Pioneers and Palms
Introduction
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The Life of Pioneers: Three Families in South Australia

The Newman Family

The land on which Charles Newman and his bride Mary Ann Bales started their nursery in the mid-1850s is about 15km from the centre of the city of Adelaide, near Tea Tree Gully. Some of the plant stock was obtained from seeds and cuttings available in the colony and much was imported from England and Germany and shipped in sealed, miniature glasshouses; this was partly to provide a stable environment, but also to prevent sea water from being washed onto them as they sat on the deck of the sailing ship. There must have been a lot of trial and error involved in finding out what would survive and flourish in the unfamiliar climate of Adelaide, and, later, further afield as settlement moved outwards from the capital.

Income-producing horticultural stock took time to mature. Charles supplemented their income by working as a builder, and was responsible for a number of the public buildings in the Tea Tree Gully area. The bullock team and wagon were another source of income - Charles drove them over the difficult roads from the mines at Burra to Port Adelaide, loaded with copper for export. Later, the employees helped build the extensive glass and brush houses needed for the nursery.

The Newman's first house was a two-room dwelling built using a cliff-face for one wall, and with an attic for storage. A vegetable garden was planted on the banks of the creek nearby. Mary Ann would take the produce into the East End Market on Wednesdays and Fridays. As trade started at 1.00am, she had to leave home at 11.00pm. If Charles was at home, he would drive the first half mile down the steep gullies to the track leading to Adelaide. If there was any produce left when the market closed, Mary Ann sold it house to house on her way home - a round trip of about 30 km. She continued to do this until their oldest child was able to take over, and was able to make a substantial financial contribution to the building of a stone house from her market endeavours. During the winter Charles was at home clearing the land, often working by lamplight.

Ultimately, the Newmans' ‘Model Nursery' covered 500 acres. There were 90 acres of fruit trees which included 500,000 apples, cherries and stone fruit, 100,000 citrus fruit and 100,000 vines.

Sadly, this nursery was sold in 1925 after family feuding, mismanagement and finally terrible flooding. Charles' son, Frederick, resumed the family trading name at a nearby property and it is still in the family, now the fifth generation since the original immigrants from Germany.


The Palm Family

The Palm family left Hope Valley in 1857 to farm in the Port Gawler region of South Australia. Johann, the oldest son, took over the family farm. The second son, Conrad went to Yorke Peninsula to take up land at Tipara, at 21 years of age. Albert, the third son, moved with his mother to Gawler and served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Once finished, he started his own business at Tipara, but later moved it to Paskeville, also on Yorke Peninsula . Heinrich, the fourth son, had the General Store at Kadina and bought Albert's house at Paskeville when the family moved to Eyre Peninsula . Two of the three daughters lived on Yorke Peninsula after they married and the third went to Streaky Bay on Eyre Peninsula .

Pioneers required fortitude of every kind and a high degree of optimism; above all however, they needed a huge capacity for hard work. It was a capacity for the necessary work that led to the success of the Newman and Palm families in their ventures.


Georgiana and Albert Palm

When Georgiana went to Paskeville in 1886, she would have had to be like all country house-wives and make her family self-sufficient. These women had learnt all the necessary skills while still living at home, as they had to do their share of the work. Flour, sugar and tea could be purchased but supplies would have been erratic. They were used to raising (and dispatching) poultry and looking after the ‘house' cows. The vegetable garden tended to be a combined effort, with the men doing the heavy work while the women were responsible for the watering.

Water was one of the most significant issues faced by many new settlers. The newly settled land where the Palms lived at Paskeville and, later, Edillilie were both in low-rainfall areas with no running water to count on. The highest priority was the establishment of water-catchment; corrugated iron was used for tanks to utilize the run-off from roofs, and dams were built to maximize the benefit of any rain. The only water not recycled was drinking water; carrying all the water from baths and washing to the vegetable garden and orchard was a daily chore – and only water surplus to this could be used in the ornamental garden. Both Georgiana and Albert were lovers of trees and flowers. Part of the preparation for the move to Eyre Peninsula was the establishment of sufficient seedlings in jam tins to plant a double row of gums and pines on either side of the track from the road to the house. This became a landmark in the district. They also planted an orchard and extensive gardens. All this was done with bathwater.

It is hard to imagine South Australia without fruit trees. However, fruit trees need time to mature, and so fruit was at a premium for many years. One can only imagine Georgiana's opinion of a goat which got into the kitchen at Paskeville and ruined a new batch of jam.

In preparation for the Palm family's move to the new block at Edillilie, Albert had cleared some of the land and built a large barn. The family lived in this barn for six months. Georgiana did the cooking for her family of eleven, and farm labourers, in a camp oven over an open fire. Later, the house at Edillilie was built of timber and corrugated iron. Iron was relatively easy to transport and the house could be constructed quickly - there were no locally available bricks or quarry to supply stone, and the trees were too small to provide timber for building.

Albert proved to be a very good farmer, and continued to successfully grow grain after many on neighbouring blocks had failed. He was one of the first to make use of the new inventions of the stumpjump plough and the stripper, both of which had contributed so much to the conversion of bushland to agricultural production when he had his workshop at Paskeville. The discovery of the role of superphosphate as a fertilizer also contributed to Albert's success as a farmer.

Georgiana and Albert's children attended primary school at Paskeville. After the family moved to Eyre Peninsula, the children rode the five miles from the farm to the local school at Edillilie (which consisted of a railway siding and the school). The children also helped out on the farm. The younger Palm boys were busy on the farm during the First World War, when their brothers had enlisted. Georgiana found the time to give her children a ‘love of the arts' – her children remember her as a keen reader and very fond of music.

The isolation of country life meant that women had to be able to manage medical emergencies. Georgiana nursed one of her sons for three weeks with concussion, and another who was almost strangled in a rope. The eldest son was run over by a scrub roller during the family's first year at Edillilie. Getting professional help may have seemed too much trouble: Georgiana was pregnant with her ninth and last child (Daphne) at the time the family moved to Eyre Peninsula, and made the journey to Port Lincoln over a rough, new track for the birth. On the return journey the horses shied at a rabbit, throwing Albert out and nearly capsizing the buggy. Fortunately, he was able to keep hold of the reins and get the horses under control; meanwhile Georgiana managed to hold on to her new baby with one hand and the buggy with the other.

Amongst all their other work, women still found time for needlework. Almost all women of Georgiana's time were at least competent needlewomen. They all learnt ‘plain sewing' and could make and repair their family's everyday clothing. Many also had a sewing machine. They also learned to knit; knitting wool could be recycled, was easily obtained by mail and, above all, durable. Girls were taught plain sewing and embroidery both at home and at school, and often made samplers. The clothing of babies and young children was decorated with embroidery as were the underclothes of all women and girls. Most girls started on their trousseau at quite an early age, making and embroidering a collection of personal clothing and household linen.

Customs relating to hospitality dictated much of the embroidery. Plates were always covered with d'oyleys of an appropriate shape and serving tables always covered with an appropriate cloth. No dining table would set without a tablecloth and serviettes. These utilitarian items provided opportunities for embellishment by the needlewoman. The custom of embroidery was very widespread and each group of early migrants to South Australia brought their own variations on the theme.