The Names of South Australia

The Names of South Australia: Adeilde City Centre | Adelaide's Suburrbs | South Australia's Regional Cities and Towns

Adelaide's City Centre
Colonel William Light has always been credited as being the father of Adelaide, and as South Australia's first Surveyor-General, such a title is justifiable and totally appropriate. As to Light having first conceived and then laid out Adelaide's broad avenues and terraces and surrounding them with a lush belt of parklands, historic records appear to tell a different story. Light's vision may well have been for the picturesque setting of Adelaide that we see today, but the layout of the City of Churches was not birthed in his imagination - it had its origins in Ancient Greece.

The familiar grid town layout used as early as 2500BC by the Egyptians was first developed as a co-ordinated system of buildings and precincts by the Hellenist Greeks, most notably in the city of Miletus (from 479BC), home of the father of town planning, Hippodamus. It was perfected as the model for orderly settlement and social control by the Romans of 100BC to 500AD. Both civilizations were urban cultures, their new cities designed for colonial and military purposes. The fall of the Roman Empire saw Europe revert to an agrarian society, its cities growing haphazardly and irregularly, generally around the church, the physical and spiritual heart of Middle Ages society.
The Renaissance of the 16th century rediscovered the writings of the early Roman architect Vitruvius who set out the principles not just of architectural form and proportion, but of the functional elements of cities layout, spaces and orientation. At the heart of this rebirth of classical thinking was the concept of the perfect city, best illustrated by artist, military engineer and architect Pietro Cataneo who, from 1554 to 1567, synthesised the work of Vitruvius into his Ideal City plan.

Cataneo's model and its variations classified the relationship between order, geometry, architecture and town planning. It influenced the new cities of the Spanish colonisers of the New World to the 1870s, and British political theorists and expansionists applied its logic to the colonisation of North America. Among the first clear incarnations of the Cataneo model was the founding of Philadelphia (1687), followed by Charleston (1672), Savannah (1733), New Ebenezer (1747) and New Haven (1748). In 1717, the Renaissance plan in its purest form was used by Robert Montgomery to design a city in Georgia called the Margravate of Azilia that, because it didn't attract investors in England, was never built. A century later it was overlaid on South Australia.

The Cataneo plan was a perfect model for 18th/19th-century British colonial urban planning policy, for which there were eight guiding principles. Of most significance for Adelaide was that towns were to be pre-planned and placed on sites, with a grid layout of wide streets for surveillance and control. The towns were to be divided into wide rectangular plots to minimise fire and health risks, and they were to be surrounded by a quarter-mile-wide (400m) green belt, a cordon sanitare, as a barrier to the surrounding bush or jungle (a quarter-mile said to be the furthest distance a mosquito could fly) which was also to be used for livestock and sport.

Granville Sharp, a British anti-slavery campaigner and utopian, promoted the benefits of Cataneo's grid and greenbelt in his attempts to establish model towns for freed slaves. In the first town-planning theory published in respect to Australia, On Laying Out Plans of Towns, by retired British military officer T.J. Maslen, published in London in 1827, the concept of the greenbelt and the parkland town was paramount. Enter Edward Gibbon Wakefield.

Wakefield, who had served as a King's Messenger, carrying diplomatic mail about Europe before and after the Battle of Waterloo, had a predilection for underage heiresses and ran off with two in a row in an attempt to fund his ambitions. While languishing in London's Newgate Prison between 1828 and 1831 as punishment, he became interested in prison reform and social issues, and his writings were published in the London press with the assistance of Robert Gouger, with whom Wakefield would hatch a plan to establish a free colony in South Australia. Their scheme was to colonise South Australia as a business venture based on profit. The wealthy would buy property before the colony was settled, with initial returns used to subsidise the passage of laborers and tradesmen who would work for their landowning masters and, in turn, buy their own share of the new colony with their saved wages, at highly inflated prices. Wakefield took his ideas to Canada and New Zealand, and had an influence on both. Gouger became the first Colonial Secretary in Adelaide and helped apply the Wakefield theory in the new colony.

The SA Association was then formed and George Kingston joined as a volunteer office worker with eye on securing a place in official colonisation authority. Kingston, who would later be appointed as assistant to Col. Light, suggested the Cataneo grid plan for Adelaide, pointing out that it could be drawn up and subdivided into lots and presented to investors for sale before anyone had to set foot on a boat or seen the land they were buying. When the initial expedition to South Australia was formalised, Kingston was appointed Assistant Surveyor, Deputy Surveyor, Chairman of Associations Building Sub-Committee and Sub-Committee for Settling Arrangements for the Future Expedition. He was put in charge of temporary and permanent buildings for new colony, and preparing the plan for the principal town on a permanent basis. By September 1835, he had prepared a plan and the first plots of land were sold from it.

Upon arrival in South Australia in 1836, Col. Light was given sole responsibility for choosing a location on which the town plan could simply be dropped into place. After the town site was selected, Light was then to survey the town and the pre-determined town lots in accordance with the plan. Kingston stated his belief that the present day site of Adelaide was the only site available in which the pre-drawn plan could be placed. Light at first agreed, but under pressure from Governor Hindmarsh, changed the location. Pressured again by Kingston, Light changed his mind again, finally settling on Kingston's suggested site which was approved by public vote.

