Village Settlement: Pyap

Pyap

The Pyap settlement commenced in March 1894. The name Pyap is thought to be an Aboriginal name for a River Murray fish which is edible but very bony. One of the main problems at Pyap was the limited skill base in its settlers. In addition, many of the settlers did not want to work communally so there were numerous quarrels. In April 1895 some of the settlers petitioned the government to eliminate the requirement to work communally. Pyap also suffered from problems with its pumps and irrigation systems. Its first pump only arrived in June 1895, so the settlement was without irrigation for over a year. It broke down after being in service for a short period and there was a considerable delay before a second pump was installed in 1896. The village settlement expert, Samuel McIntosh, found that Pyap struggled because it had no clear management. After many of the other settlements had ceased the system of management by a board of trustees, Pyap continued with that system and management decisions were often at the whim of individual board members. Pyap was eventually abandoned in July 1903.