The Torrens Valley Historical Journal

The Torrens Valley and District Historical Society was established in 1976.

One of the objects of that Society was to publish historical records and articles relevant to the history of the district.

This object was realised in the production of the Torrens Valley Historical Journal as a quarterly publication.
The first issue of that Journal was published in October 1977.

The editor from the beginning was Alan Phillips, supported by a committee.

By 1984 difficulty was experienced in obtaining sufficient material for a quarterly and it was decided to reduce publication to twice yearly.

By 1988, the content of the Journal was the work of one person only — Bernard Arnold.

Publication was reduced to one issue per year, but that issue was now of a more substantial nature.

With the improvement of personal computers and word processing software, from issue No. 42 in 1994 the content was indexed and this made access to information so much easier.

When the Torrens Valley and District Historical Society metamorphosed into the Gumeracha and District History Centre, Inc., in 1994, with similar objects, publication of the Torrens Valley Historical Journal continued to be supported.

In researching material for publication it became clear that one of the main sources of local history was newspaper articles.

After publishing a number of such articles in a haphazard fashion, it was decided to go through the two most relevant newspapers in a methodical and sequential manner and publish the articles without alteration so that the result would be close to a chronicle of the district.

The newspapers chosen were the Adelaide Observer from 1865, and the Mount Barker Courier from 1880.

With retirement, more time became available for research and issues of the Journal became more frequent — four in 2010 to number 78.

Having experienced the benefits to be derived from searchable electronic media such as CDs, it has been the wish of the History Centre to have the Journal available in this format.

With the assistance of Alan Phillips of Gould Genealogy, that wish was fulfilled recently and Journals 1 to 78 are now available on CD, either as a compendium or as three separate CDs for the time periods: 1977–1990, 1991–2000, and 2001–2010.

The Journal is a work in progress and further issues will be produced in the future.

The History Centre has vacancies for volunteers in 2011 on Tuesdays from 10am to 3pm.

No experience is necessary but an interest in local and family history an advantage.

Come along to the Centre in the Civic Centre, Albert Street Gumeracha on Tuesdays or phone Betty Amber on 8389 1025 or email amber@activ8.net.au for enquiries.

Bernard Arnold at the Gumeracha & District History Centre.