On 11th January, Kingston undertook to survey the town, as reported to London by Assistant Surveyor Boyle Travers Finniss. There was no mention of Light in this report, who at the time was quite ill and resting. Finniss' diary describes how Kingston surveyed the town, saying that 437 of the 1000 one-acre town lots that Kingston laid out were those sold in England from the original plan that Kingston was now following. Adelaide was divided into two districts north and south of the river with North Adelaide composed of 342 acre (1.4 km2) blocks and (South) Adelaide 700 blocks, surrounded by 2,300 acres (9 km2) set aside as parklands for recreation and public functions. Finniss recorded that Kingston's survey was completed on 17th March (survey map). As Light himself reported to the Resident Commissioner, James Fisher, on 15th April, the survey of Adelaide was carried out by Kingston, a qualified civil engineer, and his assistants, military engineer Boyle Travers Finniss, assistant surveyor William Jacob, junior assistant surveyor William Claughton, and surveyor's labourers James Freemantle, William Lawes, George Penton and Robert Bruce Buck, a seaman on the Rapid. Light's major contribution to the founding of Adelaide appears to be the rubber-stamping of Kingston's choice of site after twice changing his mind and initially yielding to the domineering Hindmarsh. The versatile George Kingston was soon to move on to new challenges and create an imposing and acknowledged presence in South Australian history.

Adelaide's central businerss district follows all the concepts of 19th Century urbanisation based on the concepts of Ancient Greece, allowing room for public space, with town squares to honour Royalty and notable citizens, a central markets as the focus of commerce in the town, with the religious buildings (churches) central to the community. There were 51 main streets in the original plan for Adelaide and North Adelaide, the latter being a repeat of Adelaide itself, but on the opposite bank of the River Torrens. None of the streets were less than 66 feet wide, many being wider. The surrounding terraces were wider than 100 feet. Arrowsmith's original map was first published in 1839. By the 1850s, with the addition of alleyways and lanes, the number of streets had increased to over 360.

Colonists who had already purchased land before departing were allowed to actually choose their purchases on 23th March 1837, the remaining lots were auctioned for between 2 and 14 guineas. The city's centre was intended to develop around Victoria Square, with Grote Street and King William Road which intersect the city planned extra wide to allow for future development. Development concentrated around Rundle and Hindley Streets, two of the narrowest streets on the city plan, due to their proximity to the water supply and Port Road. Many empty blocks remained until the late 1800s. Adelaide soon outgrew its origins. The beginning of some 30 outlaying villages began appearing in the 1840s. A decade later, cluster suburbs clinging to the outskirts of the belt of parklands were already emerging - Bowden, Thebarton, Unley (already surveyed in grid-pattern), Kensington, Norwood, Walkerville and Little Adelaide (Prospect), In spite of the suburban growth, by 1860, some 221 of the city's 600 acres were still vacant.


West Terrace: the western 'terrace' and boundary of Adelaide's Central Business District.


Goodwood Road: the main road south from Adelaide to the suburb of Goodwood and beyond.

Grey Street: recalls Captain George Grey, an early Govertnor odf South Australia. He married Eliza Lucy Spencer, daughter of Sir Richard Spencer, Government Resident at Albany, W.A. at Albany in November 1839. The Greys came to South Australia in May 1841 when George Grey became Governor. On 26th October 1845, George Grey left Adelaide to become Governor of New Zealand. Later Grey was appointed as Governor of Cape Colony (South Africa) then Governor of New Zealand for a second term.


Sir Lewis Cohen Avenue: recalls Sir Lewis Cohen. Adelaide's First Jewish Lord Mayor. Lewis Cohen was born in Liverpool, England, on December 23rd 1849, into an affluent family of Jewish merchants. With his parents Henry and Elizabeth he arrived in Sydney in 1851. His parents subsequently had twelve more children. Henry was an outfitter and businessman. In 1876 Lewis came to Adelaide to live. He was an asthmatic and it was suggested to him that the climate of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, would be beneficial to him. So in 1876 Lewis, his wife and their two young children, Henry and Hannah, moved to Adelaide. Lewis was aged 27.


Morphett Street: recalls Sir John Morphett, who represented 115 Preliminary Land Order holders when the vote for Colonel Light's choice of the site for Adelaide was taken in a tent at Glenelg on 10th February 1837. His vote for Light's choice won the day. In 1837 he owned one of the only two horses then in South Australia. Morphett was one of the four non-official members of the Legislative Council from 1843 until 1851, and Speaker until 1854. He continued his political career under Responsible Government (1857) until 1873. His house, Cummins was built on his land at Glenelg. George Strickland Kingston was the architect. Morphettville Racecourse is named after him as is Morphett Vale. These reflect his immense land holdings in South Australia as he was the first Secretary of the Secondary Towns Association which commenced several 4,000 acre Special Surveys.
Morphett street was fenced off from the public as a crossing to the park lands when the railway to Port Adelaide was built. A bitter controversy ended in the municipal authorities defying the railway management and tearing down the barricade. Thereafter gates were installed. He died in November 1892 at the age of 83.



Light Square: recalls Col. William Light, who laid out the City of Adelaide. He marked the parklands all round the city and North Adelaide grids for the 'healthful recreation' of it citizens. Any vagueness was tidied up by Governor Gawler who paid one pound per acre in 1839 to ensure they were in public hands.


