Historic Properties:
The Briars – Medindie
'The Briars', Medindie 1880 - SLSA: [PRG 742/5/139]
Located on Briar Avenue, Medindie, The Briars was built for
George C. Hawker. When Hawker purchased the property, it had a modest home
already built, which he altered. He added another story and then decorated his
property in Classical Italianate style. The main palazzo style façade features
white rendered arches and a centred square tower. The design is carried along the
side of the building with three archways.[1]
The home features 30 rooms.
The original lot (Lot 38) on which Hawker built his mansion was owned by
Francis Hayborough Dutton, who sold it to Francis Corbett Singlton in 1850.
Singleton built the modest house that would eventually be added to and become
The Briars. George Hawker purchased the property in 1857 and Lots 10 and 37 for
£3500. This equated to approximately eight acres of land. Hawker purchased an
additional four acres from Singleton in 1858, increasing his land holding to twelve
acres. Thirty years later, in 1891, Hawker purchased Lots 12 and 13 from Francis
Dutton.[2]
Between 1865 and 1874, the Hawker family lived in England. During this time, The Briars was leased to John Acraman. The Hawkers returned to economic prosperity, and additions were made to the property, which now contained the house, stables, servants’ quarters and five acres of land used as paddocks.
 |
| 1880 Hallway of the "Briars", home of George Charles Hawker. SLSA: [B 41859] |
After Hawker's death, the property was
sold to James William Cowell, a Norwood timber merchant. Cowel died in 1910;
his estate was then managed by The Executive Trustee and Agency Company, which subdivided
the acreage into 16 lots, leaving The Briars on approximately an acre of land. The
property was then sold to William Bramwell Booth of the Salvation Army. The
property was sold in 1987 for two million dollars to investors looking to transform
it into a retirement village. This plan went unrealised, and instead, it eventually
returned to private ownership.
In 1914, The Briars were purchased by the Salvation Army and
became the McBride Maternity Hospital. The
Hospital was named in honour of Mr R. J. McBride, who was a prominent grazier
at Kooringa near Burra. Mr McBride was known for his philanthropy, donated £3000
pounds to purchase the property for the purpose of a hospital.[3]
The hospital provided accommodation for single
mothers and their babies, as well as some public maternity patients. Some mothers
(unwillingly) had their babies adopted out from the hospital. The hospital operated
until the mid-1970s. It then became a convalescent hospital in 1978, with a
small hostel for single mothers. The hostel closed in 1983, and the hospital
closed in 1986.
George Charles Hawker by artist Thomas Caleb Dalwood c.1890
SLSA: [B 3712]
The Honorary George
Hawker MP (1818-1905) was a successful sheep grazier and politician. George
Hawker served in Parliament for 25 years from 1858 until 1883. In that time, he
served as Speaker of the House of Assembly 1860-1865, Treasurer 1875, Chief
Secretary in 1876, and Commissioner of Public Works from 1877-1881. The town of
Hawker in the Flinders Ranges is named in his honour.
Hawker married Bessie
Seymour in 1845. Together they had fifteen children, six sons and six
daughters. Hawker was to receive a Knighthood from Queen Victoria in 1895, but
died before it could be bestowed upon him. George Hawker died at his home, The
Briars, on 21 May 1895, and was buried in the North Road Cemetery.
His widow appealed posthumously for
George’s honours, which were approved by Queen Victoria, making her Lady Hawker.
Hawkers’ estate left £305, 800. His art collection was left to his wife, who
subsequently donated the collection of paintings and statues to the Art Gallery
of South Australia upon her death. A marble bust of George Hawker sits on level
one of Parliament House in Adelaide.[4]
Researched and written by Allen Tiller, ©2026
#AllenTiller #history #TheBriars #HauntedAdelaide #northroadcemetery
[1] McDougall & Vines
Conservation and Heritage Consultants, Heritage Survey Of The Town Of
Walkerville, The Corporation Of The Town Of Walkerville, Vol. (2 April 2005)
pp. 22-28.
[2] Ibid.
[3] 'MR. R. J. M. McBRIDE.', The
Register (10 February 1917), p. 11.; 'McBRIDE MATERNITY HOSPITAL.', The
Advertiser, (30 January 1914), p. 10.
[4] 'Hawker, George Charles
(1818–1895)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography,
Australian National University,
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hawker-george-charles-3734/text5873.
