Narrated by Don Dunstan, Murray River quest tells the story of the River via the journey of three friends who have spent years traversing it and learning its history.

Featured here is a short history of 'village settlements' on the River.

The South Australian government established the provisions for the founding of communal settlements, known as village settlements, in a part of the Crown Lands Amendment Act in 1893.

Eleven of the thirteen village settlements established were on the River Murray - they were Lyrup, Waikerie, Holder, Pyap, Kingston, Gillen, New Era, Moorook, Murtho, Ramco and New Residence.

The village settlements scheme was created in response to the economic depression that had hit South Australia and the other Australian colonies after a series of major strikes in the early 1890s and the bank crash of 1893.

South Australian Premier Charles Cameron Kingston introduced the scheme, which would settle unemployed people from Adelaide on the land. It was hoped that those living in village settlements would become self-supporting and the initiative was well received by many unemployed.

The village settlements were to work on communalistic principles and the concept of share and share alike was foremost. Eventually however, a combination of poor agricultural skills, and personal and political clashes led to them failing and disbanding.

Dunstan, Don, 1926-1999

Early years of the South Australian village settlements: Kingston-on-Murray, Pyap, Moorook, New Residence, from 1894, [Loxton, SA: N. Schulz?], 1994. (Berri, SA: JC Irving)

Mack, David. The village settlements on the River Murray in South Australia, 1894-1909: a chronicle of communal life and hardship, [Somerton, SA: DB Mack, 1994]