Windback Wednesday - St Georges

Did you know that, following a re-division of Burnside in 1941 which saw the number of suburbs in the District reduced from 82 to 26, St Georges was expanded to include the former suburbs of Glenunga Gardens, Glenunga Gardens Extension, and Highfield?

A prominent early settler in St Georges was Sir William Morgan, who was the Premier of South Australia from 1878 to 1881. Sir William was known for his lavish parties and, as President of the Royal Society of St George, it is likely that his connection with the area is responsible for the suburb’s present name.

The former suburb of Highfield was named after ironmonger Edward Drew’s Highfield House Estate. Drew first purchased the 134 acres which made up the Estate in 1849 and eventually constructed Highfield House on the southwest corner of the Estate in 1880. Highfield House, an elegant two-story Georgian-style residence, remains one of the earliest significant buildings still standing in Burnside.

Photograph: Highfield House, c. 1870. Burnside Local History Collection.