Mar 23, 2026
THE DROWNING At about 4 o’clock on Saturday January 6, 1906, Mr. William Strapps went for a sail at Henley Beach in a canvas canoe 14 feet (or just over 4 metres) in length taking with him his two sons, Claude, aged 16 years, and Frank, aged 10 years and their...
Nov 8, 2025
Early Life and Education Few men connected with South Australian municipal life have had careers as varied and fascinating as Charles Maddison Yeomans, who became Town Clerk and Engineer of the Henley and Grange Corporation between June 1923 and October 1931. Charles’...
Aug 28, 2025
From Sandhills to Fairways Before 1929, golf at Henley and Grange was more improvised than organised. Local boys, including Ron Jones, fashioned clubs from boxthorn branches and played across the West Beach sandhills, planting flags on dunes to mark their holes. Later...
Aug 27, 2025
Saddles, Sand, and Survival In the earliest years of the colony, reaching Henley or Grange was a real challenge. Military Road and parts of what became Grange Road were little more than sandy tracks, often impassable in wet weather. Most visitors came either by boat,...
Aug 26, 2025
Bruce Gray was born in 1889 on ‘Frogmore’ at West Beach. Growing up among horses, cattle, and sheep, he often watched Sidney Kidman’s mobs of cattle pass through the district. At eighteen, Bruce joined Kidman’s empire, working across the outback and developing his...
May 5, 2025
Bob was a black and tan Kelpie sheep dog. While still a young pup he became the pet and constant companion of Albert Ide, a blacksmith and general tradesman of Grange. Bob was beside Albert every day. Early in his life Bob began performing at the Henley carnivals and...
Jan 12, 2025
Did you know that there was once a ‘street railway line’ right next to Military Road that ran all the way from Grange to Henley Beach terminating at Kent Street just past where the Henley Police Station is today? Both steam locomotives and later (from 1956) Redhen...
Jan 10, 2025
Narrated by Helen Lewis Have you heard of Dawn Fraser, Australia’s swimming legend? She was voted Australia’s greatest ever female athlete in 2013. She won four gold and three silver Olympic medals at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956, Rome in...
Dec 9, 2024
“The postal facilities at Grange are a hundred years behind the times,” said Mr. G. W. Stacey, on Tuesday morning, 30th March 1909. Feature image: Marett’s Store and 1st Grange Post Office, c.1890(Courtesy of State Library of South Australia B 15190 –...
Nov 10, 2024
Hendrika de Vries, born and raised in Amsterdam, emigrated to Adelaide with her family as a young girl and became a swimming champion, young wife, and mother in Adelaide. The H&GHS recorded an online conversation with Henny from her home in Santa Barbara...
