John Rundle was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Whig politician and businessman.

From 1835 to 1843, he was a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, representing Tavistock

Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency)

Tavistock was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock; it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1868, when its...

 in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

. He was one of the original directors and financiers of the South Australia Company

South Australia Company

The South Australian Company was formed in London on 9 October 1835 by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony...

, the company that was formed in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1834 to promote the settlement of the colony that was to become South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

.

Rundle arrived in South Australia at Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide is a suburb of Adelaide lying about 14 kilometres northwest of the City of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and is the main port for the city of Adelaide...

 on 6 February 1840 aboard the Java, after a notorious journey during which between 30 and 50 passengers (the number varying between reports) starved to death.

Rundle Street

Rundle Street, Adelaide

Rundle Street is a street in the East End of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from Pulteney Street in the west to East Terrace, where it becomes Rundle Road. Its former western extent, which ran to King William Street, was closed in 1972 to form the pedestrian street of Rundle Mall...

 and subsequently Rundle Mall

Rundle Mall, Adelaide

Rundle Mall is the premiere retail area in the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It was opened as Australia's first pedestrian street mall in September 1976 by closing Rundle Street to traffic between King William Street and Pulteney Street...

 bear his name. Beehive Corner, at the corner of Rundle Mall and King William Street

King William Street, Adelaide

King William Street is the part of a major arterial road that traverses the CBD and centre of Adelaide . It was named by the Street Naming Committee on 23 May 1837 after King William IV, the then reigning monarch, who died within a month...

, was owned by him. The historic building currently on this site was built later, in 1895.

External links

• Photograph of John Rundle
• Rundle Mall
• Boat Passenger List of 1840 to South Australia
• The Story of the Java
• The Beehive, Corner of King William and Rundle Streets, Adelaide painted in 1849, when the site was owned by Rundle