The stories of a number of people are told in the book. Some are given in detail, others are barely mentioned. On this page is some additional information about these people and tales of people who may not have been in the book, but were part of the early Adelaide community.
Henry Hussey came to South Australia with his family when he was barely a teenager. In 1897, he wrote a book about his life (Colonial Life and Christian Experience). He told some delightful tales of his early years. He worked for the Register as a young man. Thursdays nights they had to work late and afterwards he and two mates delighted in wandering around town making animal noises to frighten sleeping neighbours. He worked as a sailor for a time. It was a rough life. In his mid-twenties he converted to christianity and believed that he ought to be baptised by immersion. Although not wealthy, he then decided he must go to the USA to be immersed by the Rev. A Campbell in Bethany, NY. He took one of the first steamships (the Golden Age) to cross the Pacific to Panama, traipsed across the Ishmus and then got another steamship. Eventually he got to Bethany. He returned via England. His book is tedious about religion but fascinating about daily life.
Henry Watson, the brother-in-law of J Barton Hack, gave talks in England on behalf of the South Australian Company telling how wonderful the new colony was. He decided to migrate himself. He arrived on 21 March 1839 accompanied by his wife, two children, and his parents. He had a difficult voyage.They all had to share one small cabin, his father complained constantly and his mother got into trouble with the crew as she insisted on reading the bible to them while they worked. Once here, he realised that the fine stories he had told about the colony were just that, stories, and he regretted having believed the puffery. However, he stayed and had a good life and lived in North adelaide until his death in 1894.
