The Almonds

of Walkerville

by Judith M. Brown

Printed by The Griffin Press, 1970, [First Edition], black and white photographic plates, photographic frontispiece, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners inscription on front endpaper, price-clipped dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing, bumping, creasing, chipping and small tears (see photographs)

“The old homestead The Almonds was originally part of Adelaide, as it was built five years before Walkerville separated from Yatala.  In this delightful story Judith Brown traces not only the lives of the owners of the house, but the history of early Adelaide and Walkerville.
When Penelope and William Belt arrived in South Australia in 1851 the infant colony was practically deserted as most of the able-bodied men had left for the newly discovered goldfields in Victoria.  Prices were high and labour was scarce, and Penelope found herself wishing they had gone to Victoria instead.  They stayed, however, and William became one of Adelaide’s leading barristers.  He bought the Almonds in 1856 and his family were to live in the house for the next ninety-three years.  During this time the small colony grew to a flourishing state and Australia sent troops to the Boer War as well as two world wars.  Penelope and William’s daughter, Nelly, married William Austin Horn who financed the Horn Scientific Expedition to the MacDonnell Ranges in 1894, was the hero of a famous ride to lodge a mining claim in Adelaide after a shepherd discovered copper at Moonta and was one of the first directors of the newly formed company at Broken Hill in the 1880s.
In 1958 the Almonds was saved from demolition by Mr. James Kingston Stuart who bought it, restored it, and with his family, lived there for eleven years.  It now has a National Trust “B” Classification for “Highly Significant buildings.  Strongly recommended for preservation” In his foreword to this history of The Almonds the President of the National Trust of South Australia, Mr Dean Berry, says “I have been so charmed with a tale well told that I cannot help but wonder why all the historical research does not hold the reader equal strength.”.”