The arcades were a significant component of the leisure and commercial life of the nineteenth-century Australian city. In Adelaide, an adjoining complex of two arcades was constructed in 1885: Adelaide Arcade and Gay’s Arcade. These still exist today and have become an iconic part of the city’s urban environment.

Last October I travelled to Adelaide for research as one of the fortunate recipients of a 2023 Jack Cross Fellowship from the Friends of South Australia’s Archives (alongside Robyn Dunlop from University of Newcastle). The organisation inaugurated the fellowship in 2022 in honour of Jack Cross, their longest-serving President. This post is an edited version of the article I wrote for their December 2023 newsletter, which explained that the ‘Fellowships are awarded annually to support researchers of South Australian history to pursue research in archives, with a focus on the use of South Australian resources.’

As part of my 2022 thesis on Australia’s nineteenth-century arcades, I did some extensive research into these buildings but in-person archival research was stymied by COVID-19. The generosity of the FSAA gave me the opportunity to begin to undertake an initial scoping visit, which will add nuance to the book I’m writing based on my thesis.

During the visit I examined the resources available in some of the Adelaide archives, which will allow me to further explore the histories of this site and those who were connected with it – architects and owners, shopkeepers and workers, shoppers, and other visitors – during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as its businesses and the goods and services traded within. 

Although this was intended as a scoping visit, it was a very fruitful and yielded a rich range of material. I spent a week in Adelaide, visiting State Library South Australia, the City Archives, the Architecture Museum at University of South Australia, and special collections at University of Adelaide. During my visit, I was able to digitise a large amount of primary manuscript and published material relating to the long history of the sites, including original plans, images, letters, and other sources not available online. I also accessed a wide range of publications from the twentieth century to today that revealed the importance of this heritage site to Adelaide, its history, and present day placemaking.

Although time did not permit me to visit State Records South Australia, I plan to return in 2024 to examine their small collection of related records, as well as to delve further into the City Archives, which has a large amount of material but requires some intensive investigation and sifting through indexes and boxes to find the relevant information. Also, the National Trust of South Australia, while they did not have any records of relevance, suggested that I visit the South Australian Heritage Council, which will also be in the plan for next visit.

Two other valuable contributions arose from the work. The first was the ability to (finally!) visit the arcades in-person for the first time since the very beginning of my thesis. I closely observed the architectural details, the changes made to the site over the years, and some of the similarities with one of Melbourne’s (sadly demolished) arcades, the Eastern on Bourke Street. Experiencing the site in person provided a more complex understanding of its place in the city and also allowed me to view the museum, which has printed material and objects related to the arcade, the latter of which are often very difficult to find or identify.

It was also great to see what shops are there today and notice the people enjoying the building. Secondly, I met library and archives staff who were wholly generous with their time, expertise, and knowledge of the city. They picked out material and publications for me to view that I hadn’t already identified and were really valuable to the research. It was also really fantastic to immerse myself for almost a week in the lovely city that is Adelaide!

From here, I intend to further explore this topic and analyse the large amount of material that I collected while in Adelaide, which will contribute to my book on Australia’s arcades, as well as an online exhibition and website project that I hope to produce in the next year. The research conducted in Adelaide will also likely provide evidence to support a larger application for funding to delve further into the history of the arcades and the next phase of research to be conducted in 2024.

I am greatly appreciative to the Friends of South Australia’s Archives for the Jack Cross Fellowship and will keep you up to date with further work on my research and, in the future, you’ll see an article on the arcades and their history right here.