The first irrigation settlement in Australia was established at Renmark in South Australia's Riverland district in 1887. Canadian-born brothers George and William Chaffey were water-engineering specialists who had set up irrigation schemes in California. In 1886 Alfred Deakin, Victorian cabinet minister (and later Australian Prime Minister), undertook an irrigation study tour in America. Impressed by the skills of the Chaffey brothers, he asked George Chaffey to come to Australia. George was encouraged by the prospects in Australia's Riverland and persuaded his younger brother William to follow.

Avoiding political wrangling in Victoria, George Chaffey was attracted to Renmark and believed he could turn River Murray water onto the arid land and the region would flourish. In 1887 Chaffey signed an agreement with the South Australian government based on an incentive scheme, and Renmark effectively became the first irrigation settlement in Australia.

Many English settlers were attracted to the irrigation scheme in response to the 'Red' book promoting a bountiful future, but within six years the prospect looked bleak. The Chaffeys fell victim to the Bank Crash of 1893 and, like many others, became almost penniless. In addition to this Depression, inexperienced settlers, inappropriate agricultural methods, unsuitable crop varieties, transport difficulties, fruit diseases and extremes of weather, all caused the company to fail. Many people simply deserted their holdings.

In 1893 an Act of Parliament transferred the Chaffeys' rights to the Renmark Irrigation Trust, which provided the opportunity for settlers to manage their own resources, and the Chaffey Brother's firm ceased operations in 1895.

George Chaffey returned to the United States, while William stayed on in Mildura, working to continue the irrigation projects. The Chaffey's original irrigation plan created open channels to carry the water to the land but in 1959 these were converted to underground pipelines.

Chaffey, George, 1848-1932

Chaffey, William Benjamin, 1856-1926

Morrison, AD. Chaffey bros. life history: founders of Renmark and Mildura Irrigation Settlements, [Renmark, S. Aust.]: National Trust of South Australia, Renmark Branch, [1974?].

Renmark newspaper slips, 1886-1889: a collection of references to the founding of Mildura and Renmark by George and William B.Chaffey, irrigation pioneers / re-arranged and edited by Lloyd Thomson and Sydney Wells. Mildura, Vic.: Mildura Legacy Club, [1989]

Wells, Syd. Paddlesteamers to cornucopia: the Renmark-Mildura experiment of 1887, Renmark [SA]: The Murray Pioneer, [1986]

Australian Dictionary of Biography Onlinesee: Chaffey, George (1848-1932)

Downstream: the River Murray in South Australiasee: Did you know? First irrigation settlement in Australia