Edward Frome
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General Edward Charles Frome (7 January 1802 – 2 November 1890) was a
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
officer and
Surveyor General of South Australia The Surveyor General of South Australia (also stylised Surveyor-General) is a position originally created for the Surveyor General for the colony of South Australia. The post is held by an official responsible for government surveying Sur ...
.


Early life

Born in
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
on 7 January 1802, Frome was orphaned early in his life. He was educated in
Blackheath, London Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. Historically within the county of Kent, it is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich, London, G ...
, England, where he became a close friend of
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...
.


Career

He received his commission in the
Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...
in 1825. He was involved in the
Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...
construction in Canada in 1827 to 1833. In September 1839 Frome arrived in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
on the ship ''Recovery'' to take up an appointment as the colony's third Surveyor General. He was also a member of the
South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, H ...
(2 October 1839 to 14 June 1843). He made an important contribution in surveying large areas of South Australia for new immigrants to settle upon. He was also a competent artist and made many sketches and paintings of landscapes on his surveying expeditions. In one of his sketchbooks, there is a sketch of a
Milmenrura The Tanganekald people were or are an Aboriginal Australian people of South Australia, today classed as part of the Ngarrindjeri nation. The clan name Milmenrura (also spelt Milmendura, Milmendjuri, or Milmendjeri) was often used in the early da ...
village in the south-east of South Australia consisting of a cluster of about twelve established Aboriginal homes. It is annotated with the note "burnt by me, October 1840". This was apparently part of the retribution for the
Maria massacre ''Maria'' was a brigantine of 136 tons, built in Dublin, Ireland, and launched in 1823 as a passenger ship. On 26 June 1840 she sailed from Port Adelaide under orders for Hobart. ''Maria'' was commanded by William Ettrick Smith. With Smith sai ...
of shipwrecked survivors a few months earlier. In 1843 he led an expedition to the mid-north of South Australia and was the first to accurately map
Lake Frome Lake Frome / Munda is a large endorheic lake in the Australian state of South Australia to the east of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a large, shallow, unvegetated salt pan, long and wide, lying mostly below sea level and having a total s ...
. After his ten-year term expired he returned to England and was subsequently stationed in
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
, Scotland and Gibraltar. Between 1869 and 1874 he served as
Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey The lieutenant governor of Guernsey is the representative of the British monarch in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency of the British Crown. The role of the lieutenant governor is to act as the ''de facto'' head of state in Guern ...
.


Later life and legacy

He retired in 1877 with the army rank of general, and died on 2 November 1890 at
Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a town in Surrey, England, south of Centre of London, central London and northeast of Epsom. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 34,872. The majority (73%) was in the NRS social grade, ABC1 ...
in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. His name was given to two lakes –
Lake Frome Lake Frome / Munda is a large endorheic lake in the Australian state of South Australia to the east of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a large, shallow, unvegetated salt pan, long and wide, lying mostly below sea level and having a total s ...
in the state's north-east and
Lake Frome Lake Frome / Munda is a large endorheic lake in the Australian state of South Australia to the east of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a large, shallow, unvegetated salt pan, long and wide, lying mostly below sea level and having a total s ...
in the state's south-east;
Frome River The Frome River is an ephemeral river in the Australian state of South Australia located within the Lake Eyre basin. Its source is near Mount Rose in the northern Flinders Ranges and it discharges into the south-eastern side of the northern par ...
in the
Lake Eyre basin The Lake Eyre basin ( ) is a drainage basin that covers just under one-sixth of all Australia. It is the largest endorheic basin in Australia and amongst the largest in the world, covering about , including much of inland Queensland, large port ...
; and
Frome Road Frome Road is a connecting road in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. It starts from North Terrace in the Adelaide city centre, running in a northerly direction past the University of South Australia, the site of the old Royal Adela ...
, a major thoroughfare in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
. The South Australian
Electoral district of Frome Frome is a single-member Electoral districts of South Australia, electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia. The electorate stretches nor ...
, named after him, has existed in several incarnations since 1884. The latest incarnation has existed since 1991, but in 2024 the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission announced that at the 2026 state election its name would be changed to Ngadjuri, due to concerns over Frome's involvement in acts of retribution following the ''Maria'' massacre.Biggs, Harve
Electorate of Frome to be renamed 'Ngadjuri' as part of 2026 SA election redistribution after concerns about namesake Edward Frome
''
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
'', 13 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.


See also

*
History of Adelaide This article details the history of Adelaide from the first human activity in the region to the 20th century. Adelaide is a New town, planned city founded in 1836 and the capital of South Australia. Aboriginal settlement The Adelaide plains ...
*
Water Witch (1835 cutter) ''Water Witch'' was a single-masted vessel rigged as a Cutter (boat), cutter built during 1835 in Van Diemen's Land and sunk in 1842 whilst moored in the Murray River, River Murray at Moorundie, south of Blanchetown, South Australia, Blanchet ...


References

* McGrath, Sandra; & Olsen, John. (1981). ''The Artist and the Desert''. Bay Books: Sydney. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Frome, Edward Charles 1802 births 1890 deaths History of Adelaide Explorers of South Australia British Army generals Gibraltarian military personnel 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Surrey Royal Engineers officers Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich 19th-century British painters British male painters Gibraltarian emigrants to England Surveyors General of South Australia Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Colony of South Australia people 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century British male artists