[Port Lincoln] Louth

Rare map of Port Lincoln showing Poonindie Aboriginal Reserve which had been established in 1850 by Adelaide Archdeacon Matthew Hale as a ‘training institution’ for young Aboriginal families. The map shows the proposed closure of the Reserve which was to be subdivided and leased. By 1926 most of the reserve had been subdivided.

At first Poonindie was only to take young people who had some basic schooling and Christian education. The first group of residents (originally from the Adelaide Plains and River Murray region) had been educated at the Adelaide school, and at Poonindie they were expected to live a Christian lifestyle, form nuclear families and learn domestic and agricultural skills. When the Adelaide school closed in 1852, Poonindie lost this pool of future residents, and soon they were persuaded by the Protector of Aborigines to accept people from across South Australia, and some from Western Australia.

The Anglican church closed Poonindie in 1894 and the land was divided and leased.