# Adelaide Establishment

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{{Short description|Group of landowners in South Australia}}
[[File:Adelaide_Club.JPG|thumb|200px|The [Adelaide Club](/source/Adelaide_Club) is an exclusive gentlemen's club in Adelaide which was associated with members of the Adelaide establishment.]]

The '''Adelaide Establishment''' is the name given to the group of landowners and industrialists who have played a considerable role in the history of [South Australia](/source/South_Australia) since its [foundation in 1836](/source/Foundation_of_South_Australia). Based primarily in South Australia's capital [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide), the Adelaide Establishment has been referred to as economically, politically and socially conservative and seeking to preserve a rigid social hierarchy and [laissez-faire](/source/laissez-faire) economic system.<ref name=j86p251>Jaensch (1986), p. 251.</ref>

While the power of the Adelaide Establishment has waned over the decades, members continue to play a role in the running of Adelaide and South Australia.

The name "Adelaide Establishment" is derived from the term "[The Establishment](/source/The_Establishment)", denoted to mean a network of prominent, well-connected people who exercise power.<ref>Fairlie, H., "Political Commentary". ''The Spectator'', (23 September 1955).</ref>

==History==
[[File:Queen Adelaide Club.JPG|thumb|200px|Many female members of the Adelaide Establishment were members of the [Queen Adelaide Club](/source/Queen_Adelaide_Club).]]
Following the founding of Adelaide in 1836, wealthy settlers from England, some of whom were related by blood or marriage,<ref>Jaensch (1977), p. 10.</ref> were allowed to appropriate the best land for themselves, building a privileged class of wealthy land owners who were able to exert persuasive political and social influence over South Australia,<ref>Dunstan, p. 4.</ref> to the point that historians could claim that these people assumed the influence wielded in their localities by the merchants of the [Hanseatic League](/source/Hanseatic_League) or the [Rialto](/source/Rialto) in [Venice](/source/Venice).<ref>Whitelock, p. 163.</ref> As time passed, these families continued to intermarry, solidifying their control to the point that they "exercised, prior to the second world war, a degree of financial influence and control probably unparalleled by any group in any Australian state".<ref name=j86p251/>

Members of the Adelaide Establishment have served as senior members of the [Parliament of South Australia](/source/Parliament_of_South_Australia), including [Premier of South Australia](/source/Premier_of_South_Australia)<ref name=d12/> Sir [Thomas Playford IV](/source/Thomas_Playford_IV), from 1938 to 1965 usually through the [Liberal and Country League](/source/Liberal_and_Country_League). The diversification of South Australia's economy after World War II through attracting large scale manufacturing enterprises to Adelaide led to the waning of power,<ref name=mosler66>Mosler, p. 66.</ref> but the Adelaide Establishment controlled the [South Australian Legislative Council](/source/South_Australian_Legislative_Council) until the electoral reform of the late 1960s that abolished the [Playmander](/source/Playmander).<ref name=d12>Dunstan, p. 12.</ref>

Examples of Adelaide Establishment families include the:
* [Barr Smith family](/source/Robert_Barr_Smith)<ref name=kennedy>{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Alex |title=A state of threadbare gentility |url=https://www.afr.com/companies/a-state-of-threadbare-gentility-19960520-kazlx |access-date=28 June 2024 |work=Australian Financial Review |publisher=Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd |date=20 May 1996}}</ref>
* [Bonython family](/source/John_Langdon_Bonython)<ref name=kennedy/>
* [Downer family](/source/Downer_family)<ref>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Hancock |first1=I.R. |title=Downer, Sir Alexander Russell (Alick) (1910–1981) |id2=downer-sir-alexander-russell-alick-12434/text22357 |accessdate=18 June 2019}}</ref> 
* [Morphett families](/source/Morphett_families_of_South_Australia)<ref>{{cite web |title=The Gunson family |url=https://adelaide.catholic.org.au/giving/cathedral-appeal/history-of-the-cathedral/people-associated-with-the-cathedral?article=12416 |website=Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide |accessdate=6 October 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* [Dunstan, D.](/source/Don_Dunstan) (1981) ''Felicia, the political memoirs of Don Dunstan'', McMillan: South Melbourne. {{ISBN| 9 780333338155}}.
* [Jaensch, D.](/source/Dean_Jaensch) (1986) ''The Flinders history of South Australia. Political history'', Wakefield Press: Adelaide. {{ISBN|9780949268525}}.
* Jaensch, D. (1977) ''The Government of South Australia'', University of Queensland Press: St Lucia, QLD. {{ISBN|0 7022 1352 7}}.
* Mosler, S. (2011) ''Heritage Politics in Adelaide'', University of Adelaide Press: Adelaide. {{ISBN|0987073036}}.
* Whitelock, D. (1977) ''Adelaide 1836 – 1976'', University of Queensland Press: Brisbane. {{ISBN|070221401 9}}.

*
Category:History of Adelaide
Category:Politics of South Australia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Adelaide Establishment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Establishment) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Establishment?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.