Kudnarto

Kudnarto was born around 1832 at a location later known as Bungaree, South Australia, in Ngadjuri lands. Her mother is unknown and her father was Ngadjuri Her family lived and worked on English colonists' properties, so it is possible that she received some education in English during her childhood, but little is known of this stage of her life. ==Marriage==

Kudnarto was around 14 years old when she met colonist Thomas Adams, 20 years her senior, and they started cohabiting. Adams worked as a shepherd on a property near Crystal Brook owned by settler Peter Fergusson. In 1847 Adams gave notice that he intended to marry Kudnarto, but first, they had to obtain permission from the inaugural Protector of Aborigines in the colony, Matthew Moorhouse. Moorhouse visited her a number of times to gauge her feelings on the matter, and to inform her of her obligations under British law should she marry him. He gave his approval after assessing that she indeed did wish to marry Adams, which had to then also be approved by the Lieutenant Governor of South Australia, Frederick Robe, which he gave. and The Port Phillip Patriot and Morning Advertiser in the colony of Victoria in June and July 1847 respectively. The report stated that she had been placed in the Native School in Adelaide for the purpose of instruction in domestic duties before marriage, and it praised her intelligence and disposition. The Sydney Morning Herald headed their report "Marriage extraordinary", while the South Australian Register opined: Reserves of land had been set aside for Aboriginal people to occupy and conduct agricultural activities on, but many of these were leased to colonists. In February 1848 Thomas Adams requested a section on Skillogalee Creek, near Auburn in the Clare Valley. This was supported by Moorhouse, so long as Kudnarto occupied and use the land; This was in order to protect Kudnarto in case of desertion by her husband, who was reportedly drank to excess. Kudnarto was granted a licence to Section 346, covering . Adams would not be allowed to sell or lease the land, and if Kudnarto died, he would lose the right to live there, although "there might be a renewal in favour of her children in case of her death". Thomas Snr did subsequently lease out the land while finding work on other properties, but it is not known if his wife and children accompanied him, or where they lived during this time. In August 1850, both Kudnarto and her husband were called as witnesses in a murder trial. ==Children==

Thomas Jnr was born on 19 June 1849. A second son, Timothy, was born on 11 October 1852. ==Death and legacy==

Kudnarto died suddenly of unknown causes on 11 February 1855 Adams and the two children lost the right to occupy their land after her death, and the two boys went to Poonindie Mission, near Port Lincoln, as their father was unable to look after them and thought they would be looked after there. Both boys raised large families, and have many descendants. They were also known as excellent sheep shearers and ploughers, and played in the Poonindie cricket team. Thomas Snr was admitted to the Destitute Asylum on Kintore Avenue in 1881, and died aged 74 in the Royal Adelaide Hospital in February 1882. Thomas Jnr and Timothy continued to lodge many claims for their land at Skillogalee Creek, assisted by their father, in the 1860s through to the 1880s, all unsuccessful. Wanting to be independent farmers, they also applied for sections of land at Poonindie, but after several disputes with the superintendent, in 1888 they moved with their families to Point Pearce mission on Yorke Peninsula. Section 346 at Skillogalee Creek was eventually divided into four blocks by the government. ==Commemorations==

Wellington Square in the residential suburb of North Adelaide, as part of the City of Adelaide's dual naming project in association with the University of Adelaide, was in March 2003 assigned the Kaurna name "Kudnartu", officially "Wellington Square/Kudnarto", in honour of Kudnarto. The Adelaide branch of the international women's organisation Zonta added Kudnarto to their "Women's Roll of Honour", and erected a plaque in commemoration. Her life is remembered in a 2007 memoir by Kudnarto's great-great grandson, Lewis Yerloburka O'Brien. ==Descendants==

in 2016 Tim married four times, losing three of his wives to illness, and had four children with second wife Bessie (née Reeves): Lewis, Gertrude, Julia, and Arthur. Tim and Bessie Adams moved around a bit before eventually moving to Point Pearce mission. After Poonindie Mission closed in 1894, the rest of the family, as well as Tom Adams and his children, also moved to Point Pearce. who was an early leader of the revival of the Kaurna language in the mid-1980s, and largely responsible for the creation of Tjilbruke Dreaming Track (1986–2006) • Julia Adams married Henry Simpson and had three daughters, including Gladys Florence Simpson, and Charlie Adams, who continued to put in claims to Section 346 at Skillogalee Creek until his death in 1949, but unsuccessfully. Other notable descendants of Kudnarto include: • Gladys Elphick (née Walters; 1904–1988), m. Walter Hughes (1922); m. Frederick Elphick (1940); • Cecil Graham (1911–1994), Australian rules footballer, including several Australian rules footballers among their descendants and extended family: Their sons included Michael Graham • Chad Wingard (1993–), Australian Rules footballer ==Footnotes==