Name John Reynell | Died 1873 | |
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Books John Reynell of Reynella: A South Australian Pioneer | ||
John Reynell (1809 – 15 June 1873) was a South Australian winemaker.
Reynell was born in 1809 from a Devonshire farming family. The Reynell family became established at East Ogwell in Devon in the 14th century. Accompanied by his cousin Samuel Reynell (c. 1818–1892), he arrived in South Australia in October 1838 aboard Surrey and established his property about 20 kilometres south of the main settlement of Adelaide in the area that became known as McLaren Vale.
Reynell is thought to have established the first commercial vineyard and winery in South Australia by planting vine cuttings in 1839 that he had bought at the Cape of Good Hope. Reynell employed a young man named Thomas Hardy (who also became a famed winemaker) to help him to tend to the vineyards. They became the largest wine producers in the McLaren Vale region. The first vintage was produced in 1842 and he built the Old Cave cellar in 1845. The cellar survives to the present day.
He exported claret and burgundy to New Zealand. Reynell was also a foundation member of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia.
On 31 January 1839 Reynell married Mary Lucas and they had a daughter Lucy Reynell (1842–1921), who would marry Ross T. Reid of Gawler, and a son Walter Reynell (1846–1919) who married Emily Bakewell (1851–1887), a daughter of William Bakewell MP; their daughter Gladys Reynell would become one of Australia's earliest studio potters.
In 1854, Reynell sold some farm land to create the town of Reynella, which has now become the Adelaide suburb of Old Reynella. The South Australian electoral district of Reynell, which includes the suburbs of Reynella, Old Reynella (now a part of the electoral district Mitchell) and Reynella East, was also named after him.