The County of Eyre is a cadastral county in South Australia’s Murray Mallee, proclaimed by Governor George Grey in 1842 and named for the explorer Edward John Eyre. It is a separate district from Eyre Peninsula, which carries the same explorer’s name. The county sits between the Adelaide Hills and the Murray River.
Key Facts
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| State | South Australia |
| Region | Murray Mallee / Adelaide Hills fringe |
| Proclaimed | 1842 |
| Named after | Explorer Edward John Eyre |
| Principal towns | Morgan, Eudunda, Blanchetown, Truro, Sedan, Robertstown |
Parishes in Eyre County
The county’s surveyed hundreds, listed alphabetically:
- Hundred of Anna
- Hundred of Bagot
- Hundred of Beatty
- Hundred of Bower
- Hundred of Brownlow
- Hundred of Dutton
- Hundred of Eba
- Hundred of English
- Hundred of Fisher
- Hundred of Hay
- Hundred of Jellicoe
- Hundred of Neales
- Hundred of Skurray
Towns and Localities Today
Morgan, on a bend of the Murray River, was once a major river port and rail terminus and remains the county’s best-known town. Eudunda, Truro and Robertstown serve the western grain hundreds toward the Adelaide Hills, while Blanchetown and Sedan sit close to the river itself. Blanchetown was long the site of a Murray River ferry crossing, later joined by Lock 1, the first of the river’s South Australian weirs.
Geography
Eyre County runs from the Adelaide Hills in the west to the Murray River in the east, and from Robertstown and Mannum in the north down to Sedan and Swan Reach in the south. This is Mallee and river-cliff country, distinct from the Eyre Peninsula on the state’s far west coast, which shares its name only because both honour the same explorer.
History
Governor George Grey proclaimed the county in 1842, one of the earliest counties surveyed outside the Adelaide plains, honouring Edward John Eyre’s 1839–41 exploration of the colony’s interior and coastline. Its hundreds were settled through the mid-to-late 19th century as wheat farming pushed east from the Adelaide Hills toward the Murray. Morgan’s river port grew rapidly once the railway from Adelaide reached it in 1878, for decades handling more river trade than any other South Australian port.
FAQ
Where is the County of Eyre?
It lies between the Adelaide Hills and the Murray River, from Robertstown and Mannum in the north to Sedan and Swan Reach in the south.
Is the County of Eyre the same as Eyre Peninsula?
No. They are different parts of South Australia named for the same explorer, Edward John Eyre.
Is the County of Eyre still used?
Cadastral counties like Eyre remain part of land titles and property descriptions in South Australia, but they have no government function today.