You can find koalas, kangaroos and kookaburras in Harrogate — a small rural township in Australia that is named after our district’s original one.
It’s located in the Adelaide Hills on the banks of the Bremer River and is around 55km away from the bustling city of Adelaide.
People who live there are called Harrogations and there are around 300 of them, happily living a more relaxed pace of life than we’re used to here in North Yorkshire.
Things don’t move in a hurry in the Aussie Harrogate and the post is delivered just three times a week. There is one street light and the nearest shop is 14km away, so locals call on ‘good neighbours’ if they run out of any necessities.
The Stray Ferret got in touch with some Harrogate residents Down Under who told us a bit about their town, which has a thriving community that has weathered the changes of time.
Di Gray said:
“Harrogations can enjoy the isolation, relaxation and calm that our town and surround brings to families and households, animals and local wildlife alike.”
Changing times
Harrogate used to be well-known for its old-style dances, tennis and table tennis clubs.
There was a school, church and corner shop too, which are now long gone.
But the tennis and table-tennis club remain and Harrogations enjoy playing games of ping pong against nearby towns such as Woodside and Nairne.
Harrogate has an annual Christmas party as well as a bonfire night when the whole community comes together.
The town rallied in December 2019 when bushfires enveloped Harrogate, and locals have spent the last few years regenerating farmland and helping wildlife heal from the devastation.
People in Harrogate enjoy a game of tennis.
Pamela Dashwood said she especially enjoys all the wildlife on her doorstep.
“We have a lot of birdlife, sulphur crested cockatoos, corellas, magpies, rosellas and galahs. Plus kookaburras who have the most gorgeous laugh.
“We have lots of kangaroos at the moment and the occasional koala. We do have brown and red belly black snakes in summer but I rarely see them. We do have lizards in the garden too sunning themselves on the lawn.”
Di Gray added:
“Families have grown and left and some have returned to raise the next generation here.
“We have all arrived for different reasons and the diversity is part of the charm along with the knowledge that it will never grow too big.”
Who named Harrogate?
Pioneers moved to Australia from Britain in the 19th century looking to find their fortune. Harrogate, Australia historian Shylie McInnes, told the Stray Ferret that three men staked a claim to naming the town.
The first is Thomas Carling who was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in 1820. He arrived in Australia in 1850 and tried his luck as a gold miner before marrying a local woman.
Thomas Carling
He tended to horses in the UK and eventually took up the 700 acres of land that became the township of Harrogate.
Carling won prizes for bushels of wheat grown on his land and his house was said to be filled with gold and silver trophies, cups, medals, diplomas and certificates related to farming.
An obituary published in the Adelaide Advertiser after his death in 1903 was called ‘Death of a Pioneer’.
It said “the ideal farmer” was “of a reserved nature was genial and hearty with associates, while uprightness and strict integrity were traits of his character.”
A man called Charles Young also claimed to have named Harrogate. He was employed to survey the land that is currently Harrogate by the Britannia Mining Company.
Gold mining greatly contributed to the development of Australia in the second half of the 19th century
Young was from Devon but claimed to have named Harrogate after its UK namesake.
Finally, the politician John Baker, who was born in Somerset, UK, bought the land in 1858 and authorised the township of Harrogate.
He was a major landowner around Adelaide and was the second Premier of the colony of South Australia.
John Baker
In 1869 he bred a thoroughbred racehorse named Don Juan that won the 1873 Melbourne Cup, which remains today one of Australia’s most famous horse races.
Ms McIness said all three men lived in the area around the same time and she has found documents that leads her to believe that they knew each other, but it’s a mystery which man named the town Harrogate as no official records remain.
Intertwined history
In the years those early pioneers were developing Harrogate, Australia around agriculture, Harrogate in the UK was experiencing a boom of its own thanks to the introduction of the railway in 1848. It helped establish the town as a Victorian spa destination.
In the following 170 years, the two towns have developed at different paces, but will always share an obvious connection.
When comparing the two Harrogates, Facebook shows that 1,825 people have ‘checked in’ at Harrogate, Australia — a lot less than the 550,000 that have visited Harrogate, UK.
And whilst Harrogate continues to grow with new housing developments , restaurants and bars — Harrogate, Australia will probably always be content with its laid-back place in the world.