Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/504

 4/8 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The late Mr. George McEwin M L'CH of the nointiiichiturc ot South AustraHa memoriaUses the names of pioneers who have labored in the cause of the Province. The names of the streets and squares of Adelaide, country towns and villages, and special localities here and there, have been derived from this source ; and. if the original names be euphonious, no more appropriate way could be found of paying lasting tribute to the foun- ders. Such is the case as regards the late Mr. G. McEwin, whose name is perpetuated at Glen I*! win, about 12 miles from the metropolis. Mr. George McEwin was born in the south of Scotland in 1815, and became a landscape gardener by occupation. Plant-life in all its forms supplied him with much-loved study, and he was a botanist of considerable ability. At the age of 18 he made a classification of the plants of Scotland, and so thorough was this work that he was elected a life meml^er of the Arboricultural Society of Scotland. From Scotland, Mr. McEwin went to Liverpool, where he laid out a number of large gardens and delivered lectures on botany. In 1839 he arrived in South Australia with his young wife, and it is said that he marked out some of the oldest and best gardens in and about the city. In 1844 he took up his residence in the locality Geove & w.uon. Fhoto ^.j^j^j^ received its name from him, and in the same year visited New .South Wales, and purchased plants and trees which he considered were adapted to South Australian soil. These he planted at Glen Ewin, and he soon surrounded himself there with a charming orchard and vineyard, and also a pleasing ornamental garden. While he spent his time partly in attending these, and partly in landscape gardening for other settlers, his orchard came into bearing ; but at first there was a difficulty in obtaining a market for its productions. In i860 he hit upon the plan of manufacturing jams and preserves, and this business eventually attained intercolonial importance. The [)roducts of the factory had a ready sale, and the concern became one of the largest of the kind in .South Australia. It is still carried on by Mr. Robert