__NOTOC__ Jessie was a town in the Australian state of

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 ...

whose site is located about south-east of the state capital 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 ...

and about east of the former municipal seat of Naracoorte at the border with the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. It was in the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Jessie on land with an estimated area of . Upon the proclamation of the ''

District Councils Act 1887 The District Councils Act 1887 was an act of the Parliament of South Australia. It received assent on 9 December 1887, and its provisions came into effect when proclaimed by Governor William C. F. Robinson on 5 January 1888. The legislation intr ...

'' on 9 December 1887, it was located within the jurisdiction of the District Council of Narracoorte. The source of the town’s name is not reported in official sources. An article in ''

The Narracoorte Herald ''Limestone Coast Today'' (previously ''The'' ''Naracoorte Herald)'' is a weekly newspaper first published in Naracoorte, South Australia on 14 December 1875. It was later sold to Rural Press, previously owned by Fairfax Media. After closing due t ...

'' of 22 February 1929 does offer two possible opinions to the sources of the town’s name. The first was that "many South-Eastern people thought it was named after a sister of the late Mr. J. P. D. Laurie" who may have had "some influence with the Crown Lands Department" in respect to its name. The second was that it was named after "some other lady" on the basis of the views of "some other historians of nomenclature." This lady could be Lady Jessie Blyth for whom the Hundred of Jessie was named. Lady Blyth was the wife of Sir

Arthur Blyth Sir Arthur Blyth (19 March 1823 – 7 December 1891) was Premier of South Australia three times; 1864–65, 1871–72 and 1873–75. Early life The son of William Blyth and his wife, Sarah Wilkins, he was born at Birmingham, England on 21 ...

, Commissioner of Crown Land and a former

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 i ...

when the Hundred was proclaimed on 24 October 1867. Jessie is reported as being proclaimed on 28 April 1876 by one source while official sources such as the

South Australian Government Gazette ''The South Australian Government Gazette'' is the government gazette of the South Australian Government. The ''South Australian Gazette'' was first printed on 20 June 1839, after the Government of South Australia, South Australian Government c ...

contain no mention of any proclamation. However, the government gazette does show that land within the town was available for purchase by November 1870 at the latest. A drawing of the Hundred of Jessie prepared in November 1872 by the surveyor-general’s office shows that the town had been located and that a layout of its allotments and streets had been prepared. The town is reported as being surveyed during May 1890. In September 1891, during the second reading of ''The Park Lands Resumption Bill'' in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

, it was stated that the town allotments in the Town of Jessie all remained unsold and that there were "no occupants on town lots" while the "suburban lands" had been "nearly all sold." On 24 January 1929, the town was declared by a proclamation under the ''Crown Lands Act 1915'' to "ceased to exist" along with the closure of all roads within its boundaries. On 12 April 2001, the site of the ceased town was divided along the alignment of the

Wimmera Highway Wimmera Highway is a 345 kilometre rural highway that runs predominately through the Wimmera region of western Victoria, after which the highway is named. It links the towns of Marong, Victoria, just to the west of the major regional centre o ...

with its north and south sides being allocated respectively to the newly created localities of Hynam and Laurie Park.

References

{{authority control Ghost towns in South Australia 1929 disestablishments in Australia Limestone Coast