Frewville is a small suburb in the South Australian city of Adelaide. It is three kilometres south-east of Adelaide's central business district (CBD).
The name Frewville is taken from an early settler James Frew. Frewville is in the local government area of the City of Burnside. It has a triangular layout, bounded on the north by Flemington Street, the east by Conyngham Street, and the south-west by Glen Osmond Road.
History
Frewville was originally part of the farming land originally sold to William Giles — this land is now known as the suburb of Fullarton. In early maps Frewville is shown to be on both the north-eastern and south-western sides of Glen Osmond Road.
James Frew
In 1853 James Frew paid ₤2,200 for the 130-acre (53 ha) allotment after Glen Osmond Road was cut through the middle of the Section.
James Frew arrived in Adelaide on the Lady Bute with his brother Robert in 1839. He acquired the land in the area now known as Frewville in July 1847 and subsequently subdivided it in 1865.
His son James Frew Jr was born 21 October 1840 in Adelaide, and was a member of John McDouall Stuart's 1861-1862 expedition, the first to cross the continent from south to north. He died 8 September 1877 (aged 36) and is buried in West Terrace Cemetery.
Frewville village
Frewville was originally used for the grazing of horses by the early colonists, but the village of Frewville was laid out in 1854 in Section 265. In 1855 a blacksmith set up on the corner closest to Adelaide, and the Frewville Inn was established on Glen Osmond Road.
In the next few years a weighbridge was established by the Hollard family - whose name is remembered as one of the streets in Frewville. There was at about this time a single large two-storey wooden villa house that was set well back from Glen Osmond Road. Tall pines were planted along Glen Osmond Road.
In 1881 most of Frewville was then subdivided into the property boundaries that exist today. The suburb was populated by the "new" trades-people of the day - electricians, gas-fitters and the like.
In the 1930s Frewville was "landmarked" by the unusual advertising of a car wrecking yard on Glen Osmond Road. The car body of a Model "T" Ford was wedged high up in the branches of a tree.
In the 1960s and 1970s the national freight carrier IPEC housed its main office and distribution centre at Freville. The building has now been subdivided into offices.
On the northern side of the suburb, in the Glenside hospital, a chemical research company built a large two-storey building in Flemington Street. This building caught fire sometime in the 1980s, and now is the headquarters for the Royal District Nursing Service (South Australia), a community-based nursing service.
The McDonald's restaurant on Glen Osmond Road was one of the first McDonald's restaurants in Adelaide.
Geography
The suburb is leafy with some trees which make up for the lack of parks and reserves. There are more parks in nearby Glenunga, such as the Webb Oval which is on the eastern border of Frewville.
Transport
The suburb is well-serviced by public transport; buses run down Glen Osmond Road every 15 minutes until 6pm and there are numerous other bus routes in the city. The buses are provided by the Adelaide Metro. However, the majority of commuters still use cars and Frewville is well placed for this. Frewville residents can reach the Adelaide CBD by various routes, and the Adelaide Hills by way of Glen Osmond Road and the South Eastern Freeway.
Residents
The suburb is home to a number of families and retirees of predominantly Anglo-Celtic background. Some of the suburb is moderately wealthy, but as one border of Frewville is Glen Osmond road, a large part of the suburb is used for commercial and retail businesses.
Attractions
The main attractions of Frewville are the businesses along Glen Osmond Road - a McDonald's, Chinese and Mexican restaurants, along with a number of small businesses and motels. A prestige car company is located at the southernmost point adjacent to an office block that houses among other businesses a community television station.