Mount Hill, South Australia

Mount Hill
Highest point
Elevation 450 m (1,480 ft)
Coordinates 34°04′S 136°14′E / 34.067°S 136.233°E / -34.067; 136.233Coordinates: 34°04′S 136°14′E / 34.067°S 136.233°E / -34.067; 136.233
Geography
Location South Australia, Australia
Climbing
First ascent 20 April 1840
George Gawler, John Hill and Thomas Burr

Mount Hill is a prominent peak on the eastern side of southern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is within the Hundred of Butler and the District Council of Tumby Bay.

Geography

Mount Hill is the southern peak of a low range of hills lying along the eastern coast of Eyre Peninsula and is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Spencer Gulf. At an elevation of about 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level, the isolated peak is a prominent landmark from the gulf. The surrounding country, originally very scrubby, has been mostly cleared for cropping. The nearest town is Port Neill.

History

The first European to sight this peak was Matthew Flinders, who sailed past on 7 March 1802 and noted it in his log as 'a bluff inland mountain'[1]and on his chart as a 'bluff mount'.

It was named Mount Hill on or about 20 April 1840 by Governor George Gawler when he was exploring this coast northwards on horseback from Port Lincoln accompanied by explorer and landholder John Hill and Deputy Surveyor General Thomas Burr. Their expedition was supported at sea by the brig Porter and the government cutter Water Witch. Gawler and party ascended the peak, at which time it was named after John Hill.[2]

The party then proceeded northward past Mount Olinthus (which they also ascended and named) toward the Middleback Ranges, before returning to Franklin Harbour which Gawler also named and is at present, the site for the town of Cowell.[3]

The Water Witch and Porter parted there, the Porter returning to Port Lincoln with Gawler and the Water Witch to Adelaide via Point Riley, near Wallaroo. On 28 April 1840 near Point Riley Hill and Burr disembarked, the pair returning overland on horseback to Adelaide, thereby being the first Europeans to traverse northern Yorke Peninsula.[4][5]

The second recorded European to ascend Mount Hill was explorer Edward John Eyre on 30 September 1840.[6]

A book titled In the Shadow of the Bluff gives a detailed account of the history of Mount Hill and the Hundred of Butler.[7]

Economy

The district economy has been primarily agricultural since European pastoralists first settled it in the 1840s, with grain cropping now being predominant. Mount Hill railway siding is nearby. There are also iron ore deposits in the vicinity and Eyre Iron Pty Ltd is presently examining these prospects.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Flinders, Matthew (1966) [1814]. A Voyage to Terra Australis : undertaken for the purpose of completing the discovery of that vast country, and prosecuted in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803 in His Majesty's ship the Investigator, and subsequently in the armed vessel Porpoise and Cumberland Schooner; with an account of the shipwreck of the Porpoise, arrival of the Cumberland at Mauritius, and imprisonment of the commander during six years and a half in that island. (Facsimile ed.). Adelaide; Facsimile reprint of: London : G. and W. Nicol, 1814 ed. In two volumes, with an Atlas (3 volumes): Libraries Board of South Australia. p. 241. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "The Southern Australian. Quid perum atque decens curo, et roge, et omnts in hoc sum — HOR. EP., Hb. 1, ep 1, v 11. ADELAIDE: THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 1840.". Southern Australian. 9 April 1840. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Gawler, George (16 May 1840). "GEOLOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON THE PENINSULA OF "EYRIA," By His EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR, GAWLER, K.H.". South Australian Register. p. 6. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "EMIGRATION DEPOT. To the Editors of the South Australian Register. Adelaide, 2nd May, 1840.". South Australian Register. p. 5. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Roslyn M. Paterson and Eyvonne L. Price, From Stumps to Stubble : A history of the District of Bute (Adelaide, 1984), ISBN 0 85864 079 1, page pp.49–52.
  6. ↑ Edward John Eyre, Journals of Expeditions of Discovery (etc.) 1840–41, (London, 1845), Vol.1, p.152.
  7. ↑ In the Shadow of the Bluff. Published by the Butler Centenary Committee. ISBN 0 646 23548 6
  8. ↑ "EXPLORATION". EYRE IRON PTY LTD. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
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