Heritage News and Events

Heritage News from the South Australian Heritage Council

Available to read here. Scroll to the bottom of the page to read previous editions of Heritage News.

The Old Gum Tree - a contentious heritage

On 21 November 2025 at the Drill Hall, Torrens Training Depot, Dr Susan Marsden gave a talk about the history behind the artwork of Charles Hill that celebrated the Proclamation Day ceremony in 1836.

Charles Hill took 20 years to produce the massive history painting, that includes, at its centre, an arched old red gum that was (and still is) considered to be the only place-marker of the proclamation.

The distinctive arched old gum tree, central to Hill’s painting and to British colonial commemoration, was already significant in Kaurna mythology. The tree has been venerated as the centrepiece of SA’s annual proclamation day ceremony held since the 1850s. Not without controversy, even amongst those who were there in 1836 – as the state heritage citation makes clear.

The talk was recorded - listen here.

Dr Marsden's slides that were referred to during the talk can be viewed here.

Dr Marsden retains the rights to the talk and her own photos, and acknowledges the other picture-owners, in particular, the Art Gallery of South Australia and the State Library of South Australia.

The painting can now be found at the Governor's residence on North Terrace. Open days are held twice a year. A copy of the painting is held in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia but is only on display occasionally.

The Old Gum Tree is located at McFarlane Street, Glenelg North in a reserve.

For more information, Dr Susan Marsden has written a book that can be purchased through Wakefield Press in 2026. The book is titled Mr. Hill's History Painting: Unpacking the histories in Charles Hill's The Proclamation of South Australia 1836.