Mount Crawford is a hill in the locality also named
Mount Crawford in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, 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 o ...
approximately north of
Birdwood in the
Mount Lofty Ranges.
History
The Indigenous name for Mount Crawford was ''Teetáka''. The mount was given its present name in 1839 by
Charles Sturt after
James Coutts Crawford
James Coutts Crawford (20 July 1760 – 10 May 1828) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutiona ...
(1817–1889). Crawford had a Royal Navy background. He and his drovers arrived overland from NSW in April 1839 with 700 cattle, setting up a hut and cattle run at the base of the mount. Crawford soon moved on to be a pioneer of Wellington, New Zealand.
In February 1840 Crawford's hutkeeper, an old soldier, was bailed up by bushrangers Curran, Hughes, and Fox, who robbed him of his arms and rations. Curran and Hughes were executed by hanging at Adelaide on 16 March 1840 for an armed robbery committed earlier near Gawler.
:
Geoff Manning
Geoffrey Haydon Manning (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian, commonly known as Geoff Manning and cited as an author as Geoffrey H. Manning. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place ...
, in his ''Place Names of South Australia'', gives a different derivation: E.J.F. Crawford (later proprietor of
Hindmarsh Brewery
The Hindmarsh Brewery was a brewery founded 1844 in Hindmarsh, South Australia, Hindmarsh, in the then colony of South Australia, by E. J. F. "Fred" Crawford. Crawford lost possession of the business in 1859, then re-established it on a different ...
), the explorer J.F. Crawford, and T.G.T. Crawford, sons of Capt. Crawford, master of
HMS ''Victorious'' ran sheep in the area.
Pioneer families during the first decades of closer settlement included surnames Coleman, Hammat, Rankine, Polden, Murray,
Warren, and Whyte. The subsequent history was one of mining and pastoralism, until being largely replaced by forestry and recreation activities.
An alluvial
goldrush occurred in the area in the late nineteenth century, and fossicking still goes on in the area today.
Mount Crawford Forest
Mount Crawford also refers to the Mount Crawford Forest which is a grouping of several government
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
lands in the area, the largest encompassing the area around Mount Crawford - others are to the west at Mount Gawler and south around
Cudlee Creek
Cudlee Creek is a small town near Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area.
History
The name Cudlee Creek is probably derived from the Kaurna word ''kadli'', meaning the Dingo Creek.
The firs ...
and Kangaroo Creek Dam. The
Barossa Valley is directly to the north. The forest headquarters and an information centre are located near Mount Crawford. Most of the timber grown are
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
trees, though there are some native
eucalypt plantations. The
Heysen Trail passes through the forests.
The forests are also popularly used for recreational purposes, with school fairs and camps being held there, along with a
rally car race.
Climate
See also
*
List of mountains in Australia
References
External links
Postcards Feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Mount
Mountains of South Australia