Historical reference to an oyster bed in the Port River

Sheridah Melvin, in a research report for the Lartelare Homeland Association written in 1994 and entitled “Kudlyo the black swan dreaming: Veronica Brodie and the continuity of Kaurna history at Glanville and LeFevre Peninsula”, describes an oyster bed at the mouth of the Jervois Creek.

“The very well known oyster bed at the mouth of the Jervois Creek formed part of Lartelare’s parents’ economic assets and is referred to in both the Aboriginal and the colonial history of Glanville, appearing on early maps of the river. ” (P. 10)

Melvin includes in her report a map prepared in 1874 for a wooden bridge for horse traction from Adelaide to Semaphore,. The position of the campsite and oyster bed is clearly  indicated. A section of the map is reproduced above.

Also included in the report is the map “Kaurna sites in Glanville and Port Adelaide”. It shows the original campsite for Lartelare’s family, on land which in 2009 was developed as Lartelare Park, in the Newport Quays precinct. It states that after 1858 the campsite was moved to the mouth of the Jervois Creek, and remained there till 1890.