Mannum, South Australia
Encyclopedia
Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River
in South Australia
, 84 kilometres (52 mi) east of Adelaide
. At the 2006 census
, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council
, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert
and the federal Division of Barker
.
The first settlement in the area was in 1840. The first ship (a side-wheel paddle steamer
) built on the Murray River was launched at Mannum by William Randell
in 1852. A shipbuilding industry continued in Mannum until into the 20th century. William Randell is memorialised by the preservation of the boiler the Paddle Wheeler; Mary Ann in the town's recreation park. His dry dock
today holds the Marion, an 1897 built paddle wheeler; managed by the National Trust of Australia
as a museum. The Marion left active service in 1950 and spent until 1963 as a boarding house
.
A number of other manufacturing industries were established in the town, and some continue; although not as large as they once were. The largest heavy manufacturing company was David Shearer (later Horwood-Bagshaw) who made farm equipment.
Mannum's significance as a river port declined with the railways reaching Morgan
in 1878 and Murray Bridge
in 1886. The largest ship operating on the Murray is the Murray Princess, a passenger stern-wheel paddle boat based at Mannum offering weekly cruises. The restored historic paddle steamer
PS Marion is also based at Mannum and cruises several times a year. Before restoration, it was a static display in a drydock for many years.Mannum is also a base for houseboat
s available for hire. Because of its position on the Murray River
; in 1954 the Mannum-Adelaide pipeline
was built to help provide Adelaide with a reliable water supply.
Today; Mannum is a busy township, and a popular tourist destination; particularly during the summer months. The population of Mannum and the surrounding area grows to about 10,000 when semi-residents (shack owners) and tourists are taken into consideration. The town has three hotels, a Foodland
supermarket and many specialty shops.
team competing in the River Murray Football League
; nicknamed the Roos. The Roos currently have a former AFL
player; Clive Waterhouse
at the club.
The Mannum Rowing Club was founded in 1910. The club is located on River Lane on the banks of the Murray in Mannum. The club hosts the annual Mannum Regatta and the Arnold Cup.
Mannum hosts a number of other sports during the year; most notably netball
in the winter months (the netball club is also nicknamed the Roos), and cricket
and tennis
in the summer months. The local Community Complex hosts many various indoor sports, including basketball
, squash
, various martial arts
and it contains a gym and other workout rooms.
In the summer months, particularly over the January holidays; water sports are extremely popular (Mainly water skiing
and wakeboarding
), where both residents and tourists bring their own water craft to use on the river.
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, 84 kilometres (52 mi) east of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council
Mid Murray Council
Mid Murray Council was formed in 1997 from the amalgamation of the former District Councils of Mannum, Morgan, Ridley-Truro and part of the District Council of Mount Pleasant....
, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert
Electoral district of Schubert
Schubert is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after Max Schubert, the winemaker of Grange Hermitage...
and the federal Division of Barker
Division of Barker
The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Collet Barker, an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River...
.
The first settlement in the area was in 1840. The first ship (a side-wheel paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
) built on the Murray River was launched at Mannum by William Randell
William Randell
William Richard Randell "Captain Randell" , was an Australian politician and pioneer born in Devon, England, who emigrated to the newly-founded colony of South Australia in 1837 with his family...
in 1852. A shipbuilding industry continued in Mannum until into the 20th century. William Randell is memorialised by the preservation of the boiler the Paddle Wheeler; Mary Ann in the town's recreation park. His dry dock
Dry dock
A drydock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform...
today holds the Marion, an 1897 built paddle wheeler; managed by the National Trust of Australia
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
as a museum. The Marion left active service in 1950 and spent until 1963 as a boarding house
Boarding house
A boarding house, is a house in which lodgers rent one or more rooms for one or more nights, and sometimes for extended periods of weeks, months and years. The common parts of the house are maintained, and some services, such as laundry and cleaning, may be supplied. They normally provide "bed...
.
A number of other manufacturing industries were established in the town, and some continue; although not as large as they once were. The largest heavy manufacturing company was David Shearer (later Horwood-Bagshaw) who made farm equipment.
