Events Calendar 2025

Guests are very welcome to join us at all Pioneers SA events

Please note that bookings are required for all events seven days prior to the scheduled date.  Payment in advance is essential for all events, unless the event cost is $5 or less. Booking and payment options below.  For any issues with a booking, please text or call the Events Co-ordinator on 0409 251 185

Wednesday 5 February 12.00pm – 2.00pm
E25-01 Lunch Meeting

Guest Speaker: Dr Roger Cross – “The Flower Hunter”

Walkerville Uniting Church Hall
17 Smith Street - Walkerville
 
Roger will introduce us to Annie Richards (nee Crafter), her lonely life at Fowlers Bay and how she found her vocation as a flower hunter and would be naturalist.  She overcame a difficult life to collect about 1000 Australian wildflower species, achieving a success that no other woman of the period was awarded.   Please bring your own lunch and join us for this fascinating presentation.
 
Cost:  $5 members; $10 guests
Maximum: 100 people

Wednesday 19 February 10.30am – 12.30pm

SM-01 SameShips - 1836 Ships

At our first SameShips meeting for 2025 we will be looking at the 1836 ship arrivals.  We have covered these ships before, but you may have missed the meeting or would just like to see how our collection has progressed.  Please come ready to share your family’s story if they arrived in 1836.

Pioneers SA, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Maximum 15 people

Cost $2.  Donations welcome.

Monday 3 March 10.00am – 12.00pm

E25-02 Tour - Trinity Church

                        88 North Terrace, Adelaide

Join us for a guided tour of Trinity Church, led by one of their wonderful volunteers.  Trinity Church is the oldest established church in the city of Adelaide and is known for its architecture, stained-glass windows and fascinating history. The foundation stone of Trinity Church was laid in 1838 and it was the first Anglican church in South Australia. Free parking is available at the rear of the church - enter via the Morphett Street slip lane.  Bookings essential.
 
Cost:  $5 per person
Maximum: 50 people

Wednesday 26 March 10.30am – 12.30pm

SM-02 SameShips - Intercolonial Ships

This month we'll explore the stories of the Intercolonial ships and their voyages to Adelaide. Come along for morning tea and share your stories.

Pioneers SA, Level 2, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Maximum 15 people

Cost $2

Wednesday 9 April 12.00 – 3.00pm
E25-03 Lunch - 'A City Pub Crawl' with Patricia Sumerling

Victoria Room, Edinburgh Hotel

7 High Street, Mitcham

Join us for lunch as Patricia guides us through the architectural merits of some early hotels, from the most modest to the more evocative styles that characterise Adelaide. We will also hear some titbits from the biographies of publicans, barmaids and patrons, as well as the many planned and unplanned events that take place in a hotel. Cost includes main & dessert and tea/coffee.  Drinks at own cost.
 
Cost:  Members $60; Guests $65 

Maximum: 60 people

Wednesday 30 April 10.30am – 12.30pm

SM-03 SameShips - Dorset 

This month we'll explore the voyages of the Dorset. Come along for morning tea and share your stories.

Pioneers SA, Level 2, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Maximum 15 people

Cost $2

Thursday 1 May 7.00 - 8.30pm
E25-04 Pioneers SA History Festival Opening

             Guest Speaker - Dr Heidi Ing

Burnside Library

401 Greenhill Road, Tusmore

At this opening of the Pioneers SA poster exhibitions, Dr Heidi  Ing will examine the decisions made by our pioneers families that led to their separation after arrival in the colony.  The 1841 census recorded a number of women as heads of households.  Some were left alone with their children due to death or abandonment.  Others stayed in Adelaide as their husbands move to country areas to establish homes and farms. Our poster exhibitions will explore the strength and resourcefulness of these women and the impact the decisions they made had on their families.  Bookings essential.
 
Cost:  Free

Maximum: 70 people

Every Tue & Thu in May, 10am - 2pm

Poster Exhibition - 'Decisions'

Visit our city office and view the poster exhibition exploring the decisions made by our pioneers.  This is an opportunity to understand the challenges they faced, the decisions they made and the outcomes they achieved. 

No bookings required.

Pioneers SA, Level 2, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Free

Monday 16 June  12.00 – 2.00pm
E25-05 Lunch Meeting

Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society Archives

Guest Speaker - Erin Reardon

Westbourne Park Uniting Church Hall, 27 Sussex Terrace Hawthorn

 
Cost:  $5 members; $10 guests

Maximum: 100 people

Wednesday 4 June 10.30am – 12.30pm

SM-04 SameShips - Palmyra 

This month we'll explore the voyages of the Palmyra. Come along for morning tea and share your stories.

Pioneers SA, Level 2, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Maximum 15 people

Cost $2

Sunday 27 July  12.00 – 4.00pm
E25-06 'Winter Gathering' - Lunch

Kangaroo Island before Colonisation

Guest Speaker - Dr Rick Hosking

Adelaide Royal Coach Motor Inn

24 Dequetteville Terrace, Kent Town

Maximum: 100 people

Wednesday 2 July 10.30am – 12.30pm

SM-05 SameShips - HR Patel - 1845 & 1846 voyages

Come along for morning tea and share your stories.

Pioneers SA, Level 2, 25 Leigh Street, Adelaide

Maximum 15 people

Cost $2

Wednesday 20 August  12.00 – 2.00pm
E25-07  Lunch Meeting

Reponses to Bush Fires in SA from the 1820s

Guest Speaker - Elizabeth Bor

Walkerville Uniting Church Hall

17 Smith Street, Walkerville

Bushfires were first reported on Kangaroo Island in the 1820s, and in 1836 the passengers and crew of the Rapid found themselves battling a scrub fire at Rapid Bay. Elizabeth’s presentation will explore the growing concern among colonists about bushfires, a fear that ultimately led the Governor and Legislative Council to enact the first bushfire prevention legislation, the 1847 Stubble Burning Act.

Maximum: 100 people