Скачать или смотреть Sneak Peek 2: Before Elizabeth - A Brief History of Smithfield & The Davoren Road Railway

Full mini doc this Sunday, July11.

Tommy was first noted as being at Smithfield on the 24 May 1855, by the Register Newspaper. It is uncertain what Smith had in mind for Tommy when he initially purchased him but the Register Newspaper states that Tommy was Smith’s new agricultural labourer ‘combining the strength of an ox with the docility of a lamb’’. Tommy was put to work using a plough that had been attached to a reversed horse-collar with portions of a bullock-chain attached to each side. By late 1855 Smith had sold Tommy to Charles Mathews, licensee of the Gepps Cross Hotel for £300. Mathews renamed Jumbo calling him Tommy and put him to work giving people rides, ploughing fields, dislodging bogged vehicles, and in log-pulling races against bullocks from which he was said to have earned his owner a lot of money. Tommy was said to have come to the bar door of the hotel every lunch time for several gallons of beer slops and a loaf of bread. Added to this he would down five bales of hay every day. Those passing the Gepps Cross Hotel on horse were warned by newspaper reporters to take a wide berth away from the hotel especially if their horses were inclined to be skittish, as the sight of the elephant had caused many horses to bolt. In 1857, Tommy was contracted by Mathews to the South Australian Railway Commissioners to assist with the construction of the Adelaide to Gawler Railway line between Salisbury and Smithfield, hauling heavy materials.

The story of Tommy has become a rich part of Smithfield's, and the Gawler Plains, local history. It was not until twenty five years after Tommy’s death that another elephant was seen in Adelaide with the addition of Miss Siam forming part of Adelaide Zoo’s early collection.

Some images in this video courtesy of the Playford's Past Recollect Website.