Whitmore Square: recalls William Wolryche Whitmore MP and son of a London banker and a Director of The East India Company. A member also of the New Zealand Company which founded New Zealand in 1841; an anti-slaver and Chairman of the two campaigns to found South Australia in 1832 and the successful attempt by The South Australian Association in 1834. Whitmore is principally honoured for introducing the SA Foundation Act into the House of Commons.


King William Street: honours William IV, the third son of King George III, was born at Buckingham Palace in 1765. In 1818 he married Adelaide, eldest daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg. The couple had two daughters but they both died in infancy. In 1830, on the death of his brother George IV, William became King. At the same time, Lord Howick (Earl Grey), and the Whigs came to power. In 1831 Grey asked the King to dissolve Parliament so that the Whigs could secure a larger majority in the House of Commons, their aim being to carry their proposal to increase the number of people who could vote in elections. This action eventually led to the passage of the Parliamentary Reform Act on the 7th June 1832. Immediately after this Act was passed, the founders and supporters of South Australia, who had made two previous attempts to found the Colony, commenced a third and successful attempt. King William Street is not crossed by any other as no one is allowed to cross the path of a monarch.


Gawler Street: recalls George Gawler (1795-1869), second Governor of South australia. Gawler arrived in October 1838 with his wife and five children and found a colony of 5000 people at Adelaide, many of whom were anxious to go on the land, but could not do so until it was surveyed. It was fortunate that the governor had been given wide powers for he found that, though little or no money was available, emigrants were still pouring in. He appointed Captain Sturt surveyor-general and encouraged in every way the completion of the necessary surveys. Before he left Adelaide in May 1841, 6000 colonists had settled on the land. He also built government offices, police barracks, a gaol, and a government house, thus providing much needed work for stranded emigrants. Following heavy spending by the Government and a crop failure in 1840, the Colony faced bankruptcy. Gawler was recalled to London in disgrace.


Hurtle Square: recalls James Hurtle Fisher, first Resident Commissioner, and another largely forgotten founder pioneer of South Australia. Fisher was a solicitor in England appointed by the SA Commissioners to organise our local constitution by setting up a Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages and a land conveyancing system which became the Real Property Act. Fisher, as Resident Commissioner, saved the Adelaide Parklands in 1837 from land speculators including Governor Hindmarsh.


Hindmarsh Square: the first Governor of South Australia Captain John Hindmarsh, a naval hero. Captain Hindmarsh arrived at Holdfast Bay on the Buffalo on 28th December 1836 where, immediately after being sworn in as Governor, he issued a Proclamation announcing the establishment of the Government. He did not have the courtesy to meet Colonel Light before assuming command of the colony. The Governor, after being here for two days, wanted Light to shift the city nearer to the Port.
Hindmarsh was on the street naming committee and tried to name several streets after his personal friends. Luckily, he was out-voted by other members except for Archer Street and Strangways Terrace. Research is continuing to find out the names originally suggested by the committee. To Governor Hindmarsh belongs the credit for suggesting Queen Adelaide as the name of our capital city.


Pulteney Street: recalls Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm, who had recommended Hindmarsh's appointed as Governor of South Australia. Theoretically, the Admiral was the second European land owner after Hindmarsh, as his name was promoted as Patron to attract capitalist investors to South Australia. Sir Pulteney Malcolm had a distinguished career in the navy serving in the West Indies, Quebec, East Indies, China and under Nelson in the Mediterranean. Two of his nephews came out to South Australia on the Buffalo, which he helped Hindmarsh to purchase. The nephews settled on his land at Magill. His name is also perpetuated in the name of the Pulteney Grammar School, opened on 29th May 1848 and Point Malcolm on our suburban coast.


Unley Road: the main road south through the suburb of Unley.


Frome Street: recalls Sureyor-General Lieutenant Edward Charles Frome, Col. Light's replacement. Frome arrived at Port Adelaide in September 1839 accompanied by 15 sappers and miners. Frome re-commenced the trigonometrical survey of Adelaide and its environs, and in 1841 the South Australian Legislative Assembly was advised that surveys were complete.


Glen Osmond Road: the main road south east to the suburb of Glen Osmond and the adelaide Hills.


East Terrace: the eastern 'terrace' and boundary of Adelaide's Central Business District. East Terrace is the only street in the original plan of Adelaide to follow the contours of the land, hence its zig-zagging along the eastern extremity of the city centre.


Hutt Street: recalls Sir William Hutt, M.A., who sat in the House of Commons for Hull from 1832 until 1874. He became a member of the National Colonisation Society in 1829 and worked with Torrens and Gouger over the next six years to obtain a public and legislative sanction for the principles on which the new colony of South Australia was to be founded. He joined the second Board of the South Australian Commissioners in 1835 and helped Torrens and Lefevre draft our land regulations. His brother, John Hutt, was ther first Superintendant of Emigration and later Governor of Western Australia 1839-46. William became a leading member of the New Zealand Association which founded New Zealand in 1841. He continued his interest in South Australia throughout the rest of his life. He died in 1882 aged 81.


Fullarton Road: the main road south from the eastern section of the Adelaide central business district tothe suburb of Fullarton and the suburbs south.


