Village settlements: River Murray

A collection of fourteen prints mounted on board, with printed captions, most prints measuring 270 x 220 mm. Photographer unknown. Beneath each photograph is printed 'Surveyor General's Office, Adelaide. A. Vaughan. Photo-Lithographer.' Vaughan became photo lithographer for the Survey Department in 1892 and although it is unlikely that he was also the photographer it indicates that the work was done on behalf of a Government department. Possibly Lindt was the photographer.
The impetus for the irrigation settlements on the Murray was the great drought in Victoria of 1877. Little action was taken for some years, but in 1884 Alfred Deakin met George and W.B. Chaffey, while inspecting other countries' irrigation systems. These brothers had pioneered the California irrigation system, and in 1886 came to an agreement with the Victorian Government, whereby they supplied capital and equipment in a trust organisation to start up settlements along the Murray River. In 1887 the South Australian Government followed suit, supplying 250,000 acres of land, and founding the first settlement at Renmark. By 1899, nearly all the settlements were in financial trouble, mainly due to the settlers' inexperience, and had to be bailed out by the Government. In 1908, the South Australian Government began a scheme for irrigated fruit growing and the village settlements in these pictures were reorganised and extended under Government supervision.

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Includes index.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

This collection is available on microfiche: Australasia, fiche number 15.

Varying condition.

This item level description was entered by MJC and NE using information from the original typescript catalogue.

Unknown