West Torrens Historical Society

05/11/2026

MEETING WITH A DIFFERENCE
Our meeting on Monday October 26, at the West Torrens Library Auditorium, was a meeting with a difference. Instead of our usual speaker format, we revisited our history in a different way. We were entertained with a free concert by the SA Police Band, Trad Jazz Sextet. In a very engaging concert, where they combined their musical talents with some jokes and light-hearted frivolity, we were taken back to the music of the fifties and sixties, and reminded that “It’s a wonderful world.” After the concert everyone enjoyed supper and the chance to chat and relive their memories. The auditorium was buzzing.
We were also delighted that the Mayor, Michael Coxon, was able to attend, and to announce a new “Memorandum of Understanding” between the Council and our Society, which allows both parties to work together with the common objective of researching and preserving our local history for future generations to enjoy.
The Mayor also presented membership packs to two new members, Robert Dale and David Jarman OAM, and also “Preserving Memories” booklets to Mary Gray and John Gray. These booklets tell their life stories, and are wonderful ways for the extended family to understand and appreciate all the things Mary and John have done in their very full lives.
Graham Parry.
Vice President WTHS.

22/10/2026

Commonwealth Industrial Gases Ltd.
Ashwin Parade, Torrensville.
Commonwealth Industrial Gases (CIG) grew out of early chemical and industrial gas ventures instigated by the Cuming, Felton and Grimwade families. The enterprise developed through the leadership and investment of figures such as Robert Burns Cuming and Sir Wilfred Russell Grimwade. By 1935 several industrial gas companies had amalgamated to create Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited, with British Oxygen Company as a major shareholder. In South Australia, Western Oxygen Co. Ltd., in Torrensville officially became CIG in 1946, operating from Ashwin Parade, where it manufactured and distributed industrial, medical, rare and special gases, along with welding equipment and related products. Carba Dry Ice (Aust.) was also located in the vicinity.
In 1882 Frederick Sheppard Grimwade with his business partner, Alfred Felton entered a joint financial venture with James Cuming and his son Robert and Charles Campbell to establish the Adelaide Chemical Works in Thebarton (now Torrensville). Robert Burns Cuming (1859-1910) was also a two-time Mayor of Thebarton (1893-1894, 1901-1903), and lived in the now heritage listed “Burn Brae House” in Meyer Street, Torrensville. In 1903, Wilfred Russell Grimwade (1879-1955), one of F.S. Grimwade’s sons, joined Felton and Grimwade to begin a career that would significantly contribute to the development of welding and industrial gas production in Australia and to the establishment of the Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited as a major enterprise.
The above information is from the recently published pamphlet “Commonwealth Industrial Gases Ltd” developed by the City of West Torrens Library Service in collaboration with the West Torrens Historical Society and has been compiled by member, Pat Lo Basso (ex-Manager SA/NT Gas & Gear CIG, BOC) for the West Torrens Historical Society Inc.
The pamphlet is available from the West Torrens Historical Society.

01/10/2026

DISCOVERY AT RAPID BAY
On Monday Evening, September 28, our guest speaker, Taylor Lupp, gave us a fascinating account of her discovery of Colonel Light’s original campsite. Rapid Bay, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, is an important place in South Australia’s history. It is the place where Colonel William Light, in his ship the RAPID, first landed, in September 1836, when he came here from England as the Surveyor -General, tasked with the job of finding a suitable site for the colonization of South Australia. Despite all the positives about Rapid Bay, Light eventually ruled out the site, and moved further north up the coast, nearer the Adelaide Plains, and eventually settled on the area near Holdfast Bay. Exactly where he camped at Rapid Bay had never been established until recently, when Taylor Lupp, the History Council’s 2026 Emerging Historian of the Year, stumbled across some artefacts in the area. Back in 2019, while on a family holiday at Rapid Bay, she went off with her metal detector looking for old coins and possible scrap metal objects, and to her surprise unearthed several artefacts, including a buckle from a uniform, some brass buttons, an English 1807 half-penny coin, some lead shot used to make musket am******on, and the lid of a pounce pot used to dry ink (when writing despatches back home to England). Taken together, the findings point strongly to the fact that this spot, which Taylor Lupp stumbled across, was the likely exact campsite of Colonel Light’s 1836 expedition. When Light’s sketches of the area are overlaid with modern maps of the Rapid Bay area it confirms that the site identified by Taylor is the spot. Based on the evidence, Taylor believes that the site at Rapid Bay was not just a temporary stop over site, but a working hub where decisions were made and future plans shaped. Taylor provided a very meaningful and enlightening “show and tell” presentation, with several of the artefacts on display. Today, the area is a gently sloping landscape with considerable overlaid vegetation which makes interpretation of the site harder to achieve. During the evening, we were also delighted to welcome two new members, Gillian and Sia. Graham Parry. Vice President.
Acknowledgement: The Pioneers Association Journal, Spring edition.