Victoria Square: recalls Princess Victoria. When Victoria ascended to the throne on the death of her uncle King William IV on 20th June 1837, she was only 18 years of age. During her long reign, Victoria, (1851) and Queensland, (1859) became separate colonies out of New South Wales. Shortly before her death, Australia became a Federation on the 1st January 1901. Victoria Square, which is 8 acres in extent, had been laid out as the principal square of Colonel Light's plan of Adelaide in March 1837. He refers to it on his first map as 'the great square'.


Wellington Square: recalls The Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, a British General and statesman, who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. He is remembered for securing the passage of the SA Foundation Act through the House of Lords in August 1834. All of Adelaide's squares, apart from Victoria Square, are 6 acres in extent.


North Terrace: the northern 'terrace' and boundary of Adelaide's Central Business District.


Port Road: the main road between Adelaide and Port Adelaide.


Hindley Street: recalls Charles Hindley, a member of the House of Commons who was an original director of the South Australian Company and of the Union Bank of Australia. The street itself has a bigger claim to fame - 38 tree stumps were removed to create it. It was the first important business street established in the new city of Adelaide. The first newspaper printed in S.A. was published there, June 1837, and the first stone church constructed. The first meeting of the Adelaide City Council, the oldest municipal body in Australia, was held in a Hindley Street building.


Rundle Street / Mall / Road: recalls John Rundle MP, a director and financier of The SA Company floated in January 1836. He owned the original 'Bee-hive' corner - King William Street and Rundle Street - in 1849. John Rundle died in January 1864.


Glover Avenue: recalls Adelaide first Lord Mayor, Charles Richmond John Glover (1870-1936). Glover began his political career on the Adelaide City Council in 1906. A quiet person of high ideals, who embodied the concepts of duty and civic responsibility, Glover was never formally honoured for his service to his State. He was an alderman from 1909 to 1917 when he became mayor. In 1919 he became Adelaide's first lord mayor, a position he also held in 1923-25 and 1930-33, when he retired. His period as a civic father saw the development from a geometric village to a consciously beautiful city. Rather than spend money on the traditional Mayoral Bill in the dark days of World War I, he opted to spend it on the backstreet kids and give them playgrounds in the parklands.


Currie Street: recalls Raikes Currie (1801-81), MP for Northhampton in the House of Commons. He was also a member of the Provisional Committee of The South Australian Association 1834, the SA Literary & Scientific Association August 1834, and an original Director of The South Australian Company floated on the 22nd January 1836, and a Director of The Van Diemens Land Company. Currie first suggested that the SA Company set up a bank in South Australia. In 1859 he was one of four donors of the Silver Bowl from which the annual Adelaide City Council 'toast to Colonel Light' is drunk.


Grenfell Street: recalls Leger Grenfell, a Cornishman who was in business in London with his father and uncle. He sat in the House of Commons for 22 years where he was a great supporter of William Wilberforce in his Anti-Slavery campaign. He gave a town acre on North Terrace for the Trinity Church and 40 acres of country land towards the Church Endowment Fund. Grenfell was considered a great financial authority. It was through his vigilance of the Bank of England in its dealings with the public that periodical publication of the accounts of the bank commenced.


Waymouth Street: recalls Henry Waymouth, a financial backer and Director of the SA Company formed in January 1836. He joined the SA Society in 1841 and was part of the delegation to secure a loan of £124,000 on the security of the public lands. All of South Australia's debts were written off by a Special Act of Parliament on the 30th June 1842.


Franklin Street: recalls John Franklin who was with Flinders on board the Investigator in 1802. He was an English Arctic Explorer who discovered the North West Passage - the sea route along the Arctic coast of Canada connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When he was Governor of Tasmania in 1837-1843, his wife, Lady Jane Franklin, sailed across to SA in 1839 to organise the obelisk monument to Matthew Flinders on Stamford Hill near Pt. Lincoln.


Pirie Street: Alderman John Pirie, a Director of The SA Company and one of its largest financiers. He had the largest shipbrokers in London. He became Lord Mayor of London and a member of The SA Society in 1840, started to uphold the Wakefield principles of our Land and Emigration Fund. One of the first ships despatched to the Colony in 1836 for the Company was the 2 masted schooner John Pirie. In 1846 this ship was the first to enter a good landing place in Spencer's Gulf since known as the town of Pt. Pirie. John Pirie had no children and died in 1851.


Flinders Street: recalls English navigator Captain Matthew Flinders who explored and mapped of 'the unknown coast' in 1802.During his exploration, he discovered Pt. Lincoln and Kangaroo Island later meeting the French navigator Nicolas Baudin at a spot since called Encounter Bay. The founders and pioneers of South Australia interviewed sailors who had been with Flinders expedition to find out about likely harbours, good soil and water sources. Colonel Light had a copy of Flinders journal and maps on board the Rapid when he arrived 34 years later. Flinders statue on North Terrace near the War Memorial, was erected in 1933.


Grote Street: recalls George Grote (1794-1871), one of Gouger's greatest supporters in founding the colony. Gouger and Grote set up the S.A. Association sub-committees in December 1833 to organise a church building society; one for establishing schools and another to procure a colonial library. Grote became first Treasurer of The Provisional Committee of the SA Association and supported the passage of the Foundation Act in Parliament August 1834. He was an MP for the City of London from 1832 to 1841 where he introduced four resolutions and two bills in favour of the ballot. As Vice-Chancellor of London University, he advocated examinations and the admisssion of women to them. His History of Greece which is a masterpiece of 12 volumes, has been re-issued 4 times. George Grote refused a peerage in 1869. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.


