The site of diverse memorials
Angas Gardens (Park 12)
Did you know that here on the banks of the River Torrens / Karrawirra Pari sit two quite different memorials?
Memorial to G F and J H Angas [Prince Henry Gardens - Relocated to Angas Gardens in 1930], City of Adelaide Archives, HP1322, circa 1915
George Fife Angas
John Howard Angas
Simpson and his Donkey
The Kaurna people are the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Adelaide Plains. The Angas Gardens stand in part of a larger Park called Karrawirra ('River Redgum Forest') in the Kaurna language. The River Torrens is known as Karrawirra Pari ('Redgum Forest River'). The Kaurna language was last spoken on a daily basis in the 1860s, and has been revived in recent times based on dictionaries prepared by German missionaries around the time of settlement.
The River was an important part of Kaurna way of life, and the site of camps, palti (corroborees), ceremonies and burials. The River is also part of the Red Kangaroo Dreaming story.
Two diverse memorials sit here:
'The Angas Memorial' is a tribute to George Fife Angas (1789-1879) and his son, John Howard Angas (1823-1904) who were colonists who contributed to the foundation of South Australia. A gift from the Angas family in 1915, the memorial includes bronze plates showing historic events in the lives of the two men. George Angas was described as “one of the leading philanthropists of South Australia”.
'Simpson and his Donkey' was designed in 2012 by the renowned South Australian artist, Robert Hannaford (1944-). The sculpture commemorates the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick (1892-1915), an Englishman who became part of the Australian Army Medical Corps. 'Simpson' landed at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Together with a donkey, he worked tirelessly to carry wounded men to the shore for evacuation. He became perhaps the most renowned digger of all although he received no bravery award. He was killed at Gallipoli on 19 May 1915.