George Stevenson (editor)

[1] Before leaving London he had entered into partnership with Robert Thomas with the intention of starting a newspaper in South Australia.

It was edited by Stevenson with ability but not without partisanship, and an attack on George Milner Stephen, who became acting governor in July 1838, led to an unsuccessful libel action against the paper.

In the beginning of the 1840s difficult times came to Adelaide, and in 1842 Stevenson was obliged to give up his interest in the paper, selling it for £600 to James "Dismal Jemmy" Allen.

[1] His house at North Adelaide stood in about 4 acres (1.6 ha) of land and he planted there every obtainable variety of fruit-tree and vine.

When settlers complained about the hardness of the soil, Stevenson demonstrated its suitability for fruit and vegetable growing; confidently prophesying that over time South Australia would boast "orange groves as luxuriant and productive as those of Spain or Italy".

With his gardener, George McEwin (1815–1885), Stevenson supplied most of the colony with vine cuttings, and set up a nursery for fruit trees.