Wakefield Street: recalls Daniel Wakefield and not his more widely known brother Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Both of the brothers fell out with Gouger in June 1835 over the price of land in South Australia. Their influence from then on was concentrated on the foundation of New Zealand. Daniel Wakefield, a barrister, drafted the Act of Parliament which founded South Australia. The brothers migrated to New Zealand and never saw South Australia. Daniel became Attorney-General of Wellington, and was afterwards appointed a judge. He resigned from the bench in consequence of his brother's opposition to Governor Grey's policy.


Gouger Street: recalls Robert Gouger, Humanitarian (1802-1846). As a youth Gouger was addicted to study for the mere love of it; was an ardent lover of Nature who collected and classified with extraordinary skill, birds, butterflies insects etc. Through his early years he travelled much in England and the Continent where he became aware of the living conditions of the poor. In 1829 he commenced his life's work in championing Wakefield's Scheme of Emigration, forming The Emigration Society and the Natural Cultural Society and then the National Colonisation Society with Robert Wilmot Horton in 1829. When news reached England in 1830 of Sturt's expedition down the River Murray, he initiated, with Whitmore, his third scheme for a settlement in South Australia, forming The South Australian Association on the 27th November 1833. In November 1836 aged 34, as first Colonial Secretary and Member of the Executive Council, he landed at Holdfast Bay with his wife Harriet, - pioneers on the Africaine.


Angas Street: recalls George Fife Angas, an early supporter of the colony. Previously he had been a shipping merchant to NSW and Tasmania. Originally appointed as one of the Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia in May 1835, he was later obliged to resign through a 'conflict of interest' when he floated the joint stock company The South Australian Company. Angas was a deeply religious man who assisted the immigration of the first Germans to South Australia under the leadership of Pastor Kavel. Angas settled in South Australia in 1851 and was in Parliament for 16 years. During this time he helped mould our first self-government Constitution of 1853 on liberal principles.


Wright Street: recalls John Wright, a financier, was appointed a Commissioner of SA in May 1835. He had earlier been involved in securing a loan of £20,000 as part of the financial conditions of the Foundation Act of SA. Once these loans had been secured and the preliminary amounts of land pre-sold, the Act received Royal assent on the 19th February 1836.


Carrington Street: recalls John Abel Smith, Lord Carrington, who was a member of the National Colonisation Society of 1830 and an active campaigner for the parliamentary sanction required for the Colony. His support continued through the financial crisis of 1841. He was a member of the Select Committee which wrote off all the debts owed by South Australia.


Sturt Street: recalls Captain Charles Sturt, scientist explorer reconciliationist, whose statue is in Victoria Square. Sturt was born near Bengal, India and saw military service in Canada, France, and Ireland before going to Sydney in 1827 as a soldier in charge of convicts. It was his explorations down the River Murray in 1829 and 1830 that first directed the founders of SA to southern Australia as a potential place for an experimental democracy based on Torrens and Wakefields emigration schemes. After a term at Norfolk Island, then a penal settlement, Sturt returned to England on sick leave. His letter to the Secretary of State for the Colonies on behalf of The South Australian Association in February 1834, virtually predicted the future site of Adelaide and Pt. Adelaide. He eventually came to South Australia in 1838 as Assistant Commissioner to Governor Gawler, where he helped to stabilise the new colony and played a major part in the government. He retired to England on a pension in 1853 and died there in 1869 aged 74.




Halifax Street: recalls Sir Charles Wood (1800-1885), first Viscount Halifax - social reformer, historian and economist, was Commissioner of Emigration. He entered Parliament in 1826 and in 1832 was appointed private secretary to The Treasury in the administration of Earl Grey.


Gilbert Street: recalls Thomas Gilbert who arrived in SA with the first expedition of 1836 as Colonial Storekeeper. He was a founding member of the SA Literary & Scientific Association of August 1834. In his private life he was an optician in London. His storehouse, landed from the Cygnet at Holdfast Bay (Glenelg) on the 5th November 1836, was the first European structure erected on the Adelaide plains. Later his store and cottage were erected under the hill of North Adelaide on the present day parklands. He died in 1873 aged 86, a well liked and respected pioneer.


Gilles Street: recalls Osmond Gilles, a founding member of The S.A. Literary Association formed in 1834. Gilles landed as Colonial Treasurer at Holdfast Bay (Glenelg) on the 28th December 1836 from the Buffalo. He remained as Colonial Treasurer until removed from office for incompetence by Governor Gawler in September 1839. After his retirement, Gilles entered upon pastoral pursuits, and greatly improved the flocks by importing pure Saxon merinos. He opened the Glen Osmond silver-lead mine, and was a member of the syndicate of five who won the ballot for the township of Glenelg.


South Terrace: the southern 'terrace' and boundary of Adelaide's Central Business District.


