Kingsford Homestead

**Fast Facts**
Place type:	Building
Town or Locality:	Gawler

View larger map

Kingsford, an impressive English free-stone homestead about a mile off the Sturt highway just before Sheaoak Log, stands as a memorial to an enterprising pioneer, Stephen King, Senr. It was built in 1856, probably from stone imported from England as ship's ballast. Because of its position—the building can't be seen from the main road—

Kingsford homestead has not become as widely known as some of its contemporaries. But the history of Kingsford estate, first settled by King in 1839, is a colourful one. In 1840, the "original homestead built by King a few hundred yards south of the present homestead was held up by bushrangers Curran, Hughes and Green. Curran and Hughes were subsequently hung in Ade-laide, but not before Hughes fought the executioner just before going to his death.

The original homestead, built at a time when the number of large stockholders in South Australia could be counted on your fingers, still stands. Kingsford is inalienably linked with Turretfield, the Department of Agriculture's research centre at Rosedale. In the Gawler Special Survey No. 2 of 1839, Henry Dundas Murray purchased 516 acres for the original Turretfield estate and King was able to acquire 500 acres for Kingsford.

Both King and Murray arrived in South Australia on January 15 that year aboard the barque Orleana. The naming of Murray and King streets and Orleana Square in Gawler show the profound interest which the two men had in the town.

Both contributed acreage for the development of the "Colonial Athens." King flourished at Kingsford, and, in addition to grazing Merino sheep, he bred Cashmere goats and cultivated wheat, maize and tobacco. With the building of the new homestead, King under-took the risky business of sheep farming, principally in the Eastern Plains. It was to prove his undoing.

He had 189 square miles at Weekeroo, 77 square miles just north of there, 202 square miles at King's Bluff and 60 square miles east of Kooringa. An awesome land-holding, even in those days. King had also built the first flour mill in the Gawler district. It was erected in 1845, and burnt to the ground shortly after being purchased by Walter Duffield. It was an unprofitable venture, prompting an early biographer to comment that if King had been content to confine his activities to Kingsford he would have avoided much of the trouble in store for him. The big drought of the sixties proved his downfall. It hit so hard he was forced out of the squatting business, Kingsford and all.

King died on January 15, 1882, after he had tried his hand at a number of non-agricultural pursuits, including storekeeping and sitting on the bench as a Special Magistrate.

Kingsford became more famous in later years as the home of John Howard Angas' Hereford stud. The original Borneo cedar floors and cedar staircase, door and window frames of Kingsford are still in perfect condition—a tribute to the fine craftmanship of early tradesmen. Granite floors in the foyer, the slate roof and parapets on the outside walls are all part of the original structure.

"Kingsford, Hundred of - In the County of Chandos, proclaimed on 26th September 1912. Stephen King, a member of John McD. Stuart exploration party in 1861-62, was born at the family home in the Gawler District called Kingsford in 1841, and died at Beulah Park in 1915. Land in the Hundred was first taken up under pastoral lease no. 2506 by James White in 1875." extracted from Manning's Place Names of South Australia - 1990 Gillingham Printers P/L Adelaide SA. ISBN 054376875 0 5.

Built by flour mill owner Stephen King near Shea-oak Log where the bullockies travelling from Kapunda forded the North Para river about 8kms upstream from Gawler.

Click Here for documents and Photos of Kingsford homestead