__NOTOC__ Amyton is a locality in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located on the eastern side of the

Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about north of Adelaide. The ranges stretch for over from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. The Adnyamathanha people are the Aboriginal group who have inhabi ...

about north of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about north-east of the municipal seat of Melrose. Boundaries for the locality were created on 13 March 1997 and was given the “long established name” of Amyton which is derived from the former Government Town of Amyton. The government town was intended to be the principal settlement of the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Pinda. It was surveyed in January 1879 and laid out as “204 house allotments and 180 larger blocks and parklands.” It was proclaimed on 10 April 1879 and was named after the eldest daughter of

William Jervois Lieutenant General Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois (10 September 1821 – 17 August 1897) was a British military engineer and diplomat. After joining the British Army in 1839, he saw service, as a second captain, in South Africa. In 18 ...

, the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

. It was diminished on 13 May 1954 by the cancellation of the loan registration book for the land intended for “school purposes” and resumption of all of the land intended for the school, parklands and the town, and was proclaimed to ‘cease to exist’ on 13 June 1957. The town had as many as “four buildings and many temporary constructions” at one time and had a school in operation from 1881 to 1930. As of 2012, “nothing remains but a small pioneer cemetery” and “a few rubble heaps…”

Geoffrey Manning Geoffrey Haydon Manning (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian, commonly known as Geoff Manning and cited as an author as Geoffrey H. Manning. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place ...

, the South Australian historian, notes that the town was not successful because the “uncertainty of the rainfall” made the growing of wheat unviable, although farmers of the time could practise dairying as the “good variety of summer fodders, such as saltbush and blue bush” realized better financial returns than growing wheat. Amyton is located within the federal

division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who wa ...

, the state

electoral district of Stuart Stuart is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. At 323,131 km², it is a vast country district extending from the Spencer Gulf as far as the Northern Territory border in the north and the Queenslan ...

and the local government area of the

District Council of Mount Remarkable The Mount Remarkable District Council is a local government area located between the top of the Spencer Gulf and the base of the Southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The district encompasses a wide variety of towns, including coastal port ...

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia