George McEwin

Who was George McEwin?

George McEwin was a gardener and orchardist in the early days of South Australia remembered today as the founder of Glen Ewin jams an preserves.

McEwin was born in Scotland, and worked in the gardens of the Duke of Buccleugh at Drumlanrig Castle in Scotland, then in the Liverpool nurseries of M. Skirving. He married Jessie Kennedy in Liverpool in 1839. They emigrated to South Australia on the Delhi, arriving in Adelaide on 20 December 1840. He worked as head gardener for George Stevenson, and planted what may have been South Australia's first vines at North Adelaide in 1837. Stevenson was private secretary to Governor Hindmarsh, arriving on HMS Buffalo at Holdfast Bay on 28 December 1836.

He visited Sydney and collected a large number of fruit trees and vines, which he planted on Stevenson's extensive property between Melbourne and Finniss streets, and which thrived under his care. He planted a small plot with wheat; arguably the first in South Australia, though Charles George Everard and Donald McLean are at least as plausible.

In 1843 he purchased land near Houghton which he named "Glen Ewin", where he planted extensive orchards and settled in 1844. He worked for George A.