The Heaslip family first started farming in the fertile soils north of Adelaide in the late 1850's. This area was called the Gawler Plains. The area today produces a large percentage of fruit & vegetables for the Adelaide Markets.

The Heaslip ancestors came to South Australia from County Cavan in southern Ireland, and landed in Port Adelaide harbour in 1851. The patriarch of this first group was 'Ben of the Rock' who tragically died quite early on while riding his horse back from a local drinking establishment, or, in the Australian vernacular, a local watering hole.

Heaslips' started farming in the Angle Vale/Gawler Plains area north of Adelaide and then after 8 or so years, moved further north into the region now known as the Mid North of South Australia. These areas such as Appila, Carrieton and Wirrabara were more marginal areas but provided the opportunity to purchase larger holdings. Some of the Heaslip family still farm in the Mid North of South Australia, in places such as Carrieton, and also much further north in the Alice Springs region in the Northern Territory.

Since these early beginnings, Heaslips moved into many different fields such as medicine, politics, teaching and the manufacture of agricultural machinery.

The following extract was taken from The Riesling Trail; Clare Valley pamphlet, courtesy of the South Australian Tourist Commission:

"For thousands of years this region was home to the Ngadjuri people, their lands extended from Gawler in the south to beyond Carrieton and across to Bimbowrie in the north, to the low saltbush country to the east and the ridges of hills from Clare through to Gladstone and Orroroo to the west. The eucalyptus forest area they inhabited was well known for its plentiful supply of animal and plant foods. The Ngadjuri adopted a sustainable approach to the natural resources which were vital to their survival."
"Small pox, then measles, tuberculosis and influenza devastated the Ngadjuri people before and during the early colonial years. Others suffered from frontier violence. Survivors worked on farms, lived as fringe dwellers or moved from their country into missions where they were safer. Some Ngadjuri place names remain, such as Bungaree ('my country'), Orroroo, Ketchowla, Kapunda, Eudunda, and Koolunga. Many Ngadjuri descendants today live in Adelaide and Yorke Peninsula; and here and elsewhere they are making links again with their country."

Any further discoveries of Australia's great indigenous heritage will be presented in future newsletters and updates to this website.

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