SA electorate Frome renamed to Ngadjuri after concerns raised about chequered past

The state’s mid-north electorate of Frome has been renamed after concerns were raised about the history of the namesake and his involvement in burning an Aboriginal camp down.

The mid-north electorate of Frome has been renamed to Ngadjuri after concerns were raised about the chequered history of its namesake earlier this year.

The rural seat which was named after Edward Charles Frome, South Australia’s third permanent surveyor general from 1839 to 1849, has been renamed after the traditional owners of the land, the Ngadjuri people.

In May, state Upper House MP Reggie Martin raised concerns regarding Frome’s past, and his involvement in a retribution attack on an Aboriginal encampment following the killing of 26 white settlers who were shipwrecked off Cape Jaffa in 1840.

Reggie Martin MLC

Mr Martin told the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission (EDBC) that the seat should be named after Indigenous rights champion Lowitja O’Donoghue, or South Australian political activist Elizabeth Rose Hanretty.

In his submissions to the EDBC, Mr Martin outlined the reason for his concerns.

“The importance of a name should not be underestimated; a name is a signal of what attributes our society considers worthy of memorialisation,” his submission read.

“It is a great recognition and award for an electorate to bear someone’s name. If an electorate is to be named after a prominent person, then the values and standards of that person should be a beacon for others to aspire to.

“What is clear from the sources above is that Frome was at least present at, and complicit in, the murder of two innocent Indigenous men and the burning of an Indigenous encampment.

Edward Charles Frome (1802-1890), by unknown photographer, c1880 State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 6189

“In my submission, this means that Frome cannot meet the criteria for a deceased person after whom an Electoral District should be named, and the electorate must be renamed.”

Mr Martin’s submission spoke about the legacy of Frome, who was proved to have been involved in retribution against Aboriginal peoples along the Coorong, after the killing of 26 white settlers who were shipwrecked at Cape Jaffa in 1980, known as the Maria Massacre.

Following the killings, Governor George Gawler sent a police party to identify and apprehend up to three murderers and to hang them.

The expedition resulted in two Aboriginal men being hanged without trial, with the historical event being depicted in a sketch called Pilgaru.

A month after the hangings, Frome painted an Aboriginal encampment near the Coorong that was abandoned by the local Milmentura people, calling the painting, “Burnt by me, October 1840”, depicting an apparent reprisal for the Maria Massacre.

In July 2023, the Ngadjuri people won the Native Title rights in the mid-north, and were given back more than 15,000 square kilometres encompassing Burra, Clare and Orroroo.

The seat of Frome is currently held by Liberal frontbencher Penny Pratt, and stretches north-eastwards from the Gawler River and Gulf St Vincent in the south, and includes many of the agricultural areas of the Clare and Gilbert Valleys.

Ms Pratt has been contacted for comment.