Finniss Street: Boyle Travers Finniss came to South Australia on the Cygnet as an assistant surveyor to Colonel Light in 1836. He was put in charge of the survey of Rapid Bay while Light investigated further up the gulf. He later assisted in the surveying and laying out of the City of Adelaide, working along the southern side of the River Torrens in charge of the second survey party. When Light resigned as Surveyor General in June 1838, Finniss also resigned and the two men went into a partnership in the surveying firm Light Finniss & Co. The firm laid out the Towns of Glenelg and Gawler and other special surveys at Pt. Adelaide.
Finniss went on to become our first Premier under Responsible Government on March 9th 1857, but resigned on August 21st of the same year. He held many other public offices including Commissioner of Police, Colonial Treasurer and Colonial Secretary.
In 1864 he was Government Resident for the Northern Territory and sailed to Escape Cliff to establish a settlement there, however, it was abandoned in 1867. Colonel Light had named Second Valley as Finniss Valley in 1837 in his honour. There is also the River Finniss on Fleurieu Peninsula and one in the NT; the Hundred of Finniss and Finniss Springs. He died in 1893 aged 86.


Hanson Street: Named after Richard Davies Hanson, a founding member of The SA Literary Society of August 1834 who gave the opening address Founding The New Colony of SA. When Captain John Hindmarsh was appointed Governor of SA in May 1835, Hanson resigned. In private life he was a London solicitor and journalist. He went to Canada as Lord Durham's Secretary. After Durham's death in 1840, he proceeded to New Zealand as one of the pioneers and was appointed Advocate General and Crown Prosecutor.
In 1846 he moved to South Australia where he won the case against the Church of England's claim of a site in Victoria Square for the Cathedral. He became Advocate General, Premier, Chief Justice and Acting Governor. He died in 1876 aged 71.


Gover Street: recalls William G. Gover, an early supporter of South Australia. In 1840 Gover and Abel Lewes Gover became members of The S.A. Society formed in England to uphold intact the principles of which the colony was founded.
The Gover's were also Directors of The Secondary Towns Association which purchased several special surveys along the River Murray with the intention of establishing two 500 acre towns. William also exported to Australia as experimental agriculture, bananas, pineapples and oranges.


Hill Street: Rowland Hill (1795-1879), was a member of the National Colonisation Society of 1830 where he made the acquaintance of Robert Gouger. Gouger recommended his appointment as Secretary of the South Australian Association in December 1833. He and his brother Matthew Davenport Hill MP, were both members of the Provisional Committee. He eventually, went on to become Secretary to the SA Colonisation Commissioners in 1835 and issued the instructions to the colonial officers. His criticism of Colonel Light's request for assistance with the surveys and his inferred dereliction of duty, led to Light's resignation as Surveyor General in June 1838. Hill resigned as the Commissioners Secretary in January 1840.
He is more internationally known as an inventor, the originator of penny postage and adhesive 'stamps', for which he was knighted. By one of those delicious little quirks of history, the current head of Australia Post is Rowland Hill.


Jeffcott Street: Sir John Jeffcott's main claim to fame is that he probably fought the last fatal duel in England in 1833. His opponent died eight days later. Jeffcott was master of arts of Trinity College Dublin and then Chief Justice of Sierra Leone. He was appointed first judge of South Australia arriving on the Isabella in 1837. He was a member of the first executive government, but because of his late arrival, was not present when our government was inaugurated at Glenelg on the 28th December 1836. Jeffcott sided with Governor Hindmarsh in all the early official squabbles and wanted Adelaide shifted to Encounter Bay.
He was a member of the street naming committee. Through his interference, we have the name O'Connell Street, after Daniel O'Connell, who had defended Jeffcott over his duel, and Kermode Street in North Adelaide. Jeffcott was about to marry Miss Anne Kermode of Hobart, but on a trip to the River Murray mouth to inspect a site for Adelaide, the boat overturned and he was drowned.


Jerningham Street: Charles Jerningham a banker of London and a supporter of The S.A. Association.


Kermode Street: After Robert Quayle Kermode, a friend of Judge Jeffcott. See Jeffcott Street.


Kingston Terrace: 29 year old Irishman George Strickland Kingston became involved with the founders of SA in January 1834, after advertisements had appeared in the London papers for the new colony. He joined The SA Association on a sub-committee, where his responsibility was to obtain quotations for the Colonial buildings, later being appointed Deputy Surveyor General to Colonel Light. The Cygnet arrived at Kangaroo Island in September 1836 a month after the Rapid. Colonel Light immediately sent him to Holdfast Bay (Glenelg) to prepare that site for the arrival of the pioneer settlers. In March 1837 he helped Light lay out the site and parklands of Adelaide.
Kingston served as Surveyor General for a short term; as Town Surveyor and as Colonial Architect - for which he is more widely remembered. He became Speaker of the House in 1877, where perhaps he made his greatest contribution in the defence of Colonel Light's plan of Adelaide and in his public advocacy of the citizens rights in respect of the parklands. He died in 1880.


Pennington Terrace: James Pennington became a Colonisation Commissioner in January 1836, when George Fife Angas resigned to float The South Australian Company. Pennington worked for the Finance Committee and the Act of Parliament Amendment Committee.


Roberts Place: Josiah Roberts another Commissioner, like Pennington, appointed in January 1836. Roberts worked as a liaison between the Commissioners and the Treasury.


