During Captain Matthew Flinders’ voyage of discovery around the South Australian coast in 1802, he anchored his ship off Corny Point but was dissuaded from landing by campfires on the beach and the barking of dogs.

Before the coming of the European pastoralists, Yorke Peninsula was the home of the Narungga people, who occupied the land from near Port Wakefield in the east, over to Port Broughton in the west, and all the way down to the southern tip of the Peninsula. The Narungga consisted of four clans, Kurnara (north), Windera (east), Wari, (west) and Dilpa (south). It is believed that the Narungga maintained large settlements along the coast throughout much of the year. These coastal camps would have provided a regular supply of food and fresh water, as well as a gathering place for social and religious ceremony.

The Narungga managed and preserved their lands. They used fire to clear old grasses and promote fresh plant growth. Fresh water rock holes were covered with slabs of stone or brushwood to keep the water clean and to prevent animals from drinking from them. Track ways were maintained through the thick mallee forests, linking places and people throughout the peninsula.

Evidence of Narungga people’s day to day lives can be found in the form of these old campsites. While most of the sites are found along the coast, many more lie inland, typically around small salt lagoons and lakes.

The seasons probably had some influence on their movements. During the winter months for instance, when the small swamps and clay pans found throughout the peninsula filled with water, people could travel away from the coast and spend more time inland, hunting game and collecting vegetable foods from the thick mallee forests. At other times of the year, people would gather to exploit the fish ‘runs’.

It has been estimated that about 800 aboriginal people lived on Yorke Peninsula, and it is reasonable to assume that a fair percentage lived on the “bottom end”. Just as the Dilpa clan’s totem “Wilthuthu”, the shark, came from the sea, so too did a great deal of their food. Their expertise at fishing was admired by many of the early European settlers with catches including butterfish, salmon, mullet and snapper.

The use of the word Adjahdura (my-people) instead of Narungga (campsite) has been questioned as an alternative to describe the traditional owners and land of the Yorke Peninsula. Historical documents support Aboriginal elders that the traditional name of the original people of Yorke Peninsula was Adjahdura.

An early European settler who lived on Moorowie Station saw many corroborees and wrote:
“…they were usually held at night. The men would dance around a fire and imitate kangaroo hunts, fishing exploits or fights with other tribes. They used to daub themselves with pipeclay and red ochre. The men would chant a kind of song and the women sat around in a circle with a possum rug in their laps rolled up to make a drum.” (Carmichael 1988:3)

From 1899-1905, J Howard Johnson recorded more than 400 words of the Narungga language. His informant was Louisa (Lucy), an aboriginal woman from Marion Bay, who was married to George Eggington. Some place names are still used today although not spelt exactly as recorded by Mr Johnson.

Some examples:- Warooka: Wiruka; Point Turton: Punpu; Carribie: Karibi; 

Pondalowie: Pondalawi; Sturt Bay: Banata; Tuckokcowie: Takokawi

While many burials have been in shallow graves, they have also been noted in small caves such as at Corny Point.

During the early 1900s the last of the local aboriginal population, Lucy, and her mother, Tilly, were well-known figures in Warooka. Lucy did much of the town laundry. They lived between the main Minlaton road and the beach north of Warooka. Tilly eventually just disappeared, and local opinion was that she was buried, according to her tribal custom, in the sandhills at the northern end of Hardwicke bay.

“The land, the Earth, need respect, and we are all its people”. EM Fisher 1986

More Recent History

It was reported in The South Australian Advertiser, that a public meeting of the inhabitants of Hardwicke Bay had taken place on December 12th, 1872 and “that a request be forwarded to the Post Master General that he should grant us a post office”. Some discussion took place regarding the name it should be called, Mr John Young proposed it be named WAROOKA being the native name of a well in the neighbourhood.

In 1908, Mr Joseph Vigar, another early pioneer, recalling the meeting in December 1872 mentioned that Mr John Young and Mr Thomas Robertson, were the first to use the name. Mr Vigar said that the name was the aboriginal designation for a local swamp or lagoon; he added that in talking to the only native local at that time he said that it meant “mud”.

