Bedford Park is a southern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The Hancock family established a homestead and

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

at the foot of the Adelaide Hills in the mid 19th century. A family name from an earlier generation lent its name to the property of ''Bedford'' which was later changed to ''Bedford Park''. In 1917, of the property was purchased by the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

and a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

was built. Initially housing

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s the sanatorium was expanded until, by 1924, it had 74 beds and was a self-supporting farm with

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s and grain production. The sanatorium was demolished and Flinders University built in its place in the 1960s. ''Burbank'' Post Office opened on 26 September 1961 and was renamed ''Bedford Park'' in 1966, before closing in 1980. Bedford Park is the home of Flinders University and the

Flinders Medical Centre Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) is a major public tertiary hospital and teaching school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It serves as the t ...

. The greater part of the suburb lies within the City of Mitcham, but the north west corner lies within the City of Marion where the Warriparinga wetlands and Living Kaurna Cultural Centre are located beside the Sturt River. The suburb is in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

electorate of Davenport. It is in the federal

Division of Boothby The Division of Boothby is an Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named after William Bo ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,836 people in Bedford Park. 46.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 6.7% and Indonesia 5.5%. 50.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 10.6% and Indonesian 5.6%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 38.1%, Catholic 15.1% and Islam 8.6%.

References

Suburbs of Adelaide {{Adelaide-geo-stub