Plympton, South Australia

Plympton Adelaide, South Australia
Population	5,459 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)	5038
LGA(s)	City of West Torrens
State electorate(s)	Badcoe
Federal division(s)	Adelaide Hindmarsh
Suburbs around Plympton: North Plympton North Plympton Kurralta Park North Plympton, Camden Park Plympton Kurralta Park, Glandore Camden Park, Morphettville Plympton Park, South Plympton Glandore

Plympton is an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. The name is believed to have been given by Henry Mooringe Boswarva to a private subdivision in the area, naming after his home town in Devon, England.^[2] It was accepted as an official name for the suburb in 1944.

Of irregular shape, the suburb straddles parts of Marion Road, Cross Road and Anzac Highway. To the east of Marion Road it is bounded by the former Holdfast Bay railway line (northwest), Gray and Beckman Streets (east), and the Glenelg tram line (south). To the west of Marion Road it is bounded Mooringe Avenue (north), Streeters Road and Whelan Avenue (west), and the Glenelg tram line (south).

The remnants of the Holdfast Bay railway line can be found in Plympton's West Side cycleway.

Plympton is in the City of West Torrens local government area; the South Australian House of Assembly districts of Badcoe and Morphett; and the Australian House of Representatives divisions of Hindmarsh and Adelaide.

History

Plympton Post Office opened on 7 October 1856.^[3]

In 1896 a "plumpton" track was established in the area by the Plympton Coursing Company.^[4] The Adelaide Plumpton Coursing Club was formed in 1908, with John Creswell as president, to control dog racing at Plympton.^[5] The track and adjacent polo grounds later came to be called "Birkalla", after the nearby railway station, though the name "Plympton Plumpton" lingered on.^[6]

Prior to WWII Birkalla was the home of the Adelaide Hunt Club's kennels.^[7]

In popular culture

Plympton is referred to in the song "Plympton High" from the 1993 album True Believers by John Schumann of Redgum.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Plympton (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. 
2. Suburbs of the City of West Torrens
3. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
4. "Plympton Coursing Company". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 23 November 1895. p. 6. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
5. "Coursing". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 November 1908. p. 9. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
6. "Coursing". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 29 May 1920. p. 5. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
7. "Yoicks—Ho Forrard!—And The Hunt Is Up". The News (Adelaide). Vol. 48, no. 7, 433. South Australia. 31 May 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 28 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.

34°57′S 138°33′E