Mylor History group

George Witherage Cotton was born in Kent, England. He migrated to South Australia in 1848 and eventually established a business in land. He became a leading layman in the Wesleyan Church, bought the land for Prince Alfred College and was secretary of the College in its first twenty years.

In 1882 Cotton was elected to the Legislative Council. He formulated the Working Men's Blocks scheme which proposed the government should offer blocks of up to twenty acres (8 ha) to working men at low rents. Income from such blocks would supplement a man's income during times when he could not find paid employment, and ultimately support a man and his family. In 1885 the government accepted his scheme.

Being close to the city. areas in the Adelaide Hills were soon settled by 'Blockers' as they were known. By the time the township of Mylor was officially gazetted in 1891, the surrounding area had already been well and truly settled by the Blockers. Cotton was a well-known figure, and greatly appreciated as a kindly man and public benefactor. He died only a year after Mylor was gazetted and such was the outpouring of sentiment that the Blockers decided to erect a Hall in the new township in his memory. The Mylor Cotton Memorial Hall was opened by the Governor in 1896. Later it was demolished and re-built in stone by Eusebius Wilson jnr. The new stone Hall was re-dedicated to Cotton at an elaborate ceremony on January 27th 1923 and visitors came from all over the state to honour the man who had done so much to put people on the land.

Cotton was a visionary and his main belief was in the supreme importance of putting people on the land. In this way the state could best discharge its obligation of providing all citizens with a comfortable life. This distributist philosophy had a wide appeal in Cotton's day.

Cotton lived just long enough to see his Blocker's Scheme underway and the Mylor township officially gazetted. Known affectionately as the 'Blocker's Friend', he was, in many ways the Founding Father of Mylor.

There is now a display about GW Cotton in the Stirling Library until the end of February 2012.

The photograph was taken by Mylor photographer Peter Holderness and is from the portrait of GW Cotton at Prince Alfred College. It is reproduced with the kind permission of the College.