Robert Cock

Robert Cock (25 May 1801 – 23 March 1871) was one of the first European explorers of the Adelaide region of South Australia following the establishment of the new colony in December 1836.

Robert was born in Dysart, Fife, Scotland in 1801, and arrived in South Australia with his family aboard the HMS Buffalo in December 1836, thus being in the first group of settlers in the new colony. Robert actively set about setting up his business affairs in the new colony.

He set up a sort of thatched roof in which he and his wife and 6 children lived while he built a house. The house, when built, was used as a store and saleroom, and the family remained in the primitive shelter whilst he pursued his explorations".

He was appointed SA's first government auctioneer in early 1837, a position he held until November 1838. He was for a time in partnership with fellow Buffalo passenger William Ferguson as auctioneers, and owners of Magill estate (then spelled Makgill, named for Cock's trustee), which they subdivided.

He conducted explorations of the areas around Adelaide, and the Yorke and Eyre peninsulas. In December 1837, Robert led a party of William Finlayson, A. Wyatt and G. Barton to explore the country between Adelaide and Lake Alexandrina. Leaving Adelaide on 25 December, they became the first Europeans to climb Mount Barker (although there is a more plausible counter-claim by Sir John Morphett). They crossed and named the Hindmarsh and the Angas rivers, arriving at Lake Alexandrina on 31 December. (The Hindmarsh was subsequently renamed the Bremer). In his journal, Robert noted the suitability of the region for wine growing. (He is occasionally cited as being the first to identify the Adelaide Hills as suitable for wine growing e.g. Pike). There is a memorial cairn to the explorers in Bridgewater, near the Bridgewater Mill site. Coxs Creek (originally Cock's Creek) was named after him.

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