• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture

Heritage, history, and heroes; literature, legends, and larrikins

  • Home
  • Articles
  • Biographies
  • Books
  • Ephemera
  • Poetry & songs
    • Recommended poetry
    • Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
    • Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
    • Rock music and pop music [videos]
    • Early music [videos]
  • Slang
  • Timeline
    • Timeline of Australian history and culture
    • Calendar of Australian history and culture
    • Significant events and commemorative dates
  • Topics

Henley Beach, S.A. [postcard, circa 1910]

15 April 2023 · 2 Comments

[Editor: This postcard, which incorporates a photograph of Seaview Road in Henley Beach (South Australia), featuring a tram, is undated; however, it is believed to have been published circa 1910.]

Postcard, with a photograph of a street in Henley Beach (South Australia), featuring a tram (early 20th Century)
Front of postcard



Postcard, from the early 20th Century
Reverse of postcard

[Front of postcard]

Henley Beach, S.A.

[Description: A photograph of Seaview Road in Henley Beach (South Australia), with a tram, horse and cart, a car, a man with a bike, and various pedestrians.]

[Reverse of postcard]

POST CARD — SOUTH AUSTRALIA

[Handwritten text, in italics]

Dear Stella

I received your letter & drawings alright.

My word, you are coming on.

Townie say they are fine & the letter is splendid.

How do you like the picture on the other side? I spent one afternoon down there & enjoyed it very much.

Hope your whooping cough is better by this time.

Love to all
Albert

214508

[No identifying information about the manufacturer was included on the postcard.]



Source:
Original document

Editor’s notes:
Dimensions (approximate): 131 mm. (width), 86 mm. (height).

It appears that this postcard was sent inside of an envelope, as there is no address given and there are no postal markings on the postcard.

The photo was taken on the day of the official opening of the tram line between Thebarton and Henley Beach, on 23 December 1909. An article in Trolley Wire (August 1994) includes a nearly identical photo which is dated 23 December 1909 (apparently taken around the same time as the postcard photo was shot).
See: 1) Colin Seymour, “Adelaide’s toastrack trams” (Trolley Wire, August 1994, pp. 3-14 of PDF file), Sydney Tramway Museum [see photo on p. 6: “Toastrack No. 49 arrives at Henley Beach as the first car on 23 December 1909”]
2) “The Fulham Viaduct” (West Torrens Historical Society), West Torrens Library Service,
p. 3 (PDF file) [“The Thebarton to Henley Beach tram line officially opened on Thursday 23 December 1909”]

Based upon the photo being taken on 23 December 1909, it would be reasonable to assume that the postcard was published in late December 1909 or early 1910 (with only a few days left in 1909, this postcard has been designated as circa 1910; although it is possible that the publisher rushed to get the postcard printed the following day, in time for selling on Christmas Eve, it seems more likely that it was published in 1910). Copies of this postcard could have been sold for some years, so the year of its creation may be different to the year of its use.

The Ramsgate Hotel (328 Seaview Road, Henley Beach, SA) can be seen on the left side of the postcard.
See: 1) “Welcome to the Ramsgate Hotel”, Ramsgate Hotel (official site) [includes a photo of the Ramsgate Hotel]
2) “Every Heritage Place 212: Ramsgate Hotel, Henley Beach”, Josh RCG (account on Flickr), 24 September 2017 [includes a photo of the Ramsgate Hotel]

Henley Beach = a coastal suburb of Adelaide (South Australia)
See: “Henley Beach, South Australia”, Wikipedia

S.A. = an abbreviation of South Australia (a colony in Australia from 1836, then a state in 1901)

[Editor: For ease of reading, the original text has been separated into paragraphs, and punctuation has been inserted as deemed appropriate.]

[Editor: Changed “whopping cough” to “whooping cough”.]

Updated 23 April 2023

Filed Under: ephemera, postcards Tagged With: 500x500, correction or change made per readers' comments, correspondence (original), ESU funding, Henley Beach (South Australia), HTML tables (side) div style, IAC Ephemera Collection, photographs, postcards, SourceIACLibrary, YearEraEarly20thCentury

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Henley & Grange Historical Society says

    23 April 2023 at 17:51

    The electric tram was completed in Henley Beach around 1915 and so this card would be after that date. The building on the left is the Ramsgate Hotel which is still much in use.