Stanley Street: After Edward G. Stanley 1799-1868. Stanley became Colonial Secretary under Earl Grey's administration in 1830. It was to him that Whitmore, on behalf of the founders, re-introduced the project of a colony in SA on the 6th July 1833. Stanley gave the first indication that a colony in SA would receive Parliamentary sanction if certain conditions were met relating to religion and education. To meet these requirements, South Australia ended up with its own Constitution unique in the world.


Strangways Terrace: Through the interference of Governor Hindmarsh, this street was named after Thomas Bewes Strangways, a prospective son-in-law. As Strangways was also on the street naming committee, it may be difficult to ascertain who should have received the honour. There would be another twenty people more deserving.


Tynte Street: Nothing much is known about Colonel Kemeys-Tynte 1778-1886, other than that he was probably a friend of Governor Hindmarsh or Judge Jeffcott.


Brougham Place: Henry Brougham (1778-1868) was a gifted student accepted at Edinburgh University at the age of 14 where he studied science, maths and law. In 1802 he founded, with friends, the Edinburgh Review and wrote many articles on social reform.
He entered parliament in 1807 as a radical fighting against slavery. As a lawyer he fought for the allowance of trade unions. The bills he introduced on state funded education in 1820, 1835, 1837, 1838, 1839, were all defeated.
His greatest support for South Australia was in arguing for 30 years for Parliamentary Reform, which was finally achieved in June 1832. The passing of this Act led to the third and successful attempt to found a colony in SA in 1834.
Brougham also helped to pass the Municipal Reform Bill of 1835. This Act was ostensibly brought in to get rid of the 'rotten boroughs' by allowing all ratepayers to vote in council elections. The South Australian Commissioners had pre-empted this provision in their 1st Annual Report, by stipulating that Local Government be allowed when the population of a town reached 2,000. As South Australia was the first British colony founded after this reform, Adelaide became the first Municipal Corporation in Australasia (August 1840).


Palmer Place: Named after Lt. Colonel George Palmer Jnr (1799-1883), one of the original Colonisation Commissioners appointed in May 1835. Palmer and Montefiore organised all the shipping and agents requirements for the 'first expedition' under the command of Colonel Light.
George Palmer was a great friend of Light. In 1859 he forwarded the cup to the Adelaide City Council from which the annual toast to Colonel Light is drunk. Palmer and Montefiore had trialled a new system for emigrant ships where a medical person had to be aboard any ship with over 100 passengers and a minimum deck height observed. This reform, first adopted by the SA Commissioners, led to a greatly decreased mortality rate. In 1839 this code was adopted for all British colony emigrant ships.


Archer Street: This street was named Willoughby street by the street naming committee. Sir Henry Willoughby an MP, had at first opposed the South Australian Bill on its first reading, but on being informed of its philanthropic intentions, convinced other MP's to change their vote. Through the interference of Governor Hindmarsh the following day, the name was changed to Archer. It has been assumed that Archer was a friend from the navy, but he was only a land owner who gave Governor Hindmarsh some sheep.


Barnard Street: Named for Edward Barnard, a Colonisation Commissioner of 1835. He headed the Commissioners Finance Committee which secured the financial loans for South Australia from the British Treasury.


Barton Terrace: John Barton Hack, a Chichester quaker, arrived in South Australia in February 1837 on the Isabella. This pioneer ship had sailed to Holdfast Bay via Tasmania, where livestock were taken on board. Consequently, Hack became the first settler to land bullocks and sheep at Glenelg on what we now call Wigley Reserve. He was the first man also to offer transport from the beach to the new capital city.
Hack was an experienced farmer in England. With the support of many of his Society of Friends, a quaker organisation, he was able to bring capital and pastoral experience to the colony. In 1839 he purchased the government survey vessel Rapid for over £2,000. Over many years he assisted other settlers on the land and later as a contractor. He died on the 4th October, 1884.


Brown Street: Named for John Brown, the state's first Immigration Officer. Brown was among the strongest supporters of Gouger in founding the colony. An avid republican and chartist, a believer in the 'liberty of the press', reconciliation, self government and other political reforms, his influence on South Australia was enormous. Brown with his wife and daughter, arrived at Holdfast Bay on the Africaine on the 8th November 1836. He, together with Gouger, decided to accept Colonel Light's advice that this was the spot where the colony would be founded. His job as Immigration Officer was to greet the new settlers on arrival at the tent camp at Glenelg and assist in placing them in employment. The Brown's camp became a gathering place. They were also praised for fostering good relations between the settlers and the local aboriginal people, but refused to become Protector of Aborigines deeming this to be the responsibility of the Crown. Brown was the first colonial officer suspended by Governor Hindmarsh over his refusal to bury a dead immigrant. He remained Hindmarsh's most vehement detractor over the next 3 years. In 1840 he became a member of the first Adelaide Municipal Corporation and was for some years the editor of The South Australian newspaper - a political foil to Stevenson's Register. George Stevenson was Governor Hindmarsh's private secretary.


Buxton Street: After Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton MP, 1786-1845. His mother was a member of The Society of Friends, where he was introduced to the Quaker family of the Gurney's. He married a sister of Elizabeth Fry (nee Gurney) and became involved in the Quaker campaign for social reform. As an MP he joined Elizabeth Fry in her campaign for prison reform; the abolition of capital punishment; and the abolition of the slave trade - finally passed in 1833.
His direct involvement in South Australian affairs was as the first President of the Aborigines Protection Society, formed in England in 1835. This Society campaigned for the legal rights of native peoples as reflected in Governor Hindmarsh's first Proclamation of 28th December 1836. His grandson of the same name, became Governor of South Australia in 1895.


