Sketch of the house of Captain William Elder, at Kensington.

Sea captain William Elder (1813 - 1882) brought out 183 Scottish and Irish migrants to Adelaide in 1840. The passengers acclaimed his 'gentlemanly deportment ... perfect self command and good temper under the most trying circumstances'. He returned to Adelaide in 1844 with his wife to join his sons Alexander, George and Thomas in the thriving family business. William Elder retired to Scotland in the mid 1850s. [Fayette Gosse 'Elder, William (1813 - 1882)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp 133-134].

Alexander Charles Kelly was born at Leith, Scotland in 1811. He was awarded a medical degree by Edinburgh University in 1832. Kelly acted as a surgeon on the East India Company's ships in 1833. He emigrated to South Australia aboard the Baboo in 1840 and began a medical practice at Port Adelaide. A year later, he was appointed assistant surgeon at Adelaide Hospital.

He subsequently bought land at Morphett Vale in 1842 and named the property 'Trinity'. In 1845, Kelly began planting vines on his property, and became a partner in Tintara Vineyard Company in 1862. He sold his Trinity vineyard and began planting vines for Tintara at Willunga in 1863. Tintara went into voluntary liquidation in the 1870s. Kelly retired in 1876 and died in 1877.

Elder, William (1813 - 1882)

Jensen, Elfrida Colonial architecture in South Australia: a definitive chronicle of development 1836-1890 and the social history of the times Adelaide: Rigby, 1980.

Morgan, EJR. Early Adelaide architecture 1836 to 1886 Melbourne: Oxford Univ. Press, 1969

Legoe, MI A family affair Adelaide: MI Legoe, 1982 [Elder family and Barr Smith family]

Australian dictionary of biography onlinesee: Elder, William (1813-1882); Kelly, Alexander Charles 1811-1877

City of Norwood Payneham & St Peterssee: For residents: Our heritage

SLSA Factsheets Online: Houses and buildings in South Australia