    Reply
    • IAC says

      23 April 2023 at 22:27

      Thank you for your comment.
      As it turns out, the photo was apparently taken on 23 December 1909, with the official opening of the tram line between Thebarton and Henley Beach.
      Perhaps another aspect of the line was completed in 1915?

      Thanks to your prompting, some further research was carried out into the matter, and a very similar photo was discovered, which therefore gives a source for the date of the photo on this postcard.
      Some information re the date has therefore been added to the post.

      Also, thanks to your comment, some further information has been added, regarding which building appears in the photo (the Ramsgate Hotel), as well as giving the name of the street in which the photo was taken.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

The Institute of Australian Culture
Heritage, history, and heroes. Writers, workers, and wages. Literature, legends, and larrikins. Stories, songs, and sages.

Search this site

Featured books

The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, by Banjo Paterson A Book for Kids, by C. J. Dennis  The Bulletin Reciter: A Collection of Verses for Recitation from The Bulletin The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, by C. J. Dennis The Complete Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers, by J. J. Kenneally The Foundations of Culture in Australia, by P. R. Stephensen The Australian Crisis, by C. H. Kirmess Such Is Life, by Joseph Furphy
More books (full text)

Featured lists

Timeline of Australian history and culture
Significant events and commemorative dates
A list of significant Australiana
Australian slang
Books (full text)
Australian explorers
Australian literature
Recommended poetry
Poetry and songs, 1786-1900
Poetry and songs, 1901-1954
Rock music and pop music (videos)
Folk music and bush music (videos)
Early music (videos)
Topics
Links

Featured posts

Advance Australia Fair: How the song became the Australian national anthem
Brian Cadd [music videos and biography]
Ned Kelly: Australian bushranger
Under the Southern Cross I Stand [the Australian cricket team’s victory song]

Some Australian authors

Barcroft Boake
E. J. Brady
John Le Gay Brereton
C. J. Dennis
Mary Hannay Foott
Joseph Furphy
Mary Gilmore
Charles Harpur
Grant Hervey
Lucy Everett Homfray
Rex Ingamells
Henry Kendall
“Kookaburra”
Henry Lawson
Jack Moses
“Dryblower” Murphy
John Shaw Neilson
John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan)
“Banjo” Paterson
Marie E. J. Pitt
A. G. Stephens
P. R. Stephensen
Agnes L. Storrie (Agnes L. Kettlewell)

Recent Posts

  • Died on Active Service / Heroes of the Empire [Australian military personnel (WW1, WW2), 24 April 1943]
  • Flooded house on Villiers Street, Grafton (NSW) [postcard, circa 1950]
  • Fossicker’s claim, Daylesford [postcard, circa 1905-1912]
  • The Bathing Beach Flinders [postcard, early 20th Century]
  • The Lass of Yackandandah [poem, 11 June 1857]

Top Posts & Pages

  • Australian slang, words, and phrases
  • Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
  • No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
  • The Man from Snowy River [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]

Archives

Categories

Posts of note

The Bastard from the Bush [poem, circa 1900]
A Book for Kids [by C. J. Dennis, 1921]
Click Go the Shears [traditional Australian song, 1890s]
Core of My Heart [“My Country”, poem by Dorothea Mackellar, 24 October 1908]
Freedom on the Wallaby [poem by Henry Lawson, 16 May 1891]
The Man from Ironbark [poem by Banjo Paterson]
Nationality [poem by Mary Gilmore, 12 May 1942]
The Newcastle song [music video, sung by Bob Hudson]
No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest [poem by Mary Gilmore, 29 June 1940]
Our pipes [short story by Henry Lawson]
Rommel’s comments on Australian soldiers [1941-1942]
Shooting the moon [short story by Henry Lawson]

Recent Comments

  • IAC on Those Names [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • Paul on Those Names [poem by Banjo Paterson]
  • Floyd Black on Eurunderee [poem by Henry Lawson]
  • Warren fahey on The Institute of Australian Culture: An introduction
  • Julia Sweet nee Mooney on Laughing Mary [poem by John O’Brien]

For Australia

Copyright © 2025 · Log in