It is the story of three men in the early days of Adelaide - John Hart, Peter Egerton-Warburton and Augustus Short - men from very different backgrounds but all in Adelaide at the same time and eventually connected by the intermarrages of their children.

John Hart was born in Devon in 1809 the year his fatherwas convicted of libel and sent to Teneriffe. John whent to sea at the age of 12, and reached Australia in 1828 where his knowledge of the eastern and southern coasts later enabled him to provide sailing directions for Colonel Light. Settling in Adelaide in 1846 he turned to commercial projects and politics. He was an astute businessman and a shrewed polititian. He was a member of nine ministries, treasurer six times and premier three times.

Peter Egerton-Warburton, went into the navy at the age of 12, but left to join the 13th Native Infantry Battalion in Bombay. On resigning this post he came to Adelaide as the appointed Police Commissioner. He made several successful expeditions but was fired for being too often away, though he had always travelled at the Government’s request and his journyes provided much information. He was later exonerated but never reinstated. In 1872 his last and best known expedition took him from Alice Springs across the Great Sandy Desert to Roebourne on the north coast of Western Australia. He was hailed a hero, honoured by the Queen and awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s gold medal.

Like Hart, Augustus Short was Devon born but his family tree was rich in highly placed legal men and church dignitaries. Augustus chose the church and arrived in Adelaide as its first Anglican Bishop in 1847. His see was enourmous, including all of South and West Australia and what is now the Northern Territory. He travelled over as much of it as he could. In Adelaide he was responsible for building the catherral, St. Peter’s College and Adelaide University.

The story of all three is told here by one of their present-day desendants, using information from letters, diaries and family lore.