Jamestown is a town in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

region 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 ...

north 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 ...

. It lies on the banks of the Belalie Creek and on the

Crystal Brook-Broken Hill railway line A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

between

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

and

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, and ultimately on the main line linking

and

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. At the 2016 census, Jamestown had a population of 1,561, and is the thriving centre of a prosperous area. Jamestown is the council seat of its local municipality,

Northern Areas Council Northern Areas Council is a local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat and main council offices are at Jamestown, while the council also maintains district offices at Gladstone and Spalding. ...

. Jamestown is in the

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

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

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

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 ...

Description

Jamestown (originally James Town) was named after

Sir James Fergusson James Fergusson may refer to: Politics *Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet (1832–1907), Governor of South Australia, New Zealand and Bombay *Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet (1904–1973), Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire *Sir James Fergusson, Lord Ki ...

, 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 ...

when the town was surveyed in 1871. Its streets are all named for towns in his native

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Major products of the area are

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

and

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. The world's first plantation forest was the

Bundaleer Bundaleer Station was a pastoral lease that operated as a sheep station in South Australia. It is situated approximately south of Jamestown and north of Spalding. The property was established in 1841 by John Bristow Hughes and occupied a ...

Forest first planted in the area in 1876. The local area had first been granted self-government as the District Council of Belalie in 1875, but the township of Jamestown itself had separated as the Corporate Town of Jamestown in 1878. The Belalie council, comprising the surrounding areas, merged into the new District Council of Jamestown in 1935. Jamestown continued with two municipalities, one for the town and one for the surrounding area, until their amalgamation in 1991; the amalgamated municipality then merged into the new Northern Areas Council in 1997. RM Williams Monument, Jamestown South Australia

RM Williams Monument, Jamestown South Australia

In July 2017, US tech giant Tesla won a bid to build a 129 megawatt hour (MWh) battery at Hornsdale Wind Farm at nearby Hornsdale. It was completed on 25 November 2017, and was the largest of its kind in the world. This was the first ever major battery storage installed on a country's power grid.

Notable people

Sir John Cockburn was the town's first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

, and later

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 ...

in 1889–1890. Jamestown is the birthplace of Australian bush legend, Reginald Murray Williams (1908–2003), better known as

R. M. Williams Reginald Murray "R.M." Williams AO CMG (24 May 19084 November 2003) was an Australian bushman and entrepreneur who rose from a swagman to a millionaire. He was born at Belalie North near Jamestown in the Mid North of South Australia, north ...

, the bush outfitter; Sir Raphael Cilento (1893–1985), tropical medicine pioneer, noted public servant and father of actress

Diane Cilento Diane Cilento (2 April 1932 – 6 October 2011) was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in '' Tom Jones'' (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, '' Hombre'' (1967) and ''The Wicker Man'' (1973). She also r ...

;

Paul Cronin Paul Cronin (8 July 1938 – 13 September 2019) was an Australian actor who played roles in the Australian television series '' Matlock Police'' and ''The Sullivans''. He won the Silver Logie five times, including three years consecutively fr ...

(1938–2019), actor; and

Edgar Mayne Edgar Richard "Ernie" Mayne (2 July 1882 – 26 October 1961) was an Australian cricketer who played as a right-handed batsman and bowler. Mayne played in four Test matches for Australia between 1912 and 1921. He made his Test debut on 15 July ...

(1882-1961), test cricketer.

Military history

Jamestown has proud military history, with monuments featured within the township. The Memorial Park features a restored 1907

Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...

SFH02 Cannon. It was captured in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in November 1917 as part of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

campaign. In 1918 the Cannon was ceded to the 9th Australian Light Horse Regiment in the initial distribution of captured weapons.

Heritage listings

* 21 Ayr Street: National Australia Bank Building * 42 Ayr Street: Eudunda Farmers Store * Irvine Street: Trooper Goodes Memorial * 5 Irvine Street : Jamestown Post Office and Dwelling

Events

In the spring of 2016, the town had three events taking place – Jamestown Racing Club annual

Horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

meeting with the Jamestown Cup, a Mural Fest and the Jamestown Show.

References

External links

Northern Areas Council page on Jamestown
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia)