There were at least four distinctive characteristics of the institute movement in South Australia:

The importance of  libraries from the time of settlement, and the vital role of institute libraries until the 1980s.

The role of government legislation and assistance with the delivery of services courtesy of a centralised body.

The association between institutes and municipal corporations.

The link between institute buildings and municipal libraries.

South Australia was a planned colony established in 1836. It was set up for free settlers with the aim of supporting itself independently of the British government. Land was to be sold to finance the passages of labourers ̶ this was revolutionary as land in other British colonies was granted or leased on quit rents. The enterprising principles of settlement attracted many British non-conformists. These people were disadvantaged in achieving their ambitions, especially in areas such as government employment because they did not adhere to the Church of England. Their drive and aspirations were directed to planning the new settlement in South Australia. One such group addressed the need for reading material and, as Derek Whitelock explained, they sent a small collection of books to the colony. This formed the nucleus of the library of the Mechanics’ Institute when it was established, but it changed hands as the fortunes of its curators fluctuated.

In his book The Great Tradition of Adult Education in Australia, Whitelock claimed:[1]

Of the other colonies, only South Australia differed substantially from the institute pattern established in New South Wales and Victoria. In that “Paradise for Dissent”, the instructional aims of mechanics’ institutes were never seriously attempted, despite the formation in London 1835 of the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association for ‘the cultivation and diffusion of useful knowledge throughout the proposed new colony’ and the shipping to Adelaide of a library of 117 volumes on the Tam’o Shanter. An Adelaide Mechanics’ Institute consisting of a twelve square foot shanty existed for some years on the site of the present railway station but the notion of dosing the population with useful knowledge never fired the imagination of the South Australian magnates as it did those of their counterparts in the other colonies. One can only surmise the reasons. The Adelaide burghers had set up their community in a pungent atmosphere of godly superiority and were always (and still are) conscious of the fact that convicts were never transported to South Australia. Confronted by the spectacular sin represented by the penal camps and the emancipists, The Perth, Hobart, Sydney, and Brisbane establishments had welcomed the institutes as a kind of educational pesticide. Perhaps the Adelaide notables felt that their respectable colonists received quite sufficient lecturing in the numerous Methodist and other Nonconformist conventicles and the Lutheran Churches of the Barossa.

      But if they were weak on classes and lectures, whatever the reason, the South Australian institutes were powerful on libraries. 

The role of government legislation and the development of strong support services courtesy of a centralized body began in the early 1850s. The government was lobbied to provide a building for the Institute, and contribute funds towards a public library After appropriate consultation the government passed legislation in 1856 to establish the South Australian Institute. This unique body was to provide a public library and museum, and organise classes, lectures and cultural activities. Other institutes and cultural groups were invited to incorporate with it and pay subscriptions to assist it financially. In return they could use the facilities and access loans of books and accredited visiting speakers.

The role of this central Institute evolved over the ensuing years. From 1857 to 1861 the government introduced a range of subsidies on members’ subscriptions, travelling boxes of books, and visiting lecturers. The Institute gradually assumed responsibility for administering these subsidies and giving advice to institutes, particularly in respect to grant applications. It also drew up guidelines and some rules whose observation was necessary for eligibility for grants. It was probably as a result of this process that the earlier reference to Mechanics was dropped from the title; legislation and subsequent directives referred only to institutes.

The government was actively encouraging the formation of new institutes from the late 1860s to 1887 by providing land and building grants. The importance of libraries was paramount as no government grants of any type were available unless the institute provided a library. The South Australian Institute ceased to exist in 1884.

Legislation in 1884 created the Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery, and Circulating Library. The committee of the Public Library managed the circulating library which continued to operate from the original institute building for the benefit of local institutes.

In the late 1890s moves were made to establish an Institutes Association of South Australia. The group became active in buying periodicals in bulk, and commenced the distribution of the South Australian Institutes Journal , which continued until 1964.. Legislation in 1909 established the Institutes Association of South Australia Incorporated, with a salaried secretary. By 1914 there were 210 affiliated institutes.

The popularity of the circulating books continued: the government increased its grant and the number of books in each box increased from 30 to 60. In addition a central reference library was set up. The demand for visiting speakers fluctuated; it decreased during the 1860s and the system closed in 1873, but was revived and continued until the end of the 1920s. Approved courses were also subsidised until this time. Institutes continued to be viable and active after WW1: many were spending money on improvements; by 1929 there were 305 institutes affiliated with the association, with subscription numbers peaking in 1930. The Association assisted by negotiating reductions in costs of insurance and licences for movie businesses and advising on taxation.

The third distinctive feature of the institute movement in South Australia was the close association between institutes and town halls. South Australia lays claim to be the first colony to establish local government. Once again this was planned in Britain before the actual settlement. The Colonisation Committee provided that once the population of a town reached 2000, the residents could apply to become a municipality. Adelaide reached this benchmark in 1839 and an Act granted it municipal status in 1840. Sydney and Melbourne were not incorporated until 1842. The unique feature in South Australia was that the municipalities seemed in no hurry to erect impressive town hall buildings. Instead, many rented rooms in the new institute buildings subsidised by the government’s building and land grants.

