''The South Australian Colonist'', full name ''The South Australian Colonist and Settlers' Weekly Record of British, Foreign and Colonial Intelligence'', was a weekly newspaper published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

between March and September 1840. The journal was established by

George Fife Angas George Fife Angas (1 May 1789 – 15 May 1879) was an English businessman and banker who, while residing in England, played a significant part in the formation and establishment of the Province of South Australia. He established the South Aus ...

with the aim of encouraging people to immigrate to South Australia. It was published every Tuesday afternoon, cost sixpence and was distributed in London, in the new Province of South Australia, other Australian settlements, as well as in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and Europe. The proceedings of the

Aborigines' Protection Society The Aborigines' Protection Society (APS) was an international human rights organisation founded in 1837,
...

were published within the journal, and it contained English and foreign news as well as carrying advertising. It sought to represent the views and experiences of the new colonists, as well as extolling the virtues of the governance of the new colony, which included the "civilisation of the natives". It published letters by prominent colonists, including

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...

, Pastor August Kavel, the Lutheran missionary Clamor Schurmann, and Charles Flaxman. Much was written about the local

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, the

Kaurna The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurn ...

, describing their customs and work done among them, including that of Schurmann and Deputy Colonial Storekeeper, publican and brewer William Williams. The editor of the newspaper was John Stephens, who had earlier been editor of the London newspaper, ''

Christian Advocate The ''Christian Advocate'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It began publication in 1826 and by the mid-1830s had become the largest circulating weekly in the United States, with more than 30 ...

'', prominent in the

anti-slavery movement Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. Upon arrival in South Australia in 1843, founded the ''

Adelaide Observer ''The Observer'', previously ''The Adelaide Observer'', was a Saturday newspaper published in Adelaide, South Australia from July 1843 to February 1931. Virtually every issue of the newspaper (under both titles) has been digitised and is availabl ...

'', and later bought and edited the ''

South Australian Register ''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and f ...

''. ''The South Australian Colonist'' was published from Volume 1, No. 1 (Tuesday, 10 March 1840) to Volume 1, No. 29 (Tuesday, 22 September 1840). Originally published by William Cecil Huttmann, the whole run has been digitised as PDF files under the Australian Cooperative Digitisation Project. A notable article, subsequently used by linguists as a basis for study of the

Kaurna language Kaurna ( or ) is a Pama-Nyungan language historically spoken by the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. The Kaurna peoples are made up of various tribal clan groups, each with their own ''parnkarra'' district of land and ...

, was the wordlist created by Deputy Storekeeper and later brewer, William Williams, containing 377 words, including some local place names. This was published on 14 July 1840, after having been published in the ''

Southern Australian ''The South Australian'' was a newspaper published in Adelaide, the capital of colonial South Australia from 2 June 1838 to 19 August 1851. Between 1838 and 1844, it was published as The ''Southern Australian.'' History ''The Southern Australia ...

'' in the previous year. After its demise, the journal was succeeded by the less costly and longer-running '' South Australian News'' in 1841.

References

Further reading