Windback Wednesday - Magill

Before the village of Makgill was established in 1838, the area that we know as Magill today was woodland filled with scattered gums and native grasses. In 1836, approximately 700 Kaurna people were known to be living in the area.

In 1838, Scottish emigrants Robert Cock and William Ferguson purchased the land and began creating a village. They named the area ‘Makgill’ after a family trustee and started subdividing the land into allotments. By 1840 the village was selling land and farmers, blacksmiths and tradespeople began settling there. It also became an important access point to the hills, with services like tearooms, hotels and a post office.

Over time, the spelling of Makgill changed and it became commonly known as Magill.

Photograph: Magill in the 1930s, along the Old Norton Summit Road. Burnside Local History Collection.