The suburb of Thebarton was named after the home of
Colonel William Light, the first Surveyor-General of the colony of South Australia, where he lived with his
de facto wife Maria Gandy and her brothers.[5] Light named his home after Theberton Hall of
Suffolk, England, where he was educated. The area was known as Theberton until approximately 1840,[6] with the variant spelling now accredited to a typographical error, rather than a corruption of "The Barton", based on the
Old Englishbere-tun, meaning "barley farm", as was thought for some time.[7]
Colonel Light surveyed the town-acre as Section 1 and built Theberton Cottage towards the northern part of the area. The area was first subdivided for housing in February 1839, although it took a number of years for the housing to establish, Thebarton Post Office opening on 24 October 1850.[8] By 1866 the population was estimated at 450 people.
Thebarton Racecourse, which operated from as early as 1838 to 1869, was formed on grazing land in the area now known as
Mile End, and later subdivided and completely built over.[9]
The foundation stone of the original Thebarton Town Hall, designed by
Alfred Wells and
Latham Withall and built by James King, was laid in 1885. However it was gutted by fire in 1948, with its rebuilding and restoration described as "thoroughly horrible" in 1999.[10]
The Torrenside Brewery, next to the Torrens on
Port Road, was founded in 1886 by A. W. & T. L. Ware, in the then suburb of Southwark.[11] After acquisition by the
Walkerville Co-operative Brewing Company Ltd, and its subsequent acquisition by the
South Australian Brewing Company in 1939, it was renamed from Walkerville Brewery to Southwark Brewery in 1949 and the company's Walkerville Nathan beer was renamed Southwark beer in 1951.[12][13] The brewery closed on 17 June 2021, with its landmark chimney tower
heritage-listed, to be preserved when the site is redeveloped. The artefacts in its on-site museum are being donated to the
State Library of South Australia and other local institutions.[14]
Local government
Thebarton was part of the then largely rural District of West Torrens until 1883, when the residents of the more urban suburbs of Thebarton, Mile End and Torrensville successfully petitioned to become the Corporation of the
Town of Thebarton.[15]
In 1997 the Town of Thebarton re-amalgamated with the City of West Torrens.[16]
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
2001
1,278
—
2006
1,327
+3.8%
2011
1,322
−0.4%
2016
1,431
+8.2%
Thebarton has a significant
Greek-Australian population and is the suburb with the largest Greek Australian population per capita in
Australia. In fact, according to census data released by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2001, the suburbs of Thebarton and neighbouring
Torrensville together are home to 4,471 Greek-Australians; i.e., 18.7 per cent of the total population.
The
Thebarton campus of the
University of Adelaide, also known as Adelaide University Research Park, occupies a complex of former industrial buildings in the northeastern corner of the suburb.
The Thebarton Incinerator on West Thebarton Road was designed by
Walter Burley Griffin in 1935,[17] completed in 1937, and decommissioned in 1964.[18] It is one of two Burley Griffin buildings listed among the 120 nationally significant 20th-century buildings in South Australia,[19] the other being the Hindmarsh Incinerator at
Brompton.
A rectangular memorial on the corner of Albert and Maria Streets, dedicated to Maria Gandy, William Light's partner, was unveiled on the 200th anniversary of her birth on 23 November 2011. On each of four sides is an inscription celebrating her roles as pioneer, settler, carer and mother.[20]
The incinerator at 34 West Thebarton Road was designed by noted American architect
Walter Burley Griffin, who designed
Canberra. The design, including exquisite tiles detail in this photo, was to mollify the local council, which did not want it within council boundaries.
The newly constructed incinerator in 1937. Garbage was tipped in at road level and a
reverberatory furnace reduced the garbage to ash, which was fed into this pit to enable the area to be reclaimed.
Plaque commemorating Light's "Theberton Hall", demolished 1926. Cast in 1997, its pillar was constructed from remnants of the Hindmarsh Bridge, demolished 1995, and is located across the
River Torrens from the site of the Southwark brewery, demolished in the 2020s.
Heritage listings
Thebarton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Plaque only – Site of Colonel Light's Cottage (13 December 2001)[24]
Remains of `Theberton Hall' Colonel William Light's House (including Underground Room, Underground Tank and Well) (provisionally added 20 May 2021)[25]
Walkerville Brewhouse Tower, built 1886, enlarged 1898–1899, doubled in size 1901–1903, one of a few remaining and one of the largest examples of a brewhouse tower in South Australia (provisionally added 20 May 2021)[26]
Electric Supply Company Transformer (13 December 2001)[27]
^"Search result for 'Thebarton, SUB'". Property Location Browser.
Government of South Australia. 11 March 2009. SA0066045. Retrieved 6 September 2017. Originally a private subdivision of section 46. Name of the house was taken from Colonel Light's English home - Theberton Hall. Thebarton was the first village laid out outside of the City of Adelaide. Available evidence suggests that the current spelling with a central "a" has arisen through a typographic error. Proposal in 1982 to alter the name to Theberton not approved by Geographical Names Board. Portion added in 1945.
^"Place names of South Australia: T". State Library of South Australia. The acceptance of Thebarton with an 'a' instead of an 'e' is credited to a typographical error and not the some time held view that it was a corruption of 'The Barton' based on the Old English bere-tun meaning 'barley farm'. Retrieved 23 October 2019.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (
link)
^Premier Postal History.
"Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 26 May 2011.