Prior to the use of the name Warooka the location was variously referred to as Mount Hardwicke or the Peesey Ranges.

Three kilometres east of the present township, on the road to Yorketown, there was a shepherd’s hut known locally as the Peesey Hut, derived from a corruption of the term ‘pise’ meaning sun-dried mud/clay. There was a well near the hut and it was to here that the local farmers took their stock for water, as reliable water in the area was scarce. It was this section that in a letter to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, dated July 30, 1872, Joseph Vigar and fourteen other land owners wrote: “The want of a Township in the neighbourhood has been greatly felt, also a sight for a Public Cemetery. That at a public meeting held on the 13th instant (of the present month) it was unanimously resolved that a memorial should be sent to the Honourable Commissioner of Crown Lands praying him set apart as a township portion of Section 204, Hundred of Moorowie.” The next month the township was surveyed which was locally known as Peesey Flat.

In September 1872, Mr John Chandler, of Flaxman’s Valley, lessee and Mr James A Johnson, of Lindsay Villa, lessor agreed that they would sell a portion of their land (Section 200, Hundred of Moorowie) for the erection of a Wesleyan Chapel (the site of the current Uniting Church)(link)  to be used for both religious and educational purposes. Mr Johnson was the accountant for The South Australian Company and grandson of George Fife Angas.

Mr Nicholas Player, lessee and Mr Johnson as lessor agreed to sell a further piece of land to Mr Edward Jacobs of Weaner’s Flat (Yorketown) for the establishment of the towns first store in December 1874 Jacob’s Peesey Store (link) (diagonally opposite the hotel). Mr Player was the first settler on the hill, his home being the location of the first Warooka Post Office in 1873. (link) Due to the development on the hill the plan for a government town at Peesey Flat was abandoned.

On November 30, 1875 allotments in the privately subdivided township of Warooka were offered for sale at the Hotel Europe, Grenfell St, Adelaide.

Farming Industry

When Nicholas Player began to clear the timber from the top of Mt Hardwicke in 1871, he had a one-furrow plough, one horse, and ploughed about one acre a day. He planted his first crop of wheat, broadcasting the seed by hand as he walked over the land.

In 1875 “The Observer” commented on the Warooka district – “the land, though very stony in places, seems capable of growing wheat of a very superior quality”.
In 1896, James Angas Johnson imported a drill and the whole complexion of farming changed. The new fertiliser, superphosphate, cost money and the farmer would need some capital to make a success of his operations. Thus, the consolidation of farms began, and the man who could adapt to the new conditions survived.

Barley at this time was very much a subsidiary to wheat. The market for wheat was still assured, although the price fluctuated, and barley was a useful stock feed. As early as 1875 farmers had been urged to grow crops other than wheat. In times of drought, locust, or red rust, the later ripening wheat suffered more than barley or oats. But the farmers preferred the grain they knew would sell.

The early 1920s saw more grain buyers become active and competition for the best grain was keen. Only the ti-tree country was still being used for farming and the mallee was considered almost worthless. From 1926 – 30 Corny Point farmers and the Department of Agriculture carried out experiments to eventually find that the missing element in the light soils was manganese.

The gradual swing from wheat to barley came about when it was realised the climate and soil proved ideal for the growing of high-quality, low protein malt barley.
Ploughing competitions were held in Vigar’s paddock (the present bowling green) where an area of 10 chains by 1 chain was ploughed with a single-furrow plough and 2 horses, and then sown by hand with 1 bushel of wheat. The lines of ploughing were so straight “you could see a mouse run to the other end”.

The grain was delivered in bags to Point Turton, Corny Point, Carribie, Marion Bay, Foul Bay and later yards at Warooka.

In the ten years to 1939 the changeover from horses to tractors and thence larger farm machinery, was difficult for some but inevitable.