Some buildings were erected as dual town halls and institutes. Examples of this include the Town Hall/Institute at Palmerston, (Darwin) erected in 1877. The South Australian government administered the Northern Territory from 1863 to 1911. The beautiful stone building was unfortunately destroyed by Cyclone Tracy. The Institute Library had moved out to a rear corrugated iron annexe in 1903 and languished in the early 1930s when subscriptions dropped to 26. It then became the Darwin Town Council Library and enjoyed a new lease of life. At Goolwa a building was erected in 1860 to serve as both the Council Chambers and Institute. A wing was added in 1878 to provide more spacious accommodation for the Council. Today the building continues to be occupied by the council and municipal library. A third example is the building at Moonta .This was the fourth institute building, but it served both the Institute and the Council. The ground floor provided a large hall, library, ladies’ room, clerk’s room, room for weights and measures, and Council Chambers;  and upstairs there were another five rooms including a library. Other buildings which began life as institutes changed to town halls. For example the Semaphore Institute built in 1884 became a town hall within a few year and the Glenelg Institute built in 1877 became the Town Hall in 1887.

The final distinguishing feature of the institute movement in South Australia is that the ghosts of several institutes live on in active municipal libraries. As early as 1898, legislation gave municipalities the opportunity to establish libraries, but the first of these was not established until 1957. Legislation in 1975 provided that an institute could take the option of dissolving when a municipal library opened in its area. However in 1978 there were only 30 public libraries in South Australia. In that year ‘The Crawford Report’ was published and ‘The Public Library Development Program’ was introduced to ensure that a public library operate in every municipality by 1983. Once the municipal library was opened, funding ceased for the institute in that area. From a legislative point of view, the process was complete in 1989. This was the effective death knell for institutes, however three institutes, those at Grange, Glen Osmond and Brighton, decided to continue independently

Several of those which officially closed as institutes continued life as municipal libraries. The library at Victor Harbor is one example of this. Michael Page in his book Victor Harbor. From Pioneer Port to Seaside Resort explains that the institute was formed in 1868 with a view to providing a library and reading room and arranging classes and visiting speakers. A wooden building was transported to a block of land donated by a patron. Soon a second more substantial building was erected, but by 1874 it was too small, and the present building was opened in 1878. The library must have been well patronised for within four years an extension was built to provide a residence of two rooms for the librarian. When the South Australian government and the District Council took responsibility for the building in 1981, the Institute library closed, but the municipal library opened shortly afterwards in the same building. The Semaphore Institute is another example of the way institute ghosts live on. When it opened in 1884 it was known as both the Semaphore Institute and the Mechanics’ Institute. Within a few years, however, it became the Semaphore Town Hall. The Semaphore Council amalgamated with the Port Adelaide Council in 1900 and the building became a public hall. From 1929 to 1960 it was a popular picture theatre and enjoyed a lavish internal refurbishment in 1952. In 1994 it officially opened as the Semaphore branch of the Port Adelaide library after the Council did a major restoration of the façade.

 

References:

Bridge, Carl, A trunk full of books: history of the State Library of South Australia and its forerunners, Wakefield Press in association with the State Library of South Australia, 1986.

 Candy, P.C., Laurent, J., (eds), Pioneering Culture. Mechanics’ Institutes and Schools of Arts in Australia, Adelaide, Auslib Press, 1994.

Gilbert, A., Bolton, J., Library Services in the Northern Territory, paper held in the State Library of the Northern Territory.

Heritage Register of South Australia.

Information from the secretaries of the Port Elliott and Grange Institutes,

Information from Dr. Michael Talbot, State Library of South Australia.

Information from the History Centre, Glenelg.

Page, Michael, Victor Harbor From Pioneer Port to Seaside Resort, District Council of Victor Harbor, 1987.

Perry, Dulcie, The Place of Waters, Published by the author in association with the Corporation of Glenelg and the National Trust of South Australia, first published, 1895, 3rd. edn 1992.

‘Port Adelaide and Goolwa Heritage Study’, Heritage South Australia.

‘Port Wakefield Historical Walk’, tourist pamphlet sponsored by the Port Wakefield Caravan park.

‘Semaphore Institute’, information sheet distributed at the official opening of the Library, Port Adelaide Corporation, 1994.

Talbot, M. R., A chance to read: a history of the institute movement in South Australia, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1992.

Whitelock, Dereck, The great Tradition: A History of Adult Education in Australia, University of Queensland Press, 1974.

Yorke Peninsula Heritage Survey, Heritage South Australia.

 

 

[1] Whitelock, Dereck, The great Tradition: A History of Adult Education in Australia, University of Queensland Press, 1974, pp.125,126