History of WIllabrand
George McEwin first took up this land in 1843 where he planted grapes, probably the first vineyard in South Australia. He pulled all of the vines out after religious reservations about the effects of alcohol and replaced them with fruit trees. In 1862 he first made jam here so as not to waste any excess fruit.
Glen Ewin was probably best known for its fig jam, however it produced under several other names including Kingurli, Viking, Anchor, Arab and Far West. Glen Ewin was a major influence in the South Australian business community and also in the local community, employing over 100 people and purchasing much of the fruit in the region. Sir Thomas Playford (Premier of SA), in December 1962 unveiled a plaque commemorating 100 years of jam making at Glen Ewin. The enterprise fell into disrepair and ultimately went broke in the late 1980’s after nearly 130 years of continuous production.
The Wauchope family bought Glen Ewin in 1991 and began resurrecting the orchard in 1994, which was in an incredibly dilapidated state. Initially Willabrand mostly supplyed the local Adelaide market with fresh figs for restaurants, fruit & veg shops, table fruit and jam making. It now has customers Australia wide, in Asia and Europe that demand fresh fruit and value added products.
