Mount Schank, South Australia

This article is about the locality in South Australia. For the associated dormant volcano, see Mount Schank.

Mount Schank South Australia
View of Mount Schank from the road to Port MacDonnell.
Mount Schank
Coordinates	37°56′24″S140°43′26″E / 37.94°S 140.724°E / -37.94; 140.724 [1]
Population	264 (SAL 2021) [2]
Established	31 October 1996 [3]
Postcode(s)	5291 [4]
Time zone	ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)	ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location	385 km (239 mi) south-east of Adelaide 14 km (9 mi) south of Mount Gambier
LGA(s)	District Council of Grant [1]
State electorate(s)	Mount Gambier [5]
Federal division(s)	Barker [6]
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 19.0 °C 66 °F 8.2 °C 47 °F 708.4 mm 27.9 in
Suburbs around Mount Schank: Kongorong Moorak OB Flat OB Flat Kongorong Mount Schank Caveton Cape Douglas Cape Douglas Allendale East Caveton
Footnotes	Locations [4] [1] Climate [7] Adjoining localities [1]

Mount Schank is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located about 385 kilometres (239 miles) south-east of the state capital of Adelaide and 14 kilometres (8.7 miles) south of the municipal seat of Mount Gambier in the south-east of the state. ^{[1] [4]}

Messers Arthur's sheep station at Mount Schank by George French Angas

British colonisation of the area began in 1842 when brothers Edward and Fortescue Arthur (sons of Sir George Arthur) established the Mount Schank Station. The Arthur brothers were in continuous conflict with the local Bungandidj people from the time of their arrival. Many of their shepherds absconded, horses were speared and hundreds of their sheep were taken. The brothers had to do much of the shepherding work themselves and often engaged in close combat with "the Blacks". On one occasion Fortescue was slightly wounded after being speared. After capturing and chaining up a Bungandidj man, Edward forced him to reveal the location of their camp. An armed group of settlers was then organised by Edward and the Aboriginal camp was raided and destroyed, with six or eight Bungandidj being killed. The Arthur brothers could not sustain the effort of keeping the sheep station and with ruinous financial losses they sold out to Robert Leake of nearby Glencoe station in 1844. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

The Clarke family then owned Mount Schank station for around 140 years before it was bought in 2005 by former chairman of the AFL, Ron Evans. In 2017 the property was valued at around fifty million dollars. ^[11]

Part of Mount Schank became a private sub-division of land within the cadastral unit of the Hundred of MacDonnell. Boundaries were created on 31 October 1996 for the “long established name.” ^{[1] [3]}

Mount Schank consists of land adjoining both sides of the Riddoch Highway between Mount Gambier to the north and Port MacDonnell to the south. The locality includes a number of geological features consisting of the dormant ^[12] volcano, Mount Schank, which is located on the eastern side of the Riddoch Highway and a number of water-filled sinkholes such as the Little Blue Lake located on land to the west of the Riddoch Highway. ^[1] The majority land use within the locality is agriculture with an area located between the Riddoch highway and the western side of the dormant volcano is zoned for industrial purposes. ^{[13] [1]}

The following places within Mount Schank are listed on the South Australian Heritage Register - Mount Salt Limestone Track ^[14] and Mount Schank state heritage area ^[15]

Mount Schank is located within the federal division of Barker, the state electoral district of Mount Gambier and the local government area of the District Council of Grant. ^{[6] [5] [1]}

References

1. "Search result for "Mount Schank (Locality Bounded)" (Record no SA0015111) with the following layers selected - "Suburbs and Localities", "Place names (gazetteer)" "Local Government Areas" and "Development Plan Layers"". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
2. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Mount Schank (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
3. Kentish, P.M. (31 October 1996), "GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1991, Notice to Assign Boundaries and Names to Places" (PDF), The South Australian Government Gazette: 1517, retrieved 19 April 2018
4. "Postcode for Mount Schank, South Australia". postcodes-australia.com. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
5. "District of Mount Gambier Background Profile". Electoral Commission SA. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
6. "Federal electoral division of Barker" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
7. "Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics Mount Gambier Aero (nearest weather station)". Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
8. Arthur, Edward; Arthur, Fortescue (1844), A journal of events from Melbourne, Port Philip to Mount Schank, Rex Nan Kivell Collection, Sheerness, nla.obj-497434193, retrieved 10 July 2021– via Trove
9. Robinson, George Augustus; Clark, Ian D (2014). Travels of George Augustus Robinson, Chief Protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate.
10. "PORTLAND BAY". The South Australian . Vol. VII, no. 575. South Australia. 19 November 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 10 July 2021– via National Library of Australia.
11. Taylor, Colin (15 November 2017). "Historic grazing property for sale: Mt Schanck Station, Mt Gambier, 2870ha". Weekly Times. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
12. "South Australia For Everyone: Mount Schank". www.australiaforeveryone.com.au. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
13. "Development Plan, Grant Council, Consolidated – 11 February 2016" (PDF). [Government of South Australia. pp. 124, 127, 138, 199, 268–272 and 366. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
14. "Mount Salt Limestone Track". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
15. "Mount Schank state heritage area". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 18 August 2016.