KLEMZIG
last modified 9 April 2012

Klemzig - Giles, James William,
                        1801-1870.

Giles, James William, 1801-1870

Klemsic [i.e. Klemzig] a village of German settlers near Adelaide

Pl. no. 12 of: South Australia Illustrated / by George French Angas

By permission of the National Library of Australia

Contents * Brief History * References * Links


Brief History

In 1838-1839 about 200 Prussian emigrants arrived in the new colony of South Australia.  Their travel was sponsored by George Fife Angas, director of the South Australian Company, who intended they provide a labour force for the new colony.   The first group arrived on the Prince George and the supply ship Bengalee in November 1838.  They were soon followed by two further groups on the Zebra in December 1838 and the Catharina in January 1839.  The new colonists were also religious refugees, Lutherans under the leadership of Pastor August Kavel, who had come seeking freedom of worship.

Work in the colony proved difficult to find, the immigrants had poor command of english and wished to remain together.   The group that had arrived on the Prince George were settled in an area north east of Adelaide on the banks of the river Torrens in December of 1839.  The land offered by Flaxman consisted of two parcels of 134 acres (sections 491 and 492 in the district of Yatala) and was leased from George Fife Angas at five shillings an acre.   The villiage was named Klemzig after the town of the same name in Prussia where Kavel had ministered.  Each family was allocated about five acres for cultivation.  Angas loaned the settlers a sum of £1200 at 15% interest per annum to aid the settlers in getting started.

The group of Prussian Immigrants who arrived on the Catharina were initially settled at Glen Osmond on land owned by the Colonial Treasurer Osmond Gilles.  However the land area proved too constrained and many of the group soon moved to Klemzig or Hahndorf.  

Between 1839-1846 most Prussian settlers in South Australia passed through Klemzig on their way to other settlements.  In 1842 group of Klemzig residents including Kavel formed the Langmeil settlement.

Image: Kavel

SLSA: B5478
Pastor August Ludwig Christian Kavel ca 1840
George Fife Angas ca
                1860

SLSA: B15146
George  Fife Angas ca 1860

Photographs courtesy of the State Library of South Australia


Early Residents

A list of early residents (Landholders) adapted from the 'Acreage and Stock Returns 1844' as published in Allen's Almanac of 1844 [5] is shown below.
Landholder


Acres


Stock


Wheat Barley Oates Potatoes Garden Sheep Horse Cattle Pigs Goats
Auricht, C* 10








Bothe, Gottlob* 5 2 1/4




21 5
Bothe, Gd 9

1/4


9

Bothe, Ch 3 1




7 3
Eisen, S 9 1 1/2 1/8 1/8


4 5
Fiedler, A 5 1 1/2
1


9 4 1
Fischer, F 5 1 1/2





4
Graetz, J 4 1/2 1/2
3


4

Grocke, L 4 1
1


1 2
Grocke, G 6 1




6 2
Handorf, C 1 3/4 1/4





1 5
Handorf, G


1/16


5 2
Honke, Got 4 1
1/16


5 1
Jantke, C* 6 1




9 3
Kappler, C 5 2




4 1
Kavel 7 2 1 2 1/4 1
1(pony) 13 2
Kempsel, Gottfried 12 3 1 1/4
1
5 5
Koch, F 19 1/4
1/8


2 1
Lange, C* 7 1
1/16


5 1 2
Magel George 5 1
1/16


7 1
Mattner, G* 10 2
1/8


7 2 6
Mundreberg, S 3 1/2 1/4






9
Munchenberg, Aug








8
Piothe, Ch 5 1/2 3 1/2
1/16


6 2 9
Schubert, Chr 9 1




10 3 2
Sdrilling, Chr 5 1 1/3
1/8


7 4
Sduvarz, F 6 1/2 1/2 5/8


7

Sduvarz, G 5 1/2
1/32



5 4
Seckerdeck, Henry 8








Seelander, Gottfried 6 1
1/8


6 2
Schulz, G 3 1
1 1/4


6 2
Schulz, G 9 3
1/4


1 2
Steinrich, G 9 1 1/2




8 2
Stoenke, G 8 2
1/8


12 3
Stoenke, Chr 5 1
1/4


3 1 9
Till, J.M. 3 2




5 2
Warnass, Chr 9 2
1/4


13 4
Weimann, G* 6 1




7 3
Wilsch, George 1 1/4


4


26

* Also listed under Langmeil

Contents * Brief Description * References * Links



References

Klemzig Residents
[1]  Mattner, M.; Ross, D.; Coleman, L. The Mattners in Australia 1839-1980 Mattner Family Reubion
Committee: Adelaide, 1981.
[2]  Koch Connections Koch Family Reunion Committee: Adelaide, 1997.
[3]  South Australians 1836-1885 editied by Jan Thomas, South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society, Inc.: 1990.

Klemzig
[1]  Munchenburg, R.S., Proeve, H.F.W., Ross, D.A., Hausler, A., Saegenschnitter, G.B. The Barossa - A Vision Realised  Barossa Valley Archives and Historical Trust: Tanunda, 1992.
[2]  Iwan, W Because of their Beliefs (translated and edited by David Schubert) H Schubert: Highgate, SA, 1995 (pp 126, 143-150).
[3]  Schubert, D. Kavel's People Lutheran Publishing House: Adelaide, 1985 (pp 98-99).
[4]  Bright, Charles H. The Confidential Clerk  Elizabeth H Bright: Adelaide, 1983 (pp 27-29).
[5]  Twining A., Twining S. South Australian Land Returns for 1843 (first compiled by James Allen 1844) Twining's Secretarial: Woodcroft, SA, 1992 (p 22).

Links

Klemzig
Klemzig, South Australia (Wikipedia)
Klemzig (Flinders Rages Research)
Klemzig Old Lutheran Pioneer Cemetery (Australian Cemeteries)
Klemzig Pioneer Cemetery (German Headstones)

Contents * Brief Description * References * Links