As Corny Point never gained a jetty or wharf, the only way to load and unload the ketches was by smaller boat and/or horse and farm dray. This was known as ‘lightering’. At Carribie bags of grain were sent, one at a time, from the cliff-top down a 90’ wooden chute to a boat of 40-bag capacity. The boat was then rowed out to a waiting schooner where 3 bags at a time were winched aboard. A slow, tedious, hard, and rough method for everyone involved, but it was the only way. Otherwise it was a day’s ride to Point Turton, and then another day to ride back.

With the advent of better transport, and rough tracks becoming graded roads, sea loading ceased in 1942. From then on, the Point Turton Jetty was used.

With bulk handling of grain looming in the early 1960s, and the need for a deep-sea port on SYP, the District Council of Warooka became an enthusiastic supporter of the Port Giles project. The silos opened in 1968 but with bulk handling came new problems. Moisture content of the grain is now the factor that rules the working day of the farmer at harvest. The climate that gave its advantages now influences moisture fluctuation, as the grain is best stored with minimum moisture content.

There were, and still are, two great disadvantages in farming the foot of the peninsula. The stony ground is extremely hard on implements, and the trace elements needed are costly. During the 1973-4 harvest a new pest became a real problem. Small, conical snails about the same size as a grain of wheat or barley, and therefore difficult to eliminate, to this day still presents a challenge.

These disadvantages are offset by the dependability of rainfall and moist, cooler conditions of the “island” climate. Farmers west of the Peesey have learnt to live with and manage their conditions.

However, one can just ask a Warooka farmer how his crops are, and he is likely to answer “about average”. And that sums up his good fortune – because every year is “about average”.

Fishing Industry

The nature of the coastline around Southern Yorke Peninsula is suited to most species of fish found in South Australian waters.

The rugged coastline from Corny Point to Marion Bay, with its hidden offshore reefs and rocky outcrops, is the natural home of the Southern Rock Lobster or crayfish supporting the local crayfish industry. In the early days crayfish would be carried out off Corny Point during the summer, with line fishing from Point Turton during the winter. Before the Stenhouse Bay road was built, crayfish were transported by road via Corny Point or by boat to Adelaide.

Back in 1935, small sailing boats came from as far away as Streaky Bay to fish for whiting around Souttar Spit. Hardwicke Bay whiting were sold as a delicacy in Sydney in the late 1920s. Pioneer fishers of this time used handlines and kept their catch alive in the boats’ wells until marketed.

In the mid 1930s fisherman Bert Fooks came from Windsor, north of Adelaide, to try his luck firstly at Flaherty’s Beach. He spent some time fishing at Corny Point and eventually built a shack at Sandy Point (Sturt Bay) on the south coast. A sight to behold was Bert’s truck loaded with dinghy, nets, tyres & supplies! (see photo). During wartime Bert travelled to the west coast of Eyre Peninsula to fish for tommies, garfish and mullet, which were canned at Port Lincoln and sent to the troops.

Basic fishing methods remain the same, but with technology there has, of course, been enormous changes in boats and equipment. Early sail boats became crayfish boats, working the shallow inshore waters and pots were pulled by hand.

The SYP Professional Fisherman’s Association was formed in 1967 to look after the interests of the industry, members being well aware they must look after their future welfare by caring for their present resources, ensuring that grounds were not ‘fished out’.  From the 1960s abalone were harvested periodically by divers using hooker gear.

The first commercial quantity of king prawns were caught in Spencer Gulf in 1967. The fleet of prawn boats that trawl both gulfs on average 55 nights per annum from November to June, can often be seen sheltering during the day,  off Corny Point and Point Turton. Processing the catch, packing and freezing both cooked and raw, is all done on board the boats.

In 1972 EF Hendry & Sons “Para Star” was built, based at Point Turton, and fished exclusively for salmon.

