Portrait of A.G. Ball from Paralana from the S.A. Northern Pioneers' composite, 1850-1859 (shown in position on B 6912/4).

Adam Gustavus Ball emigrated to New South Wales where he worked as an engineer and surveyor. Then in 1847 with several other men he overlanded a herd of 2000 cattle to Adelaide. He subsequently worked as a surveyor in the colony's South East and did some exploring elsewhere in South Australia until a severe accident stopped this activity. Ball however was a clever amateur artist and his work was popular and displayed in many hotels and private homes. He recorded aspects of the rural scene sometimes with a satirical slant.

At some stage he worked on Paralana Station in the Gammon Ranges near Yudnamutana Creek. Paralana is recorded as comprising 582 square miles of country and from 1856 was owned by John and William Jacob. At its most profitable period it was stocked with 7000 cattle. This great herd was nearly entirely wiped out in the drought of the 1860s. In the 1920s there was an attempt to develop the Paralana Hot Springs as a spa but the distance from Adelaide coupled with the primitive conditions that existed at the site were against its success.

Adam Ball died 22 August 1882 at North Adelaide.

Ball, Adam Gustavus, 1821-1882

Cockburn, R Pastoral pioneers of South Australia 2 v. Adelaide: Publishers Limited, 1925-1927 ("Reprinted from the Adelaide Stock and Station Journal.") vol 1 p. 139 col. c Brief information on Paralana station

Death of an old colonist Obituary, 26 August 1882, p30, col. d

The late Mr. Adam Ball Adelaide observer, 7 January 1899, p. 3, col. a (Illustrated Supplement)

Mincham, Hans The story of the Flinders Ranges Adelaide: Rigby, 1967 pp. 296-98 Paralana Hot Springs

Kwan, Elizabeth. Living in South Australia: a social history, Netley, S. Aust.: South Australian Government Printer, 1987