South Australian Company

The South Australian Company was formed in London on 9 October 1835 by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony. The South Australian Company ended business in its own right on 17 March 1949 when it was liquidated Elders Trustee & Executor Company Ltd, which had been managing its Australian affairs since the death of the last Colonial Manager, Arthur Muller in 1936.

The formation of the company followed considerable lobbying by the South Australian Association, a group consisting of philanthropists, radical thinkers, dissenters and merchants. After a years of negotiation, false starts, changes and amendments to suggested charters, the British Parliament finally gave approval and passed the South Australian (Foundation) Act on 15 August 1834.

The founding Board of directors were George Fife Angas (Chairman); Raikes Currie; Charles Hindley M.P.; James Hyde; Henry Kingscote; John Pirie, Alderman; Christopher Rawson; John Rundle M.P.; Thomas Smith; James Ruddell Todd; and Henry Waymouth; with Edmund John Wheeler, Manager; Samuel Stephens, Colonial Manager; and Edward Hill, Secretary pro tem,

In January 1836 four ships sailed from England on behalf of the Company. They developed a settlement at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, in July 1836, but when farming proved unviable, they transferred their settlement to the mainland. The Company provided basic infrastructure for the new colony, as well as sold or leased land to immigrants who came to settle. All told, nine ships, which may be termed the First Fleet of South Australia, arrived in the new colony:

Under the Acts that established the Colony, the UK government appointed Commissioners to oversee implementation of the Acts; Thirteen based in London with a Resident Commissioner stationed in the colony. Those first appointed were Colonel Robert Torrens (Chairman), Rowland Hill (Secretary), G. Barnes (Treasurer), George Fife Angas, E. Barnard, William Hutt, J. G. Shaw-Lefevre, W. A. Mackinnon M.P., S. Mills, Jacob Montefiore, G. Palmer, and J. Wright. The first Resident Commissioner was James Hurtle Fisher.

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