It’s a daunting task, trying to distill a snapshot of history without becoming tedius like a drab school textbook, or jingoistic like a Mojo ad. As Colonel William Light said about his plan for Adelaide, “I leave it to posterity … to decide whether I am entitled to praise or to blame.”
Now, to the quirks of our story in South Australia, that made their way into the song
In May of 1836, Colonel William Light sails from England on Rapid as Surveyor-General, arriving on Kangaroo Island August 17 to scout sites like Rapid Bay and Port Lincoln, both rejected.
Later that year, the Cygnet/Africaine brings advance settlers as Light finds Port Adelaide River (later called Port Misery by the locals because of its swampy nature and all the mosquitoes.
He then fixes the site of Adelaide between December 24 and 29 on Torrens plain, thus missing the Prolamation Day ceremony on December 28 when Governor John Hindmarsh arrived on the Buffalo at Holdfast Bay.
Hindmarsh immediately proclaimed the colony of South Australia under King William IV at Old Gum Tree, Glenelg, although it was actually read by George Stevenson. The test invokes moral order and Aboriginal protections.
By His Excellency John Hindmarsh, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty’s Province of South Australia, and the Dependencies thereof, &c. &c.
In announcing to the Colonists of His Majesty’s Province of South Australia, the establishment of the Government, I hereby call upon them to conduct themselves on all occasions with order and quietness, duly to respect the laws, and by a course of industry and sobriety, by the practice of sound morality and a strict observance of the Ordinances of Religion, to prove themselves worthy to be the Founders of a great free Colony.
It is also, at this time especially, my duty to apprise the Colonists of my resolution to take every lawful means for extending the same protection to the Native Population as to the rest of His Majesty’s Subjects and of my firm determination to punish with exemplary severity all acts of violence or injustice which may in any manner be practiced or attempted against the Natives who are to be considered as much under the Safeguard of the law as the Colonists themselves, and equally entitled to the privileges of British Subjects.
I trust therefore with confidence to the exercise of moderation and forbearance by all Classes in their intercourse with the Native Inhabitants, and that they will omit no opportunity of assisting me to fulfil His Majesty’s most gracious and benevolent intentions toward them by promoting their advancement in civilization, and ultimately under the blessing of Divine Providence, their conversion to the Christian Faith.
By His Excellency’s Command,
Robert Gouger,
Colonial Secretary.
God Save the King!
Hindmarsh was not impressed by Light’s location and lobbied for the city to be on the coast. However, Light wanted fresh water and access to good farming land and as our Surveyor, he won the day.
I think history judges him well for sticking to his guns.
In the early years, the first nations people, the Kaurna, intermingled in various ways, with many learning English. However, there were tensions, especially when they used their firestick methods of burning vegetation to get game, in stark contrast and overlapping and damaging areas of fenced crops planted by the settlers. Fatalities occurred.
There were other fatalities involving Aborigines and settlers that didn’t make it into the song, including the Milmenrura people killing 25 survivors of the shipwrecked Maria in the Coorong. This led to Governor Gawler dispatching Major O’Halloran on a punitive expedition. Without trials, two alleged perpetrators were executed, fueling settler debates on frontier justice and Aboriginal relations.
The song then reflects on the bumpy start we took on our aspriational pathway to being a moral society. Crime escalated, prostitution erupted, and there were shonky land deals and fraud, left right and centre. It led to Australia’s first police force being started and the creation of a jail, something overlooked by Light in his utopian planning.
We then found our feet and much of the rest of the 1800s proved to be prosperous. We had farming invetions (mechanical grain harvesting and the stump jump plough), and copper mines being discovered, with the one at Burra at one stage supplying 5% of the world’s copper.
The last decade was rough. It was preceded by the collapse of the Commercial Bank (a private, mid-tier bank), and then a depression hit in 1890.
However, those last decades of the 1800s were heady times, as we instituted some bold reforms like secret ballots, the Torrens Title system, and women’s suffrage.
The song tips its hat to something special about South Australia. We had many other inventions that followed, and we’ve had some great leaders who inspired us to look deeper within ourselves and take leaps forward. It also tips its hat to the fact that we have also had some disasters to navigate.
Overall, though, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world, and I’d always choose a home where we are aspirational but fall short, rather than pessimistic and prone to hatred, mistrust, and pure greed.
Proclamation Day Lyrics
[Chorus]
I proclaim
In William’s name
That this time
Won’t be the same
We’ll practice pure
Sobriety
We’ll treat the black man
Equally
We will strive to put things straight
To make the colony, of South Australia, great
[Verse 1]
Hindmarsh wanted his city by the see
So Colonel William snuck away and hid
He kept his distance from the old gum tree
Where he could give life to his city grid
He came back the day after proclamation
With his city vision now revealed
That acres in neat rows were the foundation
For South Australia’s Utopia fulfilled
[Chorus]
I proclaim
In William’s name
That this time
Won’t be the same
We’ll practice pure
Sobriety
We’ll treat the black man
Equally
We will strive to put things straight
To make the colony, of South Australia, great
[Verse 2]
Two years later there was need for some police
To stop the spread of lawless frontier fights
Then came speculators out to fleece
And then came all the ladies of the night
The settlers farmed the land with crops and fences
The Kaurna had their way with firesticks
There were murders as the new ideals were tested
That questioned whether black and white could mix?
[Chorus]
I proclaim
In William’s name
That this time
Won’t be the same
We’ll practice pure
Sobriety
We’ll treat the black man
Equally
We will strive to put things straight
To make the colony, of South Australia, great
[Verse 3]
The next fifty years would fill the state with gold
With smarter farming and new copper mines
Then depression left us in the cold
Then we had a bank collapse for the first time
As our railways helped our riches flow
Social changes soon became our norm
Torrens title, women’s suffrage, and the secret vote
Were just the first of many bold reforms
[Chorus]
I proclaim
In William’s name
That this time
Won’t be the same
We’ll practice pure
Sobriety
We’ll treat the black man
Equally
We will strive to put things straight
To make the colony, of South Australia, great
[Bridge]
Nothing’s perfect on this earth
Never was, and never will
But Light saw something special
From Montefiore Hill
A genius of place and plan
For industry and skill
From meeting place to festive space
We’re a work in progress still
[Verse 4]
If it was Proclamation Day once more
What should we change, and what should we keep?
Is it still worth aiming for the perfect score?
Or maybe try for something not as steep?
There’s an energy here in South Australia
And we’ve had our share of leaders as the spark
The great ones show us how to be much braver
And surrender to the wisdom of the heart
[Chorus]
I proclaim
In William’s name
That this time
Won’t be the same
We’ll practice pure
Sobriety
We’ll treat the black man
Equally
We will strive to put things straight
To make the colony, of South Australia, great
[Final chorus]
We proclaim
In our own name
That we’ll keep
Nurturing the flame
Of a fair
Society
Where life is good
For you and me
We’ll make sure that in our state
We’ll work together to keep South Australia, great
Listen To Proclamation Day
Proclamation Day Raw Scratchings