Mannum's significance as a river port declined with the railways reaching Morgan
Morgan, South Australia
Morgan is a town in South Australia on the right bank of the Murray River, just downstream of where it turns from flowing roughly westwards to roughly southwards. It is about north east of Adelaide, and about upstream of the Murray Mouth. At the 2006 census, Morgan had a population of 426.The...
in 1878 and Murray Bridge
Murray Bridge, South Australia
Murray Bridge is the fourth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Whyalla. It is located east-southeast of Adelaide and north of Meningie....
in 1886. The largest ship operating on the Murray is the Murray Princess, a passenger stern-wheel paddle boat based at Mannum offering weekly cruises. The restored historic paddle steamer
Paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...
PS Marion is also based at Mannum and cruises several times a year. Before restoration, it was a static display in a drydock for many years.Mannum is also a base for houseboat
Houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
s available for hire. Because of its position on the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
; in 1954 the Mannum-Adelaide pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
was built to help provide Adelaide with a reliable water supply.
Today; Mannum is a busy township, and a popular tourist destination; particularly during the summer months. The population of Mannum and the surrounding area grows to about 10,000 when semi-residents (shack owners) and tourists are taken into consideration. The town has three hotels, a Foodland
Foodland (South Australia)
Foodland is an Australian supermarket brand with over one hundred and twenty locations, primarily in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Most Foodland stores are supplied by IGA. These supermarkets are generally larger than IGA-branded ones...
supermarket and many specialty shops.
Sports and Recreation
The town has an Australian FootballAustralian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
team competing in the River Murray Football League
River Murray Football League
The River Murray Football League is an Australian rules football competition based in the Murray Bridge region of South Australia, Australia. It is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League....
; nicknamed the Roos. The Roos currently have a former AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
player; Clive Waterhouse
Clive Waterhouse
Clive Waterhouse is a former Australian rules footballer. He played in the Australian Football League for the Fremantle Football Club as a half-forward flanker...
at the club.
The Mannum Rowing Club was founded in 1910. The club is located on River Lane on the banks of the Murray in Mannum. The club hosts the annual Mannum Regatta and the Arnold Cup.
Mannum hosts a number of other sports during the year; most notably netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
in the winter months (the netball club is also nicknamed the Roos), and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
in the summer months. The local Community Complex hosts many various indoor sports, including basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, various martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
and it contains a gym and other workout rooms.
In the summer months, particularly over the January holidays; water sports are extremely popular (Mainly water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
and wakeboarding
Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding is a surface water sport which involves riding a wakeboard over the surface of a body of water. It was developed from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques....
), where both residents and tourists bring their own water craft to use on the river.
Timeline
Selected events in the history of Mannum.- 1851, The first pastoral leasePastoral leaseA pastoral lease is Crown land that government allows to be leased, generally for the purposes of farming.-Australia:Pastoral leases exist in both Australian commonwealth law and state jurisdictions....
s in the district are signed. - 1853, Mannum becomes a port on the Murray and the Hundred of Mannum is declared.
- 1863, Mannum's first store, "Bogan store" is opened and run by Thomas Randell's wife.
- 1864, Port Mannum is surveyed under government direction.
- 1865, Mannum's post office opens although home mail delivery does not begin until 1949.
- 1869, A private port Mannum is surveyed.
- 1869, Bogan hotel is opened.
- 1870, Largest flood to date on the river.
- 1876, Walker's flour mill begins operations.
- 1877, District council of Mannum proclaimed. David Shearer begins a blacksmithing business.
- 1886, Murray bridge declared a port taking away much of Mannum's river trade.
- 1902, Kerosene Street lighting installed, changed to acetylene in 1905 and electric in 1923
- 1906, First telephone installed, Automatic exchange installed in 1979.
- 1912, First paper, the Mannum Mercury, published, closing in 1917.
- 1921, The district hospital was built.
- 1925, Mannum technical school opened
- 1930, Mary Ann's boiler moved to the recreation ground.
- 1931, Highest flood since 1870.
- 1932, Main street renamed Randell Street.
- 1954, Mannum-Adelaide pipeline completed.
- 1956, Highest recorded floods at Mannum during the 1956 Murray River flood1956 Murray River floodThe 1956 Murray River flood involved the rising of waters in the Murray River and flooding of many towns in three states of Australia, including the towns of Colignan, Iraak, Mannum, Murray Bridge, Mildura, Nangiloc, Red Cliffs, Renmark, Wentworth and many others.The flood occurred due to higher...
. - 1963, The Marion reaches Mannum, her new home.She is recommissioned in 1994.
- 1997, District council of Mannum becomes part of the Mid-Murray district council.