Port Elliot, South Australia

{{redirect|Port Elliot|the country house in St Germans, Cornwall, England|Port Eliot}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Port Elliot | state = sa | image = Horseshoe Bay Panoroma.jpg | caption = Horseshoe Bay taken from Freemans Nob, facing towards Commodore Point | pushpin_label_position = | coordinates = {{coord|35.534569|S|138.67876|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coord_ref = <ref name="LMV">{{cite web|title=Search results for 'Port Elliot, LOCB' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Government Towns', 'Counties', 'Local Government Areas','Postcodes', 'SA Government Regions', 'Gazetteer' |url= http://location.sa.gov.au/viewer/?map=roads&x=138.65464&y=-35.51968&z=12&uids=19,2,11,20,105&pinx=138.680130&piny=-35.533120&pinTitle=Location&pinText=Port+Elliot,+Locb |website=Location SA Map Viewer|publisher=Government of South Australia|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> | pop = | pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}} | pop_footnotes = | established = By 1852 (town)<br />9 September 1993 (locality) | established_footnotes = <ref name="SAGG-1852">{{cite web |title=Proclamation (re " An Act for regulating the Sale of Waste Lands belonging to the Crown in the Australian Colonies,") |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1852/19/241.pdf |website=The South Australian Government Gazette |publisher=South Australian government |access-date=15 August 2018 |page=241 |date=22 April 1852 |quote="portions of Crown Lands will be offered for sale by Public Auction, at the Court House, Adelaide, on Wednesday the twenty-sixth day of May, 1852" including the "Township of Port Elliot"}}</ref><ref name="SAGG-1993">{{cite web |last1=Mayes |first1=KIm |title=GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT, 1991 Notice to Assign |url=http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1993/92/1101.pdf |website=The South Australian Government Gazette |publisher=South Australian Government |access-date=15 August 2018 |page=1101 |date=9 September 1993}}</ref> | elevation = | elevation_footnotes = | postcode = 5212 | timezone = [[UTC9:30|ACST]] | utc = +9:30 | timezone-dst = [[UTC10:30|ACST]] | utc-dst = +10:30 | dist1 = 84 | dir1 = | location1= Adelaide | dist2 = | dir2 = | location2 = | lga = [[Alexandrina Council]]<ref name="LMV"/> | county = [[County of Hindmarsh|Hindmarsh]]<ref name="LMV"/> | region = [[Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Fleurieu Kangaroo Island SA Government region |url= http://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/21612/Fleurieu_Kangaroo_Island_SA_Government_region.pdf |publisher=The Government of South Australia|access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> | stategov = [[Electoral district of Finniss|Finniss]]<ref name=ECSA>{{cite web|title=District of Finniss Background Profile|url=http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/component/edocman/?task=document.download&id=549&Itemid=0|publisher=Electoral Commission SA|access-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923233507/http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/component/edocman/?task=document.download&id=549&Itemid=0|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> | fedgov = [[Division of Mayo|Mayo]]<ref name=AEC>{{cite web|title=Federal electoral division of Mayo, boundary gazetted 16 December 2011 |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/sa/files/2011/2011-aec-a4-map-sa-mayo.pdf |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |access-date=2 August 2015}}</ref> | maxtemp = 20.6 | maxtemp_footnotes = <ref name=climate>{{cite web|title=Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics Victor Harbor (Encounter Bay) (nearest weather station) |url= http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_023804.shtml |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology|access-date=15 August 2018}}</ref> | mintemp = 10.3 | mintemp_footnotes = <ref name=climate/> | rainfall = 551.7 | rainfall_footnotes = <ref name=climate/> | near-n = [[Mount Jagged, South Australia|Mount Jagged]] | near-ne = [[Middleton, South Australia|Middleton]] | near-e = [[Middleton, South Australia|Middleton]]<br />''[[Encounter Bay]]'' | near-se = ''[[Encounter Bay]]'' | near-s = ''[[Encounter Bay]]'' | near-sw = ''[[Encounter Bay]]'' | near-w = [[Hindmarsh Valley, South Australia|Hindmarsh Valley]]<br />[[Chiton, South Australia|Chiton]] | near-nw = [[Hindmarsh Valley, South Australia|Hindmarsh Valley]] | near = Port Elliot | footnotes = Adjoining localities<ref name="LMV"/> }} '''Port Elliot''' is a town in [[South Australia]] toward the eastern end of the south coast of the [[Fleurieu Peninsula]]. It is situated on the sheltered '''Horseshoe Bay''', a small bay off the much larger [[Encounter Bay]]. [[Pullen Island (South Australia)|Pullen Island]] lies outside the mouth of the bay. At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, Port Elliot had a population of 2251.

