Mannum, South Australia

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Mannum is an historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, 84 kilometres (52 mi) east of Adelaide. At the 2006 census, Mannum had a population of 2,042. Mannum headquarters the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in both the State Electoral District of Schubert and the federal Division of Barker. The first settlement in the area was in 1840. The first ship (a side-wheel paddle steamer) built on the Murray River was launched at Mannum by William Randell in 1852. A shipbuilding industry continued in Mannum until into the 20th century. William Randell is memorialised by the preservation of the boiler the Paddle Wheeler; Mary Ann in the town's recreation park. His dry dock today holds the Marion, an 1897 built paddle wheeler; managed by the National Trust of Australia as a museum. The Marion left active service in 1950 and spent until 1963 as a boarding house. A number of other manufacturing industries were established in the town, and some continue; although not as large as they once were. The largest heavy manufacturing company was David Shearer (later Horwood-Bagshaw) who made farm equipment.