Penola.
Penola is centrally situated – being roughly 50km from Mt Gambier, Naracoorte, Millicent and Casterton and it is a district of pastoralists and swamps. The great pastoralists of the district prevented the growth of small-scale agriculture in the 19th century and the town population grew very slowly. The district known as Penola was first squatted on before 1840 by Solomon, Josiah and Thomas Austin at Yallum Park. The site was probably selected by their agent John Bowden. The first settlers, as opposed to squatters, were Scottish born Alexander Cameron and his wife Margaret, nee MacKillop, who in 1845 obtained an occupation licence to lease the land. The pastoralists had licenses and from 1851 formal leaseholds of the lands. At that time the proforma lease documents noted the natives had prerogatives to “full and free ingress to the springs and surface water thereon…and they may….use, occupy, dwell on and obtain food and water thereon….” These rights however were extinguished in the 1860s when land was surveyed and sold with freehold title. (Penola and Coonawarra from Foundation to Federation by Peter Rymill 2017, page 65/66.) But as a pioneer with a land license Alexander Cameron built the first house in Penola – Cameron Cottage in 1845 which is now behind the Catholic Church. Margaret’s niece Mary MacKillop lived with them in the cottage for some time as a governess to their children from 1860 to 1862. By the 1860s Cameron had an estate of around 50,000 freehold acres. Other settlers like the Gladstone’s and Duncan Cameron lived in the district in the 1840s also.
In April 1850 Alexander Cameron obtained eighty acres of freehold land and established the private town of Panoola, later known as Penola. He set aside several blocks for the use of the community, including a market square and blocks for churches to be built on at a later stage. The plan for the town was drawn in 1858. Alexander Cameron was born in 1810 in Scotland and overlanded his first sheep to South Australia from NSW. In 1848 Duncan Cameron (no relation to Alexander Cameron) became the original licensee of the Royal Oak Hotel. He did a roaring trade during the early 1850s when thousands of men from Adelaide travelled to the Victorian goldfields via Penola. Adam Lindsay Gordon the writer became the police trooper in Penola from 1854-56. The Royal oak Hotel was rebuilt in 1872. Apart from the two Cameron men the first residents were Christopher Sharam, a boot maker and his wife Ellen who had fifteen children. A post office was constructed in 1857 and in the early days religious services were held in the local courtroom with the Presbyterians being the first to make use of this facility. The Reverend Mark Dixon was the first Presbyterian clergyman from 1856 until 1864. The Catholics started with a wooden church in 1858. Their first resident priest was Father Powell who also had established a school in 1855 in Penola. Michael O’Grady had charge of 40 students in his private school. The best-known school was opened in 1866 by the red haired Gaelic speaking Mary MacKillop, the co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Scottish born Mary lived 1842-1909. She was greatly assisted by Father Tenison Woods of Mt Gambier who encouraged her and had her take her vows to be a nun in 1867. Mary established her second school in Adelaide before setting up the order around Australia. By the time of her death in 1909 in Sydney she presided over 223 school and charitable institutions. She became the first Australian to be made a Catholic Saint in 2010. A new stone school room and residence was built in Penola in 1867 for Mary Mackillop and it which still stands. Saint Mary MacKillop started teaching in this school room. A new stone Catholic Church, called St Joseph’s was completed in 1865 at a cost of £1,000. Most of this money had come from the wealthy Catholic Highland Scots of the district. The other buildings on this site include the later Catholic Church built in 1924 with its modern curved glass shrine to Saint Mary MacKillop. Behind the church is the old Convent built in 1872. Next to the old buildings is the modern 1998 Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre with the lake in front of it. It includes considerable information on Father Tension Woods too. The site also includes a replica of Alexander Cameron’s first wooden cottage.
The Church of England’s Saint Mary’s church was completed in 1873 and consecrated in 1887. George Dickson the son of the pioneer of Maaoupe station commission the stained glass window above the altar in memory of his parents after their deaths in the 1880s. Across the road from the Church is the Anglican Parish hall was built in simple Gothic style in 1899. Near the little park which was part of Alexander Cameron’s original town plan is the old Mechanics Institute building which is now the Information Centre. It was built in 1869 with classical Greek architectural features. Opposite it is the former Foresters Hall built in 1873. It is a small building with two rounded windows and a small pediment a cross the roof line. Next to the Riddoch Centre is the grand Presbyterian Church built in 1870. It has Gothic arches, buttresses and a fine bell tower which was added in 1906. The first government school was completed in 1879 but located a fair distance from the Main Street. Petticoat Lane, the oldest street of Penola, retains much historical charm. Red gum kerbing as well as rose and lavender plantings enhance the lane’s character. It is a State Heritage Area. Back in the Main Street at an historic crossroad is the original Georgian style Post Office built in 1876 and across the road from it is the former single storey Italianate style Bank of South Australia constructed in 1884. On the other corner is the rebuilt Royal oak Hotel of 1873 and on the last corner is the gracious two storey former National Australian bank built in a Georgian style in 1868. Behind the Post Office towards the Catholic Church is the first telegraph station, a single storey structure erected in 1859. Further along this street is the former Methodist church erected in 1908 and it is now Piper’s Restaurant and next to it is the former offices of Cobb and Co coaches. This ticket booking office was built in 1857. Much later of course the railway replaced the need for the coaches. The railway line from Mt Gambier to Naracoorte and Bordertown was started in 1885 with John Riddoch turning the first sod of soil and it was completed in 1887 giving Penola a comfortable railway link to Adelaide. In the 1870s John Riddoch tried to convince parliament to build a railway from Beachport to Penola but that never occurred. The old railway station in the western side of town was built in 1887. This was probably a weatherboard station which was replaced with an Art Deco style railway station in 1909 with large arched windows. This SA Railways design was copied in Wallaroo, Moonta, Bordertown, Tailem Bend etc. At the northern exit of the town is the historic Bushman’s’ Inn. This fine two storey hotel was built in 1870 as a single storey hotel with the upper floor added later in the 1870s or 1880s. Mrs. Spillett opened it as excellent accommodation for travelers with good stables and plenty of chaff. Just north of the town is the Katnook Winery. The buildings there include the old shearing shed of John Riddoch’s which was built in 1867. The population of Penola in the 1891 census was 1,200 people. Today it has risen slightly to 1,600.