'''Lady Bay''' is a small bay at the south-western end of Horseshoe Bay, past the [[jetty]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Port Elliot | website=Visit Alexandrina | url=https://www.visitalexandrina.com/port-elliot | access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Lady Bay | website=Google Maps | url=https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Lady+Bay/@-35.5358514,138.6819786,16.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x6ab14b7dec830f95:0xfcdfc5a76a2215c0!8m2!3d-35.5364034!4d138.6851456 | access-date=19 November 2020}}</ref>

== History == Horseshoe Bay was proclaimed a port in 1851, and the settlement above the bay was named Port Elliot in 1852 after [[Charles Elliot]], the [[Governor of Bermuda]] who was a friend of the then [[Governor of South Australia]], [[Henry Young|Sir Henry Young]]. The location had been previously known as Freeman's Knob; the aboriginal name for the area may have been "Witengangool".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58496129 |title=A Worthy Colonist |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)|The Register]] |location=Adelaide |date=17 March 1914 |access-date=25 November 2013 |page=10 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Freemans Nob was used as a lookout post for shore-base bay whaling stations in Encounter Bay in the late 1830s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kostoglou |first1=Parry |last2=McCarthy |first2=Justin |title=Whaling and sealing sites in South Australia |date=1991 |publisher=Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology |location=Fremantle, WA |page=45}}</ref> The area was also used as a place to launch boats in 1842 for Hargan and Hart's whaling station at [[Rosetta Head]].

The port was established to provide a safe seaport for the Murray river trade which terminated at [[Goolwa, South Australia|Goolwa]] as the [[Murray Mouth]] was deemed too treacherous and unpredictable for safe navigation. Goods and passengers were carried between Goolwa and Port Elliot on the [[Victor Harbor railway line, South Australia|first public railway in Australia]] completed in 1854.<ref>The Centenary of the Goolwa – Port Elliot Line Strempel, A.A. [[Australian Railway History|Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]], May, 1954 pp. 49–62</ref>

The government works to establish the port included Australia's first reticulated water supply, from wells at Waterport (about 1 km north of the bay) to tanks above the jetty which provided fresh water for ships as well as for the town. In 1864 after a number of disastrous shipping losses in Horseshoe Bay the railway was extended to Victor Harbor which provided safer access for ships. Port Elliot's role as a port ended, with the bay and jetty being left to the fishermen and beachgoers. The importance of the rail link between the river and the sea soon also ended with the building of a railway between Adelaide and [[Morgan, South Australia|Morgan]] which enabled river traffic to offload freight and passengers over {{convert|260|km|mi}} further upstream and rail them directly to Adelaide. The towns of the southern Fleurieu coast – Victor Harbor, Port Elliot, Middleton and Goolwa – were spared any further commercial or industrial development, and became a popular holiday destination with many guest houses, camping parks and 'weekender' houses and shacks. The nearby early subdivisions of Waterport, Louisville, Findon, Ville St.Louis and Elliot Town are now all considered part of Port Elliot.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}

The beaches of Port Elliot and Victor Harbour have been facing rising seas and more has to be done to stop this.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/victor-harbor-and-port-elliot-to-choose-as-sea-levels-rise-lawn-bowls-or-sandy-beach/news-story/e2c7212f781e79428dfabe4d82afeb0b?amp&nk=14e6d6d318549f74b643df5c776871f6-1635652759| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211031040255/https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/victor-harbor-and-port-elliot-to-choose-as-sea-levels-rise-lawn-bowls-or-sandy-beach/news-story/e2c7212f781e79428dfabe4d82afeb0b?amp&nk=14e6d6d318549f74b643df5c776871f6-1635652759| archive-date = 2021-10-31| title = Sea surge sending either bowls or beaches to the wall}}</ref>

== Recent times ==

Today, Port Elliot is a quiet township with two hotels, three churches, six coffee shops, no fast food chains, and is a popular holiday destination close enough to [[Adelaide]] for day trippers and even commuters. The continuing expansion of the Greater Adelaide metropolitan area together with ongoing improvements to the road links between the Fleurieu Peninsula and Adelaide has brought an influx of "[[Seachange (demography)|seachange retirees]]", driving up house and land prices, and adversely affecting the ability of local young people and families to remain in the area. Employment prospects are largely limited to hospitality work, aged care and the building trades which continue to benefit from rapid growth in the region.{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}}

In 2007, Port Elliot became the focus of unwanted media attention due to the [[Murder of Carly Ryan|murder of 15-year-old Carly Ryan]] at [[Lady Bay, South Australia|Lady Bay]]. On 21 January 2010, a 50-year-old man from Victoria was found guilty of the murder while his son was found not guilty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2798264.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123005531/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2798264.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 January 2010 |title=Man found guilty of murdering Carly Ryan | publisher=ABC News |location=Australia|access-date=2012-05-23}}</ref>

== Little penguin colony == Little penguins once bred at Freeman's Knob. In 1981 a dog attack left at least 10 adult penguins dead and numerous eggs broken and empty. It was posited that this event may have rendered the colony extinct.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187382181|title=Penguin colony attacked|date=1981-08-12|work=Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932 - 1986)|access-date=2020-04-21|pages=1}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category-inline}} * [http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi?star=5&heading=&x=138.67264469&y=-35.5072013894&level=4&StateID=6 Street Map]

== Further reading == *Perkins, John, (1988), ''The Shipwrecks of Port Elliot 1853–1864'', [[Society for Underwater Historical Research]], North Adelaide, SA ({{ISBN|0 9588006 0 X}}).

[[Category:Coastal towns in South Australia]] [[Category:Fleurieu Peninsula]]