Small square of cow skin with brown and tan hair. The cow to which it belonged is believed to have been owned by Governor Hindmarsh. The hide is part of the records of William Voules Brown and his descendants, comprising correspondence, wills, certificates, indenture, photographs and other miscellaneous papers.

The cow hide came into the Brown family's possession, and a portion was kept as a souvenir. According to the family tradition, Governor Hindmarsh's cow (which sailed to South Australia on the Buffalo 1836) was one of the first milking cows in the colony and helped to feed William Perkins and Adelaide, infant children of William Voules and Harriet Brown. Daughter Adelaide was named so because she was one of the first children born on town lands.

William Voules Brown (1809-1893) married Harriet Perkins (1812-1897) in St. Pancras New Church, England - they were both living in St. Pancras parish at the time. In 1836 William, Harriet and their young son William Jnr. sailed to South Australia in the ship Coromandel. They arrived at Kangaroo Island 28 December 1836, the day the new colony was proclaimed, and landed at Holdfast Bay 12 January 1837.

They camped for a short time near the Old Gum Tree at Glenelg (According to J. Rich, a leaf of the tree is amongst the family papers in PRG 373), then moved to Adelaide, where they lived in a dugout cave on the banks of the River Torrens. William bought two town acres in the first town acres sale in March 1837 and the family lived on the Carrington Street block. The family moved around and also resided at Glenelg, Port Adelaide, Clarendon and by 1850 had settled in Brighton, where William was known as a farmer, publican and major landowner.

Four of their children later had their own families. William Voules Brown (1839-1920) married twice and resided in various locations north of Adelaide. Victor Voules Brown (1841-1910) married twice and moved to the Northern Territory. Elizabeth Susannah Brown (1845-1926) married James Harvey (1843-1926) and moved to Salisbury. John Alexander Voules Brown (1852-1945) married Eleanor Johnson (1857-1918) and was involved in agriculture, mining, public administration and politics.

There is no record of what happenend to the cow.

Angas, George Fife (1789 - 1879)

Bacon, Anthony (1796 - 1864)

Brown, William Voules, 1809-1893

Brown, William Voules, 1839-1920

Buffalo (ship)

Gawler, George (1795 - 1869)

Gilles, Osmond (1788 - 1866)

Hindmarsh, Sir John (1785 - 1860)

Kingston, Sir George Strickland (1807 - 1880)

Light, William (1786 - 1839)

Robe, Frederick Holt (1802 - 1871)

Torrens, Robert (1780 - 1864)

Dutton, G., Founder of a City, Carlton, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 1991

Pike, D., Paradise of Dissent, London : Longmans, Green and Co., 1957

Price, Archibald Grenfell, Founders and Pioneers of South Australia: Life Studies of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Charles Sturt, George fife Angas, Sir John Hindmarsh, William Light, George Gawler, David McLaren, Augustus Kavel and Frances Cadell, Adelaide : Preece, 1929

State Library of South Australia, Treasures Wall Search for 'Past exhibitions', 'Cow hide'