Windback Wednesday - Tusmore

From the late-1830s, the land which now forms Tusmore was used as farmland by experienced farmer and pastoralist William Rogers and his family. By 1840, the Rogers family were running one of the most extensive and successful farms in the Adelaide area, with 800 sheep, 50 cattle, over 100 acres of wheat, 3 acres of potatoes, young orchards, and a 6-room brick homestead named Tusmore House, after William’s hometown of Tusmore, Oxfordshire. Following William’s untimely death in 1854, Tusmore Farm’s land was largely sub-let to other pastoralists before being sold to dairyman Edward Treacy in 1889. From 1913-1920, various sub-sections of the land were sold off, and a major subdivision in 1924 saw the main buildings and homestead of Tusmore House demolished to make way for more modern amenities.

The suburb of Tusmore is now home to the modern Burnside City Council buildings, including the Civic Centre and Burnside Library, situated on the intersection of Portrush and Greenhill Roads (pictured) across from the Burnside Village.

Other significant locations in Tusmore include Burnside Masonic Hall, Burnside Town Hall, Gilbert Wood Scout Hall, and Tusmore Park.

Intersection of Portrush Road and Greenhill Road 1956

Intersection of Portrush Road and Greenhill Road 1927

Photographs: Intersection of Portrush and Greenhill Roads, 1927 (before Burnside Town Hall was completed). Intersection of Portrush and Greenhill Roads, 1956. Burnside Local History Collection