15/09/2026

The Squatters Arms Hotel.
The historic Squatters Arms Hotel is in a sad state of neglect and concerns have been raised by members of the public and particularly by Cr. Graham Nitschke of the West Torrens Council. Below is part of an email from Heritage South Australia to Cr. Nitschke.

“The conservation team of Heritage South Australia have a role in safeguarding the condition of places listed in the Heritage Register as Delegates of the Minister. As you have discussed below The Squatters Arms Hotel has been vacant for some time and the building appears to need maintenance and repair work soon to prevent damage and loss of heritage fabric.

Heritage South Australia is attempting to contact the owner/s to request access to the building and to assess its condition. Under the Heritage Places Act 1993 we are able to issue protection, repair or restoration orders to owners of properties that are at risk. The process is a staged one and involves initial contact, advice regarding owners’ responsibilities, intent to issue an order and finally issuing an order if action is not taken. We are beginning this process for The Squatters Arms Hotel and hope to have more information soon.

Heritage Architects/Officers from Heritage South Australia would be happy to work with the City of West Torrens compliance officers to this end. We are pleased to hear that members of the community are reaching out to express their concerns for built heritage in our state.”

History of The Squatters Arms Hotel.
It is likely that the Squatters Arms Hotel was built during the time Loper and West held the property, although Henry Weekes Bolt who purchased the “Squatters Arms Inn” in 1857 for 1,000-00 pounds appears to have had a significant financial interest in the hotel before this time. The first licenced publican was Patrick McLarron (1850-1855). The hotel has undergone a number of variations in its name and has been known as the “Forresters and Squatters Arms Hotel”, (indeed the hotel sign still has this title). It is thought the hotel derived its name from its first patrons, farmers and farm workers in the area. This hotel was one of the earliest in the area and associated with working people of the locality. The Squatters Arms Hotel is most famous for its historic first council meeting that was held there on the 12th February, 1883.
Information from the booklet published in 1996 entitled “Historic Hotels of Thebarton” (LH 0665-01).

26/08/2026

Discovering Who We Are
One thing which all of us have thought about at various times is our ancestry, what is in our genes, what is my background, what did my great, great, grandparents do, what did they look like, what type of house did they live in……… the list of inquisitive thoughts is endless. Knowing who we are, and discovering the answers to countless questions about our family tree is a fascinating, time-consuming exercise, and one of the most difficult aspects is knowing where to start, and how to go about it. On Monday evening, at our monthly meeting at the West Torrens Library Auditorium, we were treated to some excellent advice and given some encouraging words from Paula Ritchie, of Genealogy SA. Paula shared her knowledge and combined it with some very good advice on the basics, where to start and where to go for help. She also pointed out some of the “traps for first timers”, and how it is easy to be misled because of mis-spellings of names, incorrect dates of birth, and changes of names when women marry. Paula highlighted the fact that Genealogy SA are there to help, and anyone can pay a visit and seek help, or join as a member to get extensive access to countless records. Paula and her band of helpers which included genealogist Karen Agutter also provided lots of hand-outs, and answered numerous questions to individuals looking to find out more about family trees. We were also privileged to listen to Amy Worswick, a teacher from Adelaide High, tell us about the honour board, due to be unveiled at the school, to honour Vietnam War Veterans who were Old Scholars of Adelaide High. Amy explained how she undertook the complex and daunting task of matching the names of old scholars to the war records, and then tracking down the survivors, and inviting them to the unveiling of the board which honours them for their service to this country. Learning more about these Vietnam Veterans, many of whom grew up in the West Torrens area, was a timely reminder of the bigger family tree, where we are all linked together as part of the Tree of Life.
Graham Parry
Vice President WTHS

19/08/2026

This article appears on page 9 in the pamphlet entitled "West Torrens Local History Eastern Driving Tour" published by the West Torrens Historical Society in 2024.

