Evanston, formerly Evans Town, is a
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
south of the town of
Gawler
Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the st ...
,
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 ...
. It contains the
Gawler and District College and
Gawler Racecourse as well as a supermarket and homemaker centre containing bulky goods stores such as carpet, fishing, electrical and bike and motorbike shops.
History
Before settlement, the
Kaurna people
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. Kau ...
, or Adelaide Plains tribe, lived in the area.
In 1850
James Philcox named sections 3220 and 3221 in the
Hundred of Munno Para, calling the allotment Evanston. James Philcox (22 January 1812 – 31 March 1893) was an English land speculator and property developer in the 1840s and 1850s in the colony of South Australia. He is credited with naming the inner eastern Adelaide suburb of Marryatville as well as the outer northern suburb of Evanston. He returned to England to retire in Sussex in 1853. James Philcox was born in Burwash, Sussex, England, on 22 January 1812, of parents John and Esther.
He married Ann Taylor Evans on 18 October 1838 in Burwash.
3] The township of Evanston is most likely named for his wife Ann Taylor Evans.
In 1853 a plan of the Evanston township was lodged at the South Australian Lands Title Office, when it was transferred to
John Morphett, Sir John Morphett. On 14 November 1855, ''
The Register
''The Register'' (often also called El Reg) is a British Technology journalism, technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee (journalist), Mike Magee and John Lettice. The online newspaper's Nameplate_(publishing), masthead Logo, s ...
'' called it "Evans Town".
References
Suburbs of Adelaide
{{SouthAustralia-geo-stub