In 1988 EF Hendry & Sons established what was to be known as “the fish factory”, 5km west of Warooka (adjacent to the present Lower Yorke Seafood Link). This was an exciting innovation for the district, employing up to 30 locals packing salmon to be transported to various locations around the state as far away as the southeast. Some salmon went to Greenseas & SAFCOL, but the majority was used for bait in the crayfish industry. Unfortunately, operations ceased in 2006.

Tourism including recreational fishers has exploded and with it, bitumen roads, caravan parks, fishing charters and shacks large and small have replaced the previous shanty buildings with buildings designed on sea views and room for families to gather. Various land divisions have opened spaces that were previously limited in Marion Bay, Foul Bay, Corny Point, The Pines and Pt Turton, now recognised towns in their own rite. The tourism growth reflects a transient flow of people to this previously quiet and isolated land and seascape, but brings with it a positive demand of increased services for all. 

Mining Industry

Salt Mining on The Peesey!!

‘The Peesey‘ is the swampy, low-lying area to the east of Warooka. A rift valley, it is thought to have emerged from the sea only 30,000 years ago. This largely barren, but fascinating area is below sea level and separates the ‘foot’ from the ’leg’ of Yorke Peninsula.

Once the hub of a thriving salt producing industry, the Peesey Swamp supported three mining companies that produced high quality salt from the 1920s until production ceased in 1970.

Bores were sunk where brine, 7.5 times saltier than the sea, was pumped into a channel allowing impurities to settle out before transfer to large, shallow pans where further evaporation took place until finally a thick crust of high quality salt was obtained.
Before mechanisation, shovels or purpose-built forks, were used by local and aboriginal labour to load the salt into small, wooden trucks known as “dobbins”, running on narrow gauge railway lines.

Advances in technology saw the use of mechanical scrapers mounted on caterpillar tracks. Using an adjustable, front mounted steel shovel to penetrate below the crust, the salt was then transported along a conveyor system into the waiting dobbins. The salt was bagged at the nearby salt works and then taken by road to Adelaide for refinement into various grades.

Pacific Salt Company, the last to produce salt on The Peesey, closed down their operation in 1970 and moved to Whyalla on Eyre Peninsula. The company now under the name of Olssons Pacific Salt, still maintains the lease agreement for the Peesey Swamp and new salt harvesting will to this area in approximately 2027-28.  

Oil

There’s Oil in Them there hills… or swamp!!!

In 1931-33 there was great excitement when exploration for oil resulted in a bore being put down on what is known as “Duck Island” a few kms east of Warooka. The company involved was Peninsula Oil Syndicate Ltd, the driller George Johnston of Oklahoma. Many local people were involved including the building of the access road to the drilling site. Three horses and a dray were used to cart the first filling. Things were bad enough while the team kept moving, but once they stopped, down went all into the mud. After nearly losing a horse a Reo truck was brought in to complete the job, slowly and muddily!

Drilling went on for some time, but no oil was ever found, although some old-timers still believed it could be…..somewhere…

Pipe-Clay at Gleeson’s Landing

Deposits of Pipe-clay at a quarry near Gleeson’s Landing were worked spasmodically for many years. The bags of clay were sent down the cliff face on a long chute, which was graded so that they slowed at the end of the run. 12 bags at a time were then loaded onto a cargo-boat, which carried them out to a waiting ketch.

Just think, your great-grandfather’s pipe may have been made of clay from Gleeson’s Landing!

Gypsum at Marion Bay & Stenhouse Bay

In 1889 the Australian Gypsum and Whiting Company was formed to take up leases in and around Marion Bay. The company built the first section of the Marion Bay jetty, as well as wooden tramway tracks from the gypsum lake to the jetty. In 1902 five miles of tramline was replaced with steel tracks. Two locomotives & 70 small side-tipping trucks were then used to haul the gypsum from Marion Bay Lake to the jetty. A stockpile of gypsum was held at the approach to the jetty to facilitate the loading of small ketches.

