child was
named Rapid. By mid November the
thermometer was rising to 118deg.,
and the flies were driving everyone
mad. By 4th of December some
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Yankalilla Regional News - September 2011 - Page 22
within the group were showing signs
of scurvy which Dr. Woodforde
treated by distributing the potatoes a
sealing cutter had brought over from
Kangaroo Island. On 27th December
the guns of the Buffalo were heard as
it made its way up the gulf.
Dr. Woodforde also delivered the
first white girl born in the colony,
Fanny Lipson Finniss, when, on 2nd
January, he attended Mrs. Finniss, the
wife of Boyle Finniss, an assistant
surveyor to Colonel Light . When
the news that Governor Hindmarsh
had arrived at Adelaide reached
them, Dr. Woodforde could not
consent to Mrs. Finniss taking the
journey for at least eight days more.
The group divided into two parties,
Dr. Woodforde remaining. On 17th
January he accompanied Mr. Finniss
and his party on a walk to the high
land above Cape Jervis where they
enjoyed the view across to Kangaroo
Island. On January 22nd he and his
group sailed on the Cygnet to
Holdfast Bay which by that time was
becoming known as Glenelg. From
there he walked to Adelaide, and
back, pleased with Colonel Light’s
selection of its site.
The Historical Society meets in The
Centre, Main South Road, Yankalilla
at 8pm on the first Monday of each
month. Our next meeting is on 5th
Sept. New members are welcome.
Please come and join us.
Kathleen Moulding,
Publicity Officer
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