Leasingham is the name of a hamlet on the southern edge of the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

, in the Mid North 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 ...

. It is approximately 117 kilometres from the state's capital,

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 17 kilometres south of the town of

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

. Although the surrounding country is elevated, the township is located in lower country at the intersection of

Main North Road Main North Road is the major north–south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, ...

and the connecting roads to

Mintaro Mintaro is a historic town in the eastern Clare Valley, east of the Horrocks Highway, about north of Adelaide, South Australia. The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, within the Clare Valley wine region. Established ...

(to the East) and Hoyleton (to the West). Leasingham is bisected by the Eyre Creek as it makes its way to the

Wakefield River The Wakefield River is an ephemeral river that flows to an estuary in the Australian state of South Australia. Course and features The river rises above , flowing southward, passing the towns of Watervale and Auburn, where it is fed by seve ...

. The '' Riesling Trail'' is on the western fringe of the township, following the former railway route between Auburn and

History

The Leasingham district was the ancestral home of the

Ngadjuri The Ngadjuri people are a group of Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands lie in the mid north of South Australia with a territory extending from Gawler in the south to Orroroo in the Flinders Ranges in the north. Name Their ethn ...

people. The first European explorer, John Hill, passed through the district in April 1839. Surveys soon followed, the township being named after the village and civil parish of

Leasingham Leasingham is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated less than north from Sleaford, and just off the A15. The hamlet of Roxholm lies to the north. When combined with Rauceby figures ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and the site was once owned by E. Campbell, who held approximately 120 hectares (60 acres) of freehold land, which he sold in 1853. By 1866 Leasingham had about 130 residents and, although ribbon development occurred around the Main North Road crossroad, it never prospered into a town.

Governance

Leasingham is in the

District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys The Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council was founded on 1 July 1997 with the amalgamation of the District Council of ...

, 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 ...

electoral district of Frome Frome is a single-member Electoral districts of South Australia, electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia. The electorate stretches nor ...

, and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, 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 ...

Land use

Leasingham is an agricultural district in which dry grain farming predominates. Additionally, being centrally located in quite a picturesque district, it caters for tourism and has a restaurant, caravan park, bed and breakfast accommodation and a number of tasting/cellar door sales operations of local wineries.

References

Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia) {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub