Tommy the Elephant

The first elephants in Australia appear to be a male and female elephant from Dacca, India which were shipped from Calcutta on board the “Royal Saxon”.  Captained by William Charlesworth, it appears the barque made several journeys between India and the new colony.  It sailed on 1 June from Calcutta and arrived in Hobart Town on 20 August 1851.  The ship was to continue to Port Jackson, NSW.  On board was cargo from India, also African bears, and two splendid Arab horses.  One of the elephants was purchased by William Beaumont and James Waller.  Beaumont was a timber merchant in Sydney.

The male was sold at auction and was exhibited around various hotels in Hobart.  This appears to be Tommy[1].  Sold by T. Y Lowes at the Macquarie Hotel and purchased by Mr Thomas, New Norfolk.  Tommy was put on public display in Hobart Town.  Adds were placed in the Colonial Times newspaper;

The proprietors of the Club Hotel, Murray Street recently imported animals, have made arrangements for their Exhibition in Hobart Town, for a short time only, prior to their proceeding in the interior.  This being one of the most wonderful sights ever exhibited in the Australian Colonies, the Proprietors, anxious to afford the Pubic ready admission, have reduced the Price to one shilling, children sixpence.  Menagerie open daily at the Club Hotel, Murray Street, form 10 o’clock in the morning until 6 o’clock in the evening.

Tommy was soon transported to the mainland, Melbourne, where he remained for several years.  It appears he became part of a circus, on the present day site of the Imperial Hotel, at the top of Bourke street.  Originally known as Nobel’s Circus in 1852, the building housed equestrian shows, promenade concerts and lively dances.  It was renamed in 1856 Salle de Valentino becoming a permanent theatre site.  The Salle de Valentino was half barn, half tent.  

Its proprietor was James Ellis, who started the Cremorne Gardens, London.   James Ellis recreated the Cremorne Gardens in Melbourne.  It was a Botanical Garden that contained a small zoo on ten acres of land.  A newspaper article in the Courier 1854 writes about Tommy;

The greatest performer in Victoria who is in fact the cleverer elephant now located at the Cremorne Gardens went through his part to the satisfaction of a densely crowded audience.  We have no doubt that his elephantine majesty will continue to reign the start of the evening for a long time to come.  The sagacious animal must be seen by all the night-seers in Melbourne.  (Courier, Hobart 8 July 1854 p.3)

It’s possible that Tommy lived at the Cremorne Gardens in the Menagerie that contained other exotic animals such as lions, monkeys, parakeets and an assortment of Australian animals, emu, wallaby and kangaroo.  The Gardens had illuminated grottos, monster pavilion, Hindoo dance by a Native Professor, orchestra and a ballet company.  “The grounds are interspersed with rich and rare exotics and the choicest plants and flowers, emitting the most fragrant and refreshing perfume.  The Elephant will take water every afternoon at four o’clock”. (The Argus 23 Sept 1854.)

The Cremorne Gardens was established in 1853 on the banks of the Yarra River at Richmond in Melbourne.  James Ellis had earlier managed and leased similar gardens of the same name on the banks of the River Thames at Chelsea in London.   James had been declared bankrupt and emigrated to Australia to take advantage of the business opportunities made possible by the Victorian gold rush.  The Cremorne gardens wasn’t a commercial success, attendances were affected by Melbourne’s weather, the influence of Sabbatarians on weekend entertainment and the site was too far from the city for the fashionable crowd. 

At present we are not sure how and why Tommy was sold.  A reference in a newspaper suggested that he was in the Victorian gold fields, but as yet, no further reference has been found.

Captain Heslop brought the elephant from Melbourne in 1852 on the Louisa, for Frank Lamb, who was at that time a resident of Hindley street.  The newspaper lists the cargo of Louisa as 67 chests of tea, 3 kegs of nails, 2 cases of cigar, 10 kegs and 1 elephant.  Captain Heslop told stories of Tommy located under the main batch on the sand ballast.  The cargo consisted of large stocks of tea in chests, and Jumbo must have taken a great dislike to these, for apparently nothing gave him more pleasure than to dash boxes containing this merchandise to pieces against the beams.  

Another form of recreation was to make up pellets of sand with his trunk and throw it at the mate, a Scotchman, against whom he evidently entertained some grudge.  Another anecdote illustrative of the wonderful power of elephants to locate sweets is especially interesting.  Adjoining Tommy’s compartment was temporary steerage, where many passengers were located. One night a certain passenger was sleeping soundly, and was suddenly awakened to find himself pinned down.  Tommy had pushed aside a board in the partition and had passed his trunk over the man's body into his pocket, and was calmly removing some sweets.  The cries of the victim were terrible while he tried to understand what was happening to him.   The news of the arrival of Tommy soon spread, and large numbers of residents brought their families to see him land at Port Adelaide.  Among them was the late Captain Quinn, the then harbour master. The elephant was led to Adelaide to his owner's premises, where for some months he was on show.

After this Tommy went to the Cremorne Gardens Hotel at Unley, Mr Thomas Bentley, the licensee. The Cremorne Hotel boasted a zoo and gardens for its patrons.  Along with the elephant they had a monkey, emu, kangaroo and parrots.  Tommy’s keeper would probe him with a piece of iron, making him very cross.  The keeper would get on his back and made Tommy go around the ring two or three times.  Tommy would also put his two feet on a stump of a eucalyptus tree about 3 foot height, so suddenly that the rider was thrown on his back on the ground. 

Bentley was keen to sell Tommy to John Smith of Smithfield as he was facing court charges over the mistreatment of the elephant and wanted to get him off his hands.  Tommy was only five years of age at the time and as an elephant’s life span is much the same as a human’s he was a playful youngster.  Tommy often wandered the district, getting into trouble pulling washing off the line or playing with water.  One day Tommy decided to turn his attention to the masons working on the hotel.  The labourers not wishing to be disturbed chased him and hit him with their shovels an act which had landed Bentley in court.  Tommy however had his revenge by taking a large quantity of wet plaster into his trunk and spraying it into the labourers’ faces. 

The first home John Smith built for his family was on the very edge of the Main North Road, Smithfield.  Smith had seen potential in positioning his homestead close to the road travelling north and set up part of the homestead as the first inn at Smithfield. 

Within six years Smith became the largest land owner in the area purchasing fourteen more sections of land taking his land holding to one thousand two hundred acres.  By 1852 ideas of a township were beginning to form.  Smith had sketched out plans in his ledger that year which included a site for his new inn, shops, and school all fronting the Main North Road.  Smith’s Creek had been sketched and it was noted as having running water, an important asset for early settlers.  

The township reflected nineteenth century South Australian country town design, of streets in a grid pattern which surrounded a central square.  Smith named the central square in his plan, Augusta Square.  Smithfield was a mainly Scottish settlement and here in the centre of town Smith wanted the site of a Presbyterian Church for the local Scottish Community.  Land was donated by Smith to build the church in 1855, one of the first buildings in the area.   Within two years Smithfield had a store, post office, telegraph station, granary, coach building business, undertaker, railway station, cattle yards, institute building, a new inn and a blacksmith.  Early housing in the area was of pise construction or from quarry stone taken from the hills face.  By the 1860’s Smithfield was an industrious and thriving rural centre with the railway line and the Main North Road its main routes of communication.

Tommy was first noted as being at Smithfield on the 24 May 1855, by the Register Newspaper.  It is uncertain what Smith had in mind for Tommy when he initially purchased him but the Register Newspaper states that Tommy was Smith’s new agricultural labourer ‘combining the strength of an ox with the docility of a lamb’’.  Tommy was put to work using a plough that had been attached to a reversed horse-collar with portions of a bullock-chain attached to each side. 

By late 1855 Smith had sold Tommy to Charles Mathews, licensee of the Gepps Cross Hotel for £300.  Mathews renamed Jumbo calling him Tommy and put him to work giving people rides, ploughing fields, dislodging bogged vehicles, and in log-pulling races against bullocks from which he was said to have earned his owner a lot of money.  Tommy was said to have come to the bar door of the hotel every lunch time for several gallons of beer slops and a loaf of bread.  Added to this he would down five bales of hay every day.   Those passing the Gepps Cross Hotel on horse were warned by newspaper reporters to take a wide berth away from the hotel especially if their horses were inclined to be skittish, as the sight of the elephant had caused many horses to bolt.   In 1857, Tommy was contracted by Mathews to the South Australian Railway Commissioners to assist with the construction of the Adelaide to Gawler Railway line between Salisbury and Smithfield, hauling heavy materials. 

Edward Mathews, (son of Charles) was only a boy at the time of the elephant's death in 1858. He has vivid memories of Tommy’s, strength, and general usefulness on his father's small farm.  Once, when a large gumtree was grubbed up in a paddock at Gepp's Cross, a passing teamster was offered the tree if he could drag it from the paddock to the road.  He tried with the aid of his bullock team, to move the tree without success.   A similar offer was then made to Mr. Mathews, and Tommy promptly hauled the fallen giant, root and branches to the yard adjoining the blacksmith's shop. 

A special four wheeled carriage was designed and constructed for Tommy’s back where up to 20 people could.

Memories of Tommy the Elephant described in 'Caleb 1849-1926' by Paul M Hoskins.

I remember back to my 7th birthday in July 1856, and my birthday request was to go and see 'Tommy" the Asian elephant that lived only three miles from us at the Gepps Cross Hotel. 

At the annual Agricultural and Horticultural Show in the Adelaide Parklands during February 1855, Tommy participated in a walking race with a horse, which the elephant won by some two hundred yards.

The first time I saw "Tommy" was when he was sold to the Smith's owners of Smiths Hotel, at Smith's Creek, near Smithfield around May 1855.  The elephant was walked the thirty miles from Adelaide to Smithfield along the Main North Road, and had a great following of hangers on and curious onlookers, including my family as he passed by the Windmill Hotel.

It was with great excitement that the family went to Gepps Cross, using our spring cart and some on horseback to see the marvellous elephant known as 'Tommy'.  The four wheeled carriage that Mr Matthews had made for the elephant was also used to transport some twenty people along the road from Gepps Cross to Enfield.  The whole family climbed aboard the carriage for the return journey down the hill.  A great day was had by all and a very memorable birthday treat’.

Tommy continued as a local character until March 1858 when he was left in a field without shelter on a cold and stormy night and he died from cramps soon afterwards.  Sadly Tommy was only nine years of age.  His tusks and hide were sent to England and he was buried in a field nearby to the Gepps Cross hotel.  

The Galwer Bunyip Newspaper changed Tommy’s ending into a happy ever after story by telling its readers that Smith had sold his elephant to Wirth’s Circus where he loved to be a hundred and six years old.   It is possible that this story had somehow been confused with an article that appeared in the Register Newspaper in which a reporter asked Philip Wirth, of Wirth Circus, whether it was possible for an elephant to be employed in agriculture.  An elderly lady who was standing nearby turned to the reporter and said that an elephant on a farm at Smithfield had proved to be a failure more than fifty years ago.

Contemporary newspaper articles hinted that Tommy died of starvation.  Edward Mathews was able to recall that Tommy was liberally fed and by way of midday refreshment, was almost always amused with several gallons of 'beer dope' and a loaf of bread.

John Smith’s homestead has since been demolished, but his stone built barn can still be seen on Main North Road, at Smithfield today.  The remaining solid stone and brick building with stone floor and gabled roof was erected sometime in the 1860s and was used as a stable by Smith.  The stone to build the stable had been carted down from the local quarry in the hills’ face behind the building and the wood had been cut from nearby Peachey Forest.  Smith used the stable not only for his own horses but also for those who had stopped at his inn requiring food and rest for their horses.    

Locally a well-known legend has it that Smith kept his elephant in this stable, in fact the stable is commonly known in the district as Elephant House.  However this was not the case and under close observation it can be clearly seen that it would not have been possible for an elephant to fit within the stable.  The entrance to the stable is small in width and quite low.  The manger running through the stable’s centre together with the fitted stalls make the stable far too small for an elephant to occupy.  A friend of the Smith family, Walter Maitland, remembered that his father used to tell him about Jumbo the elephant when he was a child.  His father told him that every night Smith would tie Jumbo to a tree by a chain attached to one front leg and he was fed five sheaves of hay for his dinner.    The latter seems to be the more plausible explanation of the two.

Maitland’s father would tell him about his regular long journeys from the town of Clare to Adelaide driving a horse and buggy.  He would stop outside the Smith’s farm to watch the unique sight of an elephant pulling a five furrow plough in paddock.   Smith’s son, also called John, told how Tommy was used for drawing water from a deep well on the farm.  He would lead Jumbo to and fro to raise and lower buckets to draw water.  The water was sold to the teamsters passing to and fro from the Burra copperfields.  Tommy was also put to work to pull a plough and even though he did both jobs well he was too slow and Smith who had only had the elephant for a very short time decided to sell Jumbo to Matthews.

Tommy was used to divert the course of Smith’s Creek when Smith was setting up his township.  Smith’s Creek is a small stream coming down from the hills in the east and flows westward past Smithfield.    While there is no documentary evidence to support the story that an elephant was involved in the creek’s diversion there is no doubt that Smith did divert the course of Smith’s Creek allowing the flow of water to pass through his new town.  In fact a sketch in Smith’s ledger of Smith’s Creek dated 1852 shows the creek’s course very different to that of today.   Smith was also claimed to have used Tommy to build several dams on his property.  During June 1855, there was a court case which involved Smith and a local man, Samuel Crittenden.  The diversion of Smith’s Creek away from Crittenden’s property had caused a loss of income as he no longer had the water for cattle that he thought he would have when he purchased the property.  The local legend in which an elephant was used to divert the course of Smith’s Creek through Smithfield probably originated at this time.  However, throughout the court case there is no mention of the use of an elephant in the diversion.

The story of Tommy has become a rich part of the City of Playford’s local history.  It was not until twenty five years after Tommy’s death that another elephant was seen in Adelaide with the addition of Miss Siam forming part of Adelaide Zoo’s early collection.