Childers Street: J. Wallbanke Childers MP was a member of the Provisional Committee of The South Australian Association formed on the 27th November 1833. He continued to fight for South Australia to gain the passage of the Foundation Act of SA through Parliament - assented to on the 15th August 1834 and enacted by King William on the 19th February 1836.


Lefevre Terrace: James Shaw Lefevre was Under Secretary to Edward Stanley, Colonial Secretary for The Colonies in 1834 when the third attempt of the founders to obtain a parliamentary sanction for their plan commenced. Lefevre assisted Whitmore, Torrens and Gouger by advising them on how to make their plan acceptable to the British Government. As one of the ten Colonisation Commissioners appointed for SA, Lefevre assisted Torrens and Hutt to set up the Rules and Regulations for the disposal of public lands.


Mackinnon Parade: Colonel William A. Mackinnon MP was a member of the National Colonisation Society of 1830. In 1835 he was appointed a Colonisation Commissioner and was even proposed as a Governor of SA for his strong support of the Colony.


Mann Terrace: A pre-eminent promoter of the founding principles of SA was Charles Mann, appointed first Advocate-General and Crown Solicitor. He arrived at Holdfast Bay (Glenelg) on the Coromandel on the 18th January 1837. As Advocate-General, Mann was one of the five members of the Executive Council of Government, but due to his late arrival, he was not present at the Old Gum Tree when our Government was Constituted on the 28th December 1836.
Mann supported Resident Commissioner Fisher and Colonel Light in the dispute over the site of the capital city in opposition to Governor Hindmarsh. He supported at all times the instructions of the Colonisation Commissioners and was eventually suspended by Hindmarsh; reinstated by the Colonial Office and then suspended again by Governor Gawler. He became legal counsel to the new Municipal Corporation of Adelaide in 1840 and served the colony in many other ways until his death in 1860 at the age of 60 years. The life and influence of Charles Mann, a staunch republican and chartist, deserves more study by South Australian historians.


Melbourne Street: Named after 2nd Viscount Melbourne, William Lamb. Lamb served as Britain's Home Secretary in Grey's Government of 1830 before becoming Prime Minister from July 1834 to December of that year. During this period, the South Australian Foundation Act received parliamentary sanction - 15th August 1834. Lamb is remembered as a supporter of Parliamentary Reform. His name is also perpetuated as the capital of (Victoria), as he was an advisor to the young Queen Victoria.
Melbourne was named as the principal town of The Port Philip District (or Australia Felix) in 1835 - then part of New South Wales. The town of Melbourne had originally been called 'Hobson's Bay', and was even known in the early years as 'Glenelg' after our Lord Glenelg. The Colony of Victoria was created on the 1st July 1851.


Mills Terrace: After Samuel Mills, a very active member of the Colonisation Commissioners of SA. He was a Chairman of the Finance Committee. This street is not named after John Stuart Mill, the philosopher social reformer. A smaller street near South Terrace was later named in honour of this pioneer.


Molesworth Street: Sir William Molesworth (1810-1855). He wrote influential reports condemning the system of Transportation which was finally ended in NSW and Tasmania in 1841. He also supported all movements for Colonial Self Government. Molesworth was a member of the National Colonisation Society of 1830 and became a member of the Provisional Committee of the South Australian Association in February 1834 where he fought strongly for the passage of the Foundation Act. Molesworth studied at Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities from 14 to 17 years of age. He was influenced by the religous and political ideas of Jeremy Bentham and James Mill and became involved in the campaign for Parliamentary Reform. In 1832, at the age of only 22, he became the member for East Cornwall. Two years later, Molesworth and John Stuart Mill founded the Radical journal The London Review.


O'Connell Street: After Daniel O'Connell, the celebrated Irish politician. O'Connell in 1830 was a member of the House of Commons where he fought for prison reform, free trade, abolition of slavery and Jewish emancipation. He was prominent in the campaign for universal suffrage with William Molesworth.


Ward Street: Named after Henry George Ward MP a member of the Provisional Committee of The South Australian Association June 1834. Ward had been a member of the SA Land Company delegation to Goderich in Febrary of that same year. He remained one of South Australia's strongest supporters in Parliament although he refused to act as a SA Commissioner in January 1835 on the change of ministry. Ward also supported the SA School Society formed in London in June 1840 and local government for SA in the House of Commons.


River Torrens: Named after Robert Richard Torrens (1814-1884), the third Premier of South Australia and a pioneer and author of simplified system of transferring land. Born in Cork, Ireland, he came to Australia in 1839. In February 1841 he was collector of customs at Adelaide. In enlarged legislative council elected in July 1851, Torrens was one of the four official nominees nominated by the governor. When responsible government commenced in October 1856, Torrens became treasurer in the ministry of Finniss. He was elected as one of the members of the House of Assembly for the city of Adelaide in the new parliament, and on 1st September 1857 became premier, but his government lasted less than a month. In December 1857 he championed the Real Property Act of 1858 (for the transfer of real property) through the assembly, and the system became known as the Torrens title. The system transferred property by registration of title, instead of by deeds, and it has since been widely adopted throughout the world.