Willaston - the Beginning
| Place type: | Locality |
|---|---|
| Town or Locality: | Willaston |
The first registered owner of Willaston land was John Reid. He arrived in South Australia from Northern Ireland on 15th January 1839, aboard the “Orleana”. Reid, and a fellow passenger, Henry Dundas Murray, purchased 4000 acres of Crown land for £4422 just 16 days after arriving in South Australia. This land was part of the Gawler Special Survey. Reid owned Sections 1,6,7,14,18, 21 and 22 of this survey. Section 1 is the area where Willaston was to be built. Reid and his family moved to the Gawler area and later built “Clonlea” homestead on 630 acres in Section 7 of the survey. The Special Surveys were an exception to colonial land policy, which generally prohibited land acquisition prior to official surveying. Under this system, private individuals or consortia could finance the surveying of large tracts of unsurveyed land and subsequently claim priority selection within that area. The practice of Special Surveys ceased after 1846, when the British government determined that land should be made available for purchase by the general public rather than reserved for the wealthy elite.
Unfortunately Reid suffered crop failure and livestock disease which eventually resulted in financial stress and he re-mortgaged part of his land purchases. To relieve his financial problems, he sold 326 acres of Section 1 to his friends William Paxton and Samuel Stocks in October 1848.
The original map of Willaston, which covered 17 acres, is dated 24th October 1848. It refers to –“subdivided said Section 1 (Gawler Special Survey) showing allotments, streets and roads with the name of the township of Willaston.” However, this map wasn’t lodged with the Land Registry Office in Adelaide until 14th February 1853. Unfortunately, Stocks was to die before the town was set out.
William Paxton arrived in South Australia in 1840 .He opened an “Apothecaries Hall” in the west end of Hindley Street. A group of Rundle and Hindley Street shopkeepers, including Paxton, formed the South Australian Mining Association which struck a rich mine of copper which became known as Burra Burra Mines. An enormous dividend of £123,200 was paid to these investors in 1848. Paxton used this wealth to buy and sell large parcels of land. He purchased land in Gawler East as well as Willaston. He also developed land in Brompton and subdivisions in Port Adelaide. He purchased “Town Acre 30” in Adelaide city. The Paxton name is remembered in Burra with Paxton Square, Paxton Cottages and Paxton terrace. In Willaston there is Paxton Street and Paxton Court.
The Paxton family home for many years was on North Terrace. Paxton appealed to the Supreme Court in 1855 against the erection, of the Adelaide Hospital opposite his home. His home was later sold to Henry Ayers and is famous as "Ayers House”. Paxton returned to England in 1855, a wealthy man.
There is no solid information about who named the township of Willaston. There are 2 towns called Willaston in Cheshire, England - one Willaston is 10 miles NW of Chester and the other between Crewe and Nantwich. William Paxton was born in Claydon, Oxford. Samuel Stocks was born in Stockport, Cheshire which is some 50 miles from both Willastons.
Willaston was in the Hundred of Mudla Wirra. This name is believed to have come from the aboriginal words “Mudla” which means instrument or tool and “Wirra” which means bush or scrub. Thus, Mudla Wirra - a tool or instrument from the bush. The South Australian Gazetteer of 1863 reported the following – “Willaston is a postal township in the hundred and under the control of the District Council of Mudla Wirra, and in the electoral district of Stanley. It is suburban to Gawler Town and lies on the North Para River. It contains 1 blacksmith’s shop, 1 machine maker’s workshop, 1 brick-yard, 1 lime-kiln, 1 saw-mill, 3 general and 4 wheat-stores, a post office, Council chambers and 1 hotel”
By 1867, a local Council area called Mudla Wirra South had been established with its headquarters at Willaston. This area was part of the Hundred of Mudla Wirra. The people of Willaston for many years thought of themselves as a separate identity to Gawler. From the time of incorporation until 1933, the boundaries of the Willaston Township did not change – even though amalgamations and divisions of councils around Gawler occurred. In July 1933 a Royal Commission investigating local government boundaries proclaimed the amalgamation of Mudla Wirra South and Mudla Wirra North to form the District Council of Mudla Wirra. However, the Willaston area was annexed to the Town of Gawler.
Memories of Willaston - the Beginning
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