At the end of Jetty Road Glenelg sits a monolithic structure that I always thought was called the Buffalo Monument. Having walked around and past this memorial many times over many years, I now discover its actually called the Pioneer Memorial.
I remember a school excursion with my Grade 4 class (from Glenelg Primary School) when our teacher told several of us off for running all over the steps of the memorial. She went on to explain to us that this structure had been built for a reason and that we were disrespecting it by running all over it. That reason was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the state in 1936. Her lesson managed to instill an admiration for memorials and statues and in interest in finding out what they were all about that has lasted with me till the present day. Isn't it funny the things that stick with you? I should also point out those steps we were told off for running on all those years ago are no longer there as the memorial has been built up around the edges.
The Pioneer Memorial commemorated four of the more significant settlers who came to make a new life in the free colony of South Australia. The names of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Robert Gouger, Robert Torrens and George Fife Angas are inscribed on a plaque on the side of the monument to commemorate their efforts in securing the foundation act of 1834 and sitting on top is a replica of HMS Buffalo, the ship they and the other first settlers sailed here aboard. This is obviously why I thought it was called the Buffalo monument as people generally seem to commemorate the ship rather than the settlers. Maybe it was my grade 4 teacher who called it by the wrong name and all these years I still believed her. read more