Greek migrants in South Australia The first Greek migrants to arrive in South Australia were Georgios and Theodore Tramountanas from Athens on 31 December 1842. Theodore went on to Western Australia but Georgios, who later changed his name to George North, stayed in South Australia. He worked for some time for John Peake of Clarendon making wine and brandy. He then worked briefly on the ship Admella. While on shore leave he met Lydia Vosper who was born in England on 10 January 1835. They were married on 26 September 1858 at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Port Adelaide. Their wedding reception was held on the Admella. Luckily George signed off that night to be with his wife and look for a job ashore. The Admella was wrecked on 6 August 1859 with a loss of 89 lives. The young couple moved to a property between Colton and Elliston on Eyre Peninsula which they called North Park. Here they established a farm and had two sons, Hero Clare and George Henry. During these years he worked also on a farm at Streaky Bay for W.A. Hall and at times drove a team of bullocks from Port Lincoln to Streaky Bay. No matter how hard he worked to add to the farm's income it was not a success. His son Hero, born at Port Lincoln in 1864, was educated at local schools and during the following years helped his father with fencing contracts, kangaroo hunting and other jobs. He married Rosina Boylan from Crystal Brook on 18 May 1885. Eventually Hero and his father took up land in the Hundreds of Colton and Talia, which included a large part of Mount Wedge, including a property near Lake Newland. This time it turned out to be a success. Hero soon became involved in the local communities. For 21 years he was the starter for the Elliston Racing Club. By 1888 George was listed among the West Coast Pastoralists. George and Lydia lived on this property and grew grapes until his death on 29 January 1911. His wife Lydia passed away on 20 November 1913. They left two sons, 21 grandchildren and one great grandchild. Headstones are at the Colton Catholic Cemetery. Their son George Henry, born at Green Park near Port Linclon was the first South Australian born Greek. He married Eliza Valkema on 4 November 1884 and they settled on their own property at Collie not far from his brother Hero. They had eleven children, as did Hero. H.C. North's residence at Colton. ********* ***** With thanks to Mario Jaspers who supplied some of the information. *** If you would like to find out more, please go to HOME PAGE for more information. Thank you for visiting Flinders Ranges Research, We hope you enjoy your stay and find the information useful. This site has been designed and is maintained by FRR.