Torrensville is a western suburb west of the centre of Adelaide,

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 ...

. It was named after Irish-born economist and chairman of the South Australian Colonisation Commission, Robert Torrens. Torrensville is in the City of West Torrens local government area, the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

electoral district of West Torrens West Torrens is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after the City of West Torrens (which is so-named because of its location on the River Torrens), it is a 25.1 km² suburban electorate in A ...

and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

Division of Hindmarsh The Division of Hindmarsh is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the western suburbs of Adelaide. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was split on 2 October 1903, ...

. The area has a high proportion of Greek-Australians. Revitalisation of the Adelaide's inner suburbs in the 2000s has made

Henley Beach Road Currie Street is a main street in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.Map
of the

Adelaide Plains, Torrensville is situated on

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 ...

land. According to the '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', the suburb was named after Robert Torrens senior, who was chairman of the South Australian Colonisation Commission, which was responsible for setting up and running the colony in its early years. ''New Thebarton'' Post Office opened on 1 November 1879 and was renamed ''Torrensville'' in 1909. Torrensville was part of the then largely rural District of West Torrens until 1883, when the residents of the more urban suburbs of Thebarton, Mile End and Torrensville successfully petitioned to become the Corporation of the Town of Thebarton. In 1997 the Town of Thebarton re-amalgamated with the City of West Torrens. The Star Theatre, at 107 Henley Beach Road, was one of the earliest

picture theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s in Dan Clifford's cinema chain, opening in March 1916. It was renamed the Plaza Theatre in 1937, but still operated under Clifford's Star banner, and continued to operate as a cinema until at least 1957. it is operating as the Mile End Office Furniture store.

Demographics

According to the 2016 Australian census, the most common ancestries for Torrensville residents were English (18.8%), Australian (15.9%), Greek (11.8%) and Italian (9.7%) - although 62.4% of respondents were born in Australia. The significant

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

and

Italian Australians Italian Australians ( it, Italiani Australiani) are Australians with Italian ancestry. Italian Australians constitute the sixth largest ancestry group in Australia, and one of the largest groups in the global Italian diaspora. At the 2021 ce ...

populations being a result of mass migration in the middle of the 20th century. The 2021 Australian Census identified that 14.8% of residents in Torrensville were of Greek ancestry compared to South Australia 2.7% and Australia 1.7% Australian Bureau of Statistics data from May 2021 identified Adelaide's western suburbs as having the lowest unemployment in South Australia. Both the State and Federal MPs, representing the electoral districts that include Torrensville, are notable Greek Australians: Tom Koutsantonis and Steve Georganas of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. Their success in winning office could potentially be attributed to the population of Greek Australians in their electoral districts including Torrensville and neighbouring suburbs of

Thebarton Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore ...

and

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

Heritage listings and places of interest

Brickworks

The Brickworks Marketplace, a shopping centre, is on the site of the former

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...

of J. Hallett and Son. It occupies a large block on the corner of

South Road South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...

and Ashwin Parade, with the

Torrens River The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...

(Karrawirri Parri) at its northern boundary. The Hoffman Brick Kiln, Hallett Brickworks (Lot 32 Ashwin Parade) was heritage-listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. ...

in 1983. The Brickworks kiln was constructed in 1912 or 1913 in the Hoffman style, and is the last remaining such kiln in Adelaide. A major renovation of the kiln, costing $1.5 million, was effected by the West Torrens Council between 2016 and 2017. The chimney is high. Brickworks Chimney October 2021

The old brickworks site was converted into a lively market in the late 20th century, with a leisure complex including rides for children, and a multitude of stalls selling goods from fruit and vegetables, to crafted items, jewellery and clothing. This was demoolished and a shopping centre built in its place; Brickworks Marketplace, whose largest tenant is

Woolworths (Australia) Woolworths Group Limited is an Australian trans-Tasman retailer headquartered in Bella Vista, Sydney, with extensive operations throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the largest company in Australia by revenue and the second-largest in ...

, opened on 35 June 2015. Thebarton Oval Gates

From 2021 the South Australian tradition which commenced in 1954 of placing the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

premiership team colours on top of the chimney at the West End Brewery (first in

Hindley Street Hindley Street is located in the north-west quarter of the Adelaide city centre, centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It runs between King William Street, Adelaide, King William Street and West Terrace, Adelaide, West Terrace. Th ...

and after 1980 at the

site), was moved to the Brickworks kiln chimney. The Woodville West Torrens Eagles were the 2021 SANFL Premiers, and after temporary placement on a replica chimney on the day of the ceremony, the colours were unveiled on it on the actual chimney on 19 October 2021.

Other places

Thebarton Oval Thebarton Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia currently used for a variety of sports including Australian rules football. It was the home ground of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Torrens between 192 ...

, once used as an Australian Rules Football ground by

West Torrens Football Club West Torrens Football Club was an Australian rules football club that competed in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) from 1897 to 1990. In 1991, the club merged with neighbouring Woodville Football Club to form the Woodville ...

** Ashley Street: Gate and Ticket Office, Thebarton Oval was heritage-listed in 1993. ** The Hotel Royal in Torrensville was built in 1879 and is heritage listed. The West Torrens Council has controversially approved a $4 million dollar upgrade to the hotel in 2022 that has raised concerns from the Art Deco and Modernism, Adelaide Chapter. The concerns are based on the hotel losing its

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

elements and characteristics. Thebarton Theatre 2021

Thebarton Theatre The Thebarton Theatre, also known as the Thebbie Theatre or simply Thebbie/Thebby, is an entertainment venue located in the inner-western Adelaide suburb of Torrensville, South Australia. Built in 1926 as a combined town hall / picture theatr ...

, a historic and popular entertainment venue, at 112 Henley Beach Road, heritage-listed in 1982. *

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to establish ...

icon

David Hookes David William Hookes (3 May 1955 – 19 January 2004) grew up in Torrensville and was a South Australian and Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in ...

grew up on Clifford Street Torrensville and played cricket in Torrensville. There is a monument to him on the corner of South Road and Ashwin Parade, Torrensville. * 4-8 Hayward Avenue: Torrensville Uniting Church * 92 South Road: World War Two Civil Defence Sub-Control Station Acclaimed restaurants Parwana Afgan Kitchen which has attracted celebrities such as

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School, London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, where she was a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Lawson st ...

and the British Raj Restaurant which has been the Indian restaurant of choice for the visiting Indian Cricket team for many years are both in Torrensville. The Indian Cricket teams most recent visit in November 2022 attracted a sea of fans at the restaurant, all gathered outside to catch a glimpse of the cricketers and in particular cricket superstar

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed batter for Royal Challe ...

. Virat Kohli has scored more runs as a touring player at

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby le ...

than any other cricketer in history.

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

printed in its newspaper that the British Raj in Torrensville is famous in this part of the word for its Indian cuisine. David Hookes Monument

Education

* Thebarton Senior College * Torrensville Primary School

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Adelaide