Belair is a suburb in the south eastern foothills of Adelaide, South Australia at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Name

Before European settlement, the Kaurna people called the area of modern-day Belair "piraldi". One early European name for the area was Sleep's Hill, named after Samuel Sleep, a shepherd who came to South Australia in the 1830s.

The origin of the modern name "Belair" is uncertain. Gustav Ludewigs, who subdivided the area, may have named the suburb after Bel Air, Martinique, being his wife Maria's birthplace. Another theory is that it was named in 1849 after Eugene Bellairs, a Government surveyor who lived in the area.

Government Farm

thumb|left|Old Government House

The first known European settler in Belair was a squatter named Nicholas Foott. Although he did not own any land, the colonial government allowed him to stay in the area and improve the land until the land was required by the government. Foott built a house on the land some time between 1836 and 1840. In July 1840, Governor George Gawler decided to establish a farm in the area named Government Farm, and Foott was asked to leave. The retreat was partially funded by the government and opened in 1877. The building was renamed Hope Lodge in 1893 and operated as a training centre for missionaries until 1907, and is now part of the St. Johns Senior School campus. Belair was also home to multiple sanatoriums for people suffering from tuberculosis. Kalyra Consumptive Home was incorporated in December 1894 by the James Brown Memorial Trust, with its first patients admitted in February or March 1895. Another sanatorium called Nunyara Tuberculosis Sanatorium was opened in 1902 by Dr Arthur Gault, which operated until his death in 1917. They also lobbied for Windy Point (then called Observation Point) to be set aside as a reserve, which led to the District Council of Mitcham acquiring the land in 1930. Other reserves in Belair include Sleeps Hill Reserve, at the former site of the Sleeps Hill quarries and Sleeps Hill railway station,

There are many shared use cycling and walking trails throughout Belair and the surrounding suburbs as part of Mitcham's Shared Use Trails network and Belair National Park. This includes the Randell Park Trails, the Lynton Reserve Trails (which goes through Sleeps Hill reserve), and the O'Deas Reserve, Saddle Hill and Ashby Reserve Trails.

Climate

Demographics

At the 2021 census, Belair had a population of 4,896, up from 4,411 at the 2016 census and 4,390 at the 2011 census. Only 26 people identified themselves as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, making up just half a percent of the suburb's population, well below the national average of 3.2%.

Transport

275px|right|thumb|Passenger train arriving at Belair train station

The Adelaide-Wolseley railway line runs through Belair, with the Pinera and Belair railway stations being serviced by the Belair railway line, operated by Adelaide Metro.

The suburb is also serviced by regular bus routes, such as the 195, 196 and 197.

Education

Belair falls within the catchment area of Belair Jean Bonython Kindergarten, which is in the neighbouring suburb of Glenalta. It is a preschool providing education for children aged 3 to 5.

The suburb includes Belair Primary School, which originally opened in 1957. Belair Schools used to include two separate schools: Belair Primary School and Belair Junior Primary School. The two schools co-located in 1997 and amalgamated into a single school in 2013. Since 2013 the schools have catered to students from Reception to Year 6. and it is a member of the Eco School Network.

There are no public high schools in Belair. The suburb is part of the catchment area for Blackwood High School in Eden Hills. The suburb does, however, include the private school St John's Grammar School, which teaches students from pre-school through to Year 12.

References

  • Belair Schools
  • View of the city from Windy Point (Copyright Mitcham Council)