Wharminda, South Australia

Wharminda is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Eyre Peninsula about 242 kilometres (150 miles) west of the state capital of Adelaide.^[7]

Its boundaries were created in 1998 in respect to "the long established name" which is reported as being derived from the "native name of a spring and range of hills in the area", with the spring being known as "The Wharminda Soak", and the literal translation of the word "Wharminda" being "weak water".^[1]

Wharminda Primary School opened as Wharminda Siding School in 1914, and closed in December 2008.^[9][10] The locality also contains a hall, cricket/football oval, netball (netball was called basketball at the time of use) and tennis courts. All of the sporting facilities have now ceased use. Possibly the two most decorated sportsmen were both footballers, David Masters (4 times Mail Medal winner and Glenelg SANFL player) and Chris Prime (number 1 all time goal kicker in South Australia). The most successful club was the Tennis Club, winning more premierships in the association than any other team. Notable tennis players were Mary Noble, Elaine Pierik, Bevan Millard and Peter Prime.^[10] Notable cricketers included Bowlers - Buzz Walton, Peter Schirmer, Mark Millard and Batsmen Peter Forrest and Adrian, David, and Gavin Masters. Cricketing celebrity Simon Head played cricket for, and lived in, Wharminda. Wharminda Cricket team was most famous for losing 9 cricket Grand Finals in a row, before finally winning on their 10th Grand Final appearance in 1985. John Rehn hit the winning runs in that Grand Final, held on the Cleve oval, to much applause (and relief).

An infamous incident happened at the sporting grounds, when a newly commissioned entrance was hit by Coral Masters when attending tennis practice in the families grain truck.

A postal receiving office opened at Wharminda on 5 January 1914, became a licensed post office on 11 January 1994, and closed on 24 September 1999.^[11] The Post Office served as a manual telephone exchange with hours of 7am to 9pm during the week and limited times on the weekend, and a grocery and fuel store. Owners included the families of Karutz, Ashby & Bishop.

It also formerly had a siding on the Eyre Peninsula Railway, which still runs through Wharminda, though use of the train line stopped in May 2019. 4 railway cottages for workers were originally built, but all were removed in the late 1970's.^[1]

A grain silo was built, likely in the 1960's and later a grain shed was added, these are no longer in use.

The principal land use within the locality is 'primary production' which is mainly concerned with "grazing and cropping." A number of well known cattle and sheep studs were located in the area, with Bold Silver Murray Greys (Schuster family), Warama Poll Herefords (Birkin family), Moolanda Merino's (Adrian Masters) and Nantoura Poll Merino's (Prime Family, now Chris Prime), only Nantoura continues.

The area was predominantly of the Christian faith, with a Methodist, later changing to Uniting Church, held in the Wharminda Hall, and Lutheran, with worshippers travelling to Butler Lutheran Church to practice. Lay Preachers for the Methodist/Uniting Church included Geoff Prime and Bevan Millard.

The Country Women's Association (CWA) held meetings in the Wharminda Hall with most Women in the district being members. Some of the participants included Rita Walton, Elsie & Greta Jericho and Julia Rehn.

The Wharminda Agricultural Bureau held meetings in the Wharminda Hall with most Men in the district being members. Some of the participants included Eric & Fred Jericho, Nig & Tuffy Frazer and the Men of the Post families.

The Wharminda Table Tennis Association was started in 1985 by Caron Carr and Mark Millard and held in the hall, and continued for a number of years, before being disbanded. Wharminda have since entered a team in the nearby Cleve competition, with Darren Millard being a notable player.

It also includes the protected area known as the Wharminda Conservation Park.^[12][1]

Wharminda is located within the federal division of Grey, the state electoral district of Flinders and the local government area of the District Council of Cleve.^[4][3][1]