6 June 1904   Boer War Memorial

The Boer War Memorial, on the corner of King William Street and North Terrace, was unveiled on the 6 June 1904 by the Governor, Ruthven Le Hunte flanked by detachments of military men who had served in South Africa. Nine contingents had been sent from South Australia consisting of 1499 men, 82 officers and 1507 horses. Of these 59 men were killed and 68 wounded. There were seven DSO, ten DCM, and three CB medals for bravery awarded.

After the war a committee was formed to plan a memorial and when they went to the people for contributions the response was magnificent. A London sculptor, Adrian Jones, was commissioned to design and make the statue. In June 1902 Jones wrote to Major Charles Burt, a British Army Officer, asking if there was an officer or trooper from Adelaide who could go to his studio to give him some information.

Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant G.H. Goodall, a member of the Australian Coronation Corps in London for the coronation of King Edward VII, was sent to Jones to give details about uniforms and other particulars of the South Australian Army Corps. The sergeant's impressive features must have inspired the sculptor who made a clay model of his head, and this was used for the figure on horseback. The statue is 3.7 metres tall on a base of red Murray Bridge granite, making it 7.3 metres high overall. It is sited to face in a south-westerly direction so that the setting sun falls on the strong face of the horseman.

Judith Brown, Town Life in Pioneer South Australia,  Rigby, Adelaide, 1980, pp. 19-22.