This document is the original of the second South Australia Act. Assented to on 3 July 1842, it repealed the Act of 1834 and gave all powers to the Governor and a Legislative Council of at least seven members nominated by the Crown, subject to the Colonial Secretary. Confused administration, land speculation and economic recession caused the Wakefield experiment to fail and the Province was brought to the edge of bankruptcy in 1840. A British Parliamentary Enquiry recommended the replacement of the Colonisation Commissioners with a more orthodox form of colonial administration.

Sources

Castles, AC and Harris, MC, Lawmakers and Wayward Whigs, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 1987.

Jaensch, Dean (ed.), The Flinders History of South Australia: Political History, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 1986.

Pike, Douglas, Paradise of Dissent: South Australia 1829–1857, 2nd edn, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1967.



Detail from the first page of the handwritten document introducing the South Australia Act 1842 (UK).

Long Title:	An Act to provide for the better Government of the province of South Australia
No. of pages:	15 + title (6 shown here)
Medium:	Vellum
Measurements:	18–19 inches x 12 inches per membrane
Provenance:	British Parliament
Features:	The notation on the first page conveys the Queen's Assent, and also that of the House of Lords
Location & Copyright:	House of Lords Record Office
Reference:	5 & 6 Vic. C.61