The Rowe Family of Ingle Farm

James Rowe bought what would be Ingle Farm in 1849

James Rowe left England with his wife, son and daughter in 1836. He had been employed by the South Australia Company to make and repair casks for whale oil on Kangaroo Island. Not long after arriving Mrs Rowe died of a fever so this meant his daughter Jane had to take care of her younger brother Jimmy and her father. James Rowe grew crops to increase his income, later raising pigs, sheep and cattle. In 1849, after 12 years on the island James bought 100 acres in Section 3030 Hundred of Yatala on the mainland. The heavy peppermint timber and scrub that covered the land was manually cleared then ploughed by a team of four bullocks. Wheat, oats and barley were sown by hand. Jimmy (James Buttress Rowe) married and worked Section 3029. He had two daughters and five sons. His youngest son Jabez took over the family home and added five more sections to the property. The name Ingle Farm was created when Jabez married a Miss Wright of Inglewood. The farm was then passed on to their sons Cyril and Slemen, who were noted for their husbandry and farm management skills. In 1959 nearly 730 acres was sold to the Housing Trust of SA, who began building houses in 1964. The remainder was sold to several individuals and government departments. Slemen said of the sale “While it is, perhaps a pity to think that such a good agricultural land has to be used for other purposes, we realise that progress, like time marches on. We go along with it, or we are pushed out of the way”.