In 1913 the Permasite Co of Melbourne took up the leases north of Cape Spencer. The Stenhouse Bay jetty was erected, with facilities for loading gypsum and the company worked the Inneston Lake. About 1916 a cutting was made through the cliff and steel tracks laid to the jetty 150 feet below.

In 1925 the Marion Bay jetty length was increased, with a ‘T’ shape at the end, and a conveyor belt added. The gypsum was blasted from the lake and loaded onto trucks which were pulled off the lake by horse and then hauled to the jetty by locomotive.

In 1930 a merger occurred between the Peninsula Plaster Company Pty Ltd, Victor Electric Plaster Mills Pty Ltd and Australian Gypsum Pty Ltd. The new company became Australian Gypsum Products Pty Ltd, with the South Australian division named as Waratah Gypsum Pty Ltd.

Operations at Inneston declined at this time and were gradually transferred to Stenhouse Bay. In 1945 the production of salt began in two locations, Marion Bay lake and Snow’s Lake. Unfortunately, Stenhouse Bay became the victim of progress and from 1972 operations wound down.

Sheep Industry

In 1847 James Coutts took out an annual licence to run sheep. At 10/- per annum rent and comprising 104 square miles, his run roughly corresponded to the she-oak and ti-tree country of what was to become Para Wurlie. The section became known as “Coutts Run” and was the beginning of recorded settlement in the area. Leases followed at Cape Spencer, Corny Point and White Hut. The carrying capacity of 42 square miles was given as 4,000 sheep in summer, but it was said to be necessary to move the sheep in winter, as they were susceptible to ‘coast disease’.

The Gilbert brothers of Pewsey Vale in the Barossa hills took over Coutt’s Run in 1857. The head station was at Tuckokcowie southeast of Warooka, with out-stations including Orrie Cowie, the latter of which Joseph Gilbert acquired freehold in 1870.

The early sheep men on Yorke Peninsula soon discovered that sheep did not do well in some areas. It seemed the only remedy for the wasting ‘coast disease’ condition was a change of pasture, and so for years much of the mallee country of the foot of Yorke Peninsula was not used to its full extent.

The break-through in treatment of coast disease did not come until the early 1920s, when it was realised that a shortage of trace elements was the problem. Eventually it was discovered that two missing elements on Southern Yorke Peninsula were copper and cobalt. Copper could be supplied by adding it to superphosphate. Cobalt was another matter.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s it was found by CSIRO that a cobalt “bullet” could be inserted into the sheep’s stomach, and would be retained by the sheep. This was done with the aid of a specially designed “bulleting gun”. However, even this did not work as well initially, discovering that gastric juices in the stomach prevented the cobalt from being absorbed. There was a simple answer – just add a grinder (an ordinary grub-screw) – and the sheep could carry its own inbuilt supply of cobalt for life.

Two well-known Merino Sheep Studs are Orrie Cowie and North Cowie, previously situated west of Warooka on the old Corny Point road. Orrie Cowie Station divided in 1922 and it was at this time TA Murdoch bought the homestead block. Among the breeds of rams that were available at the time of the sale were Lincoln, Stropshire, Southdown, Leicester and Merino.

The Orrie Cowie bloodline had its beginnings in 1937 when TA Murdoch started his flock. Son Vic Murdoch continued, registering his merino stud in 1965 and poll merino in 1968.North Cowie began in 1978 as a result of the amicable dividing of the Murdoch family. Vic Murdoch retained the ‘Orrie Cowie’ name while KG Murdoch & Sons formed ‘North Cowie’, initially continuing to breed rams for the parent stud, and then in 1987 commenced selling their own rams.

The strong focus on sheep industry for Yorke Peninsula has changed with wool prices dropping, less shearers in the district and high commodity prices for growing grains and lentils. The development of prime lambs for the meat market has been a new opportunity with some diversification away from merino sheep to other crossbred varieties including shedding breeds who don’t need shearing at all. 

Both studs continue, being handed down to the next generations, but have moved into new locations across the state where sheep continue to be a strong focus.