1850-1900
Gold discoveries in Victoria in 1851 brought a severe labour shortage due to the exodus of workers leaving to seek their fortunes on the goldfields. However, this also led to a high demand for South Australian wheat. The situation improved when prospectors returned with their gold finds.
South Australians were keen to establish trade links with Victoria and New South Wales, however overland transport was too slow. A £4,000 prize was offered in 1850 by the South Australian government for the first two people to navigate the River Murray in an iron steamboat as far as its junction with the Darling River. In 1853 William Randell of Mannum and Francis Cadell of Adelaide, unintentionally making the attempt at the same time, raced each other to Swan Hill with Cadell arriving first.
South Australia became a Self-governing colony in 1856 with the ratification of a new constitution by the British parliament. Secret ballots were introduced, and a bicameral parliament was elected on 9 March 1857, by which time 109,917 people lived in the province.
Premier Robert Torrens devised a land title system in 1858 which adapted the principles of shipping registers, and was emulated in the other Australian colonies and overseas in places such as Singapore. Further copper discoveries were made in 1859 at Wallaroo and in 1861 at Moonta. In 1860 the Thorndon Park reservoir was opened, finally providing an alternative water source to the turbid River Torrens.
During John McDouall Stuart's 1862 expedition to the north coast of Australia, he discovered 200,000 km² of grazing territory to the west of Lake Torrens and Lake Eyre. South Australia was made responsible for the administration of the Northern Territory. In 1867 gas street lighting was implemented, the University of Adelaide was founded in 1874, the South Australian Art Gallery opened in 1881 and the Happy Valley Reservoir opened in 1896.
In the 1890s Australia was affected by a severe economic depression, ending a hectic era of land booms and tumultuous expansion. Financial institutions in Melbourne and banks in Sydney closed. The national fertility rate fell and immigration was reduced to a trickle. The value of South Australia's exports nearly halved. Drought and poor harvests from 1884 compounded the problems with some families leaving for Western Australia. Adelaide was not as badly hit as the larger gold-rush cities of Sydney and Melbourne, and silver and lead discoveries at Broken Hill provided some relief. Only one year of deficit was recorded, but the price paid was retrenchments and lean public spending. Wine and copper were the only industries not to suffer a downturn.
Read more about this topic: History Of Adelaide