17/08/2026

31/07/2026

Honoring our Local Citizens
The West Torrens Historical Society places a high priority on honoring and recognizing our local citizens. And our monthly meeting on Monday July 27 was one of those occasions. Ross Stanford OAM was a highly respected and decorated West Torrens local, who left his job in the bank, and enlisted, and became a bomber pilot in WW2. He was a member the famous “Dambusters Squadron”. He was also a talented cricketer, who played Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia alongside Sir Donald Bradman. He also played for Australia, at Lords, under Lindsay Hassett, in the Australian Services Team with his fellow RAAF compatriot and famous Australian all-rounder Keith Miller. Ross Stanford’s son, Greg, a member of our local historical Society, regaled us with a walk down memory lane, covering the various exploits and challenges conquered by his prominent and highly respected father. After the war, Ross came home to the family market garden, in Debney Street at Fulham Gardens, and continued the family tradition of market gardening, which dated right back to the eighteen sixties. Greg, a fifth-generation western suburbs Stanford, explained how his great, great grandfather arrived in Adelaide in 1838, and how, apart from their market garden activities, Greg’s ancestors were actively involved in community activities, and in Local Government. In his later years, Ross, stood for Federal Parliament for the Liberal Party under Sir Robert Menzies, and devoted a lot of time to charity work. Ross was recognized for his charity work and services to the community, and awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM). Greg’s mother was also involved in charity work, and devoted an enormous amount of time to it. She too was awarded an OAM (posthumously). Greg provided a wonderful display of memorabilia including an assortment of photos and a display of Ross’s RAAF uniform and medals. It was a moving tribute to the Stanford Family of West Torrens, and Ross in particular, in front of an engaged audience of 85 members and visitors, including Mayor Coxon.
Graham Parry. Vice-President WTHS

25/07/2026

Wiles Steam Cookers.
James Fletcher Wiles (1883-1939) had served in the Boer War and noted during his time in the army that the feeding of large numbers of soldiers posed quite difficult logistical issues. In December 1913 he patented the “Wiles Travelling Army Field Kitchen”. Later known as the “Wiles Mobile and Stationary Steam Cooker” it was an ingenious device containing steam boilers, roasting ovens, hot and cold water tanks, stockpots and related paraphernalia and could be used to quickly prepare large quantities of food and drink. The cooker could be operated in both a stationary position or put on wheels and was thus capable of rapid transportation by either motor vehicle or horse. After testing, about three hundred of the cookers were used by the Australian Army during the first World War. However in 1918 the Australian Army decided that after the war it would standardise all of its equipment to British Army methods and so discontinue using the cooker. Wiles was extremely disappointed at this. He died in 1939. But that wasn’t the end of the cooker. His sons revived and updated his cooker and with vital support from expert nutritional expert Lieutenant Dr Cedric Hicks in February 1942 the brothers were able, after much bureaucratic hesitation have the Wiles steam cookers approved for use by the allied troops throughout the Pacific theatre and elsewhere. The brothers purchased or leased land in Birmingham Street, Mile End South in order to build a factory to manufacture the cookers. Production of the stationary cooker began firstly followed by the mobile version. More land was purchased on both Manchester and Birmingham Streets from that period onwards.
Information obtained from the West Torrens Historical Society booklet entitled “Wiles Manufacturing Company Ltd.” Written by G.Grainger, 2023.

11/07/2026

The photograph depicts a 1932 advertisement for agricultural machinery made by Horwood Bagshaw. The Mile End site of the company was at the southern end of Victoria Street, Mile End. After the merger of Bagshaw and Sons with Horwood and Company in 1924 the factory divided into two divisions, an agricultural machinery section and an engineering section. The latter concentrated on manufacturing boring, drilling and pumping equipment. In its first year Horwood Bagshaw employed 450 workers in South Australia. Information from “Horwood Bagshaw (a brief history) written by G.Grainger 2023, a member of WTHS. Photo (LHT0076-02).