South Australian olive history
Boothby oil press 1878
The following is a collection of research papers, minor publications etc related to the history of the South Australian olive industry. These represent 'work-in-progress' on my Master's thesis and inevitably reflect changes in approach and content as my research matures. More papers will be added when available.

All are copyright © Craig Hill and are not for publication, in whole or in part, without written permission. Any footnotes have been removed from the on-line version of the papers.

Updated September 2001

This paper is an exploration of some of the issues in the history of the olive industry in South Australlia. Although it deals with South Australia - in factmostly the area around Adelaide in which the olive industry was centred - and with just the 'culinary' aspect of the industry, the paper addresses an issue which is central to the development of the industry in all of the colonies into which olives were introduced in the nineteenth century: why did some settlers, predominantly British and with only little knowledge and even less experience, introduce olives and attempt to establish an industry that they were confident would rival those of Southern Europe?

A version of this paper was delivered to the International Conference of the Research Centre for the History of Food and Drink, Adelaide University, 7 July 1998.

On-line version

Early South Australian horticulture, including the planting of extensive olive groves around Adelaide, was experimental and represented a research and development project on a grand scale. The pioneers were concerned initially with 'adaptability' of 'useful' European plants; once proven, however, the need for more systematic research became evident and, from about the 1870s, the emphasis shifted to horticultural improvement and exploitation. For the incipient olive industry this translated mainly to obtaining and developing the most productive olive varieties for the South Australian environment - still a major preoccupation. This paper traces the sources of this more scientific, more professional and more institutionalised approach from the 1870s to the mid-twentieth century.

A version of this paper was delivered to the HVO Seminar Group at the Waite Institute, Adelaide University, November 1999.

On-line version

In 1910 The [South Australian] Daily Herald praised olive oil as "an excellent food". "...in cooking", it continued, "it is regarded by experts in the culinary art as practically indispensable" .

Here, however, is the paradox: from about 1870 until the mid-twentieth century, South Australia produced ­ or at least could have produced ­ sufficient olive oil to satisfy the demands of colonial kitchens, both domestic and professional. Moreover influential South Australians were familiar with the use of olive oil in Southern French, Italian and Northern African cooking and, long before it became fashionable, they understood the dietary benefits of the 'Mediterranean diet' in which olive oil figured so largely. Yet, judging by contemporary recipe books and other sources, olive oil seems to have been a notably dispensable ingredient in the food of colonial South Australians. Often adulterated with other vegetable oils, its culinary use was limited almost exclusively to 'salad oil' and occasionally for grilling fish. This paper analyses this apparent reluctance of colonial South Australian to incorporate olive oil more generally into their daily cooking habits.

A version of this paper was delivered to the International Conference of the Research Centre for the History of Food and Drink, Adelaide University, 2 July 2001.

On-line version