Bedford Park is a southern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The Hancock family established a homestead and

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

at the foot of the

Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...

in the mid-19th century. A family name from an earlier generation lent its name to the property of ''Bedford'' which was later changed to ''Bedford Park''. In 1917, of the property was purchased by the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the highest ranking mem ...

and a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

was built. Initially housing

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

s the sanatorium was expanded until, by 1924, it had 74 beds and was a self-supporting farm with pigs,

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s and grain production. The sanatorium was demolished and

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

built in its place in the 1960s. ''Burbank'' Post Office opened on 26 September 1961 and was renamed ''Bedford Park'' in 1966, before closing in 1980. Bedford Park is the home of

and the Flinders Medical Centre. The greater part of the suburb lies within the

City of Mitcham The City of Mitcham is a local government area in the foothills of southern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest, and the notable, affluent suburb of Springfield which contains som ...

, but the north west corner lies within the

City of Marion The City of Marion is a Local government in Australia, local government area in part of the southern and western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. The council offices are in the suburb of Sturt, South Australia, Sturt. History The Distric ...

where the

Warriparinga Warriparinga, also spelt Warriparingga (meaning ''Windy Place'' in the local Kaurna language), is a nature reserve comprising in the metropolitan suburb of Bedford Park, South Australia, Bedford Park, in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, South ...

wetlands and Living Kaurna Cultural Centre are located beside the Sturt River. The suburb is in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

electorate of Davenport. It is in the federal Division of Boothby.

Population

In the 2021 Census, there were 2,850 people in Bedford Park. 46.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China (6.7%) and Indonesia (5.5%). 50.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin (10.6%) and Indonesian (5.6%). The most common responses for religion were No Religion 38.1%, Catholic 15.1% and Islam 8.6%.

References

Suburbs of Adelaide {{Adelaide-geo-stub