Pioneer houses in South Australia [B 63458] • Photograph
Pioneer houses in South Australia
ALBUM: A collection of ten views depicting homes built by the South Australian pioneer families of Featherstone and Kearne which include the entrance, drive, and premises of 'Oaklands', built by John Wilson Kearne, and 'Brighton House', built by Michael Featherstone. John Ridley, the inventor of 'The Stripper' harvesting machine was a fellow emigrant, friend, and neighbouring settler; the album includes portraits of John and his wife Mary, a diagram and sketch of the original machine, and a view of the Ridley's first house at Hindmarsh, near Adelaide. To see individual photographs do a NUMBER search on B 63458/1-9.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Oaklands
Entrance drive to 'Oaklands', the Kearne homestead.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Brighton House
Caption: "Brighton House, built by Michael Featherstone in 1836". A researcher has provided the following information: "Michael Featherstone had a house built on his Brighton property about 1844. 'Brighton House' (not Featherstone's name for it) comprises his second house and additions dating from the period of his elder son William Paul Featherstone's ownership, and possibly additions and modifications made by subsequent owners." Brighton House was originally called Providence House, then changed name to Avenue House, and later Sunbeam House, and is located on King George Avenue, at the Minda branch in North Brighton.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Oaklands
'Oaklands', the Kearne homestead. A researcher has suggested that this view shows Michael Featherstone's first house built on his Brighton property, looking approximately east from the sandhills to its approximately west.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Oaklands
'Oaklands', the Kearne homestead built in 1836?
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Oaklands
'Oakland on the Sturt', the Kearne homestead. A sketch by S. Kearne Jnr. 1853.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Mary Ridley
Mary Ridley wife of John Ridley. Mary and John were friends and neighbours of the Featherstones and Kearnes.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : John Ridley
John Ridley, a descendant of the martyr 'Bishop Ridley', was a friend and neighbouring settler of the Featherstones and Kearnes in South Australia. He was an engineer and erected the first Steam Flour Mill in the new colony. When, owing to the Gold Rush, labour left the district to go to 'The Diggings', scarcity of labour threatened the harvesting of wheat. Ridley invented, produced, and made available a harvesting machine called a 'Stripper' which took off the heads of the wheat, leaving the stalk to be gathered at leisure later on. At the time, Ridley was accorded full praise for his work, which he had refused to patent, preferring to act as benefactor to the new Colony.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : Ridley Stripper
Top photograph is a diagram of the original machine. The bottom photograph is a drawing of the original machine together with horses and driver. Copies from illustrations in Dutton's 'South Australia and its Mines'.
Pioneer houses in South Australia : House at Hindmarsh
John Ridley's first home at Hindmarsh, behind which were his saw mill and workshops.