The Playford family has played a significant role in the

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 ...

n and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n political and social sphere since the early days of European settlement. * Thomas Playford senior, an ex-soldier who fought at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, a fiery

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher who arrived in

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 ...

c. 1844 and helped found a church called, simply, "The Christian Church". *

Thomas Playford II Thomas Playford (26 November 1837 – 19 April 1915) was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia (1887–1889; 1890–1892). He subsequently entered federal politics, serving as a Senator for South Australia ...

Delineating the various Thomas Playfords with a generation number is solely for ease of reference in this and related articles; in Australia there is no tradition of referring to "Thomas Playford II" in speech or in writing. served as

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...

from 1887 to 1889 and 1890 to 1892, as well as a Senator in the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia (a name he coined), including a stint as the Federal Minister for Defence. *Thomas Playford III was a well-known local farmer and Adelaide identity. *

Thomas Playford IV Sir Thomas Playford (5 July 1896 – 16 June 1981) was an Australian politician from the state of South Australia. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia and leader of the Liberal and Country League (LCL) from 5 November 1938 to 10 ...

was Premier of South Australia from 1938 to 1965; the longest serving elected national or regional leader in the British Empire/

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

.Cockburn, Stewart (1991). ''Playford: Benevolent Despot''. Axiom Publishing. *Thomas Playford V is a Baptist minister who ran at the 2002 South Australian state election for the seat of Kavel under the banner of "Independent for Integrity in Parliament", polling 19%. He ran as a Family First candidate for the same seat at the 2006 election, polling 15% of the vote.

Notes

References

{{reflist Australian people of English descent Political families of Australia Australian families English families