The South Australian Literary and Scientific Association, formerly the South Australian Literary Association and also known as the South Australian Literary Society, was active in London before the

British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

after its establishment on 29 August 1834. The Association played a part in the foundation of the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

, the State Library of South Australia and the

Royal Society of South Australia The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in rel ...

History

On 29 August 1834, a couple of weeks after the passing of the ''

South Australia Act 1834 The ''South Australia Act 1834'', or ''Foundation Act 1834'' and also known as the ''South Australian Colonization Act'', was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provided for the settlement of a province or multiple province ...

'',PDF
/ref> a group led by the Colonial Secretary, Robert Gouger, and solicitor Richard Hanson and a number of prominent colonists, including Ernest Giles,

Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 179616 May 1862) is considered a key figure in the establishment of the colonies of South Australia and New Zealand (where he later served as a member of parliament). He also had significant interests in Brit ...

John Morphett Sir John Morphett (4 May 1809 – 7 November 1892) was a South Australian pioneer, landowner and politician. His younger brother George Morphett was also an early settler in South Australia. Early life Morphett was born in London, th ...

, Robert Torrens Snr, and John Hindmarsh formed the South Australian Literary Association in Adelphi Chambers, London. Within a month, the title was changed to the more inclusive South Australian Literary and Scientific Association. Its aim was "the cultivation and diffusion of useful knowledge throughout the colony by all means which may lie in its power", in particular literature,

the arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

, history and natural science". Gouger played a key role in the society. He had been working with Hanson and Wakefield in developing a research library in which they gathered material not just as regards Australia, but also from the experiences of the British colonisation of Canada and North America. Other key people in the foundation of Southern Australia were also involved:

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...

, Edward Furniss and John Brown. It attracted 40 members within its first 16 months of meetings in London, many of whom became prominent colonists. Fortnightly meetings were held in which the conquest of the area could be planned. The members of the association were

radical reformers The Radical Reformation represented a response to corruption both in the Catholic Church and in the expanding Magisterial Reformation, Magisterial Protestantism, Protestant movement led by Martin Luther and many others. Beginning in Germany and ...

, holding ideals of

social equity Social equity is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy. Since the 1960s, the concept of social equity has been used in a variety of institutional contexts, including education and public administration. Overview Definitions of so ...

and

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, and were all wealthy, well-educated gentlemen. Their ideals overlapped to some degree with the lower-brow Mechanics' Institute movement, with both originating in the huge increase in industry, printed matter, knowledge and ideas in the early 19th century. They all wanted to use this new knowledge to improve themselves and society, using lectures, classes and libraries. Although the Association lapsed and meetings ceased, a collection of books donated by members was intended as the basis of the new colony's library, and the colonists brought the collection to the

Colony of South Australia In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

aboard the '' Tam O'Shanter'', which arrived on 18 December 1836. It played a part in the foundation of the South Australian Museum, the State Library of South Australia (via a merger with the Adelaide Mechanics' Institute, creating the Mechanics' Institute and South Australian Library), and the Royal Society of South Australia.

References

1831 establishments in England Culture of South Australia Literary societies {{SouthAustralia-stub

History

See also

References