david coombe history
Plan of the city of Adelaide, in South Australia : with the acre allotments numbered, and a marginal reference to the names of the original purchasers / surveyed and drawn by Colonel Light was published in 1837. It is the earliest published map of Adelaide and its individual acres.
This webpage and interactive online map makes the map's information more accessible. It provides locations (latitude, longitude) for more than a thousand map reference points. Explore the map features with either the historical map or the current city as background.
In this article ...
Colonel William Light's plan of the city of Adelaide – listing the original purchasers of its city acres – was published in London by South Australian Agent, John Gliddon, in 1837.
Copies of the Light/Gliddon map are held and digitised in the National Library of Australia (NLA) | MAP RM 1128 and the State Library of South Australia (SLSA) | C194A. At the time of writing, holdings are sometimes incorrectly dated 1840.1
Preliminary purchases of Adelaide land were made in England before settlement.2 After Light's survey a sale of remaining city acres was held on 27 March 1837.3 The streets and squares were then named at a meeting on 23 May.4 Light then had all he needed to produce the city plan for publication in England.
Within a matter of days the Colonisation Commissioners' brig Rapid sailed for London via Hobart5. On board was the £7000 proceeds from the sale6. Also being carried, for London publication, were some of Light's artworks, maps and this plan of the city of Adelaide.
On reaching England they were lithographed in November by South Australian Agent, John Gliddon.
JUST PUBLISHED.
LITHOGRAPHED Copies of original Charts and Drawings by COLONEL LIGHT, Surveyor-General of the Province of South Australia.
Chart of "Nepean and Rapid Bay." Price 1s.
View of "Rapid Valley." Price 1s. 6d.
Chart of the Eastern Coast of St. Vincent's Gulf. Price 2s. plain; 2s. 6d. coloured.
Port and Town of Adelaide, the Capital of South Australia. Price 1s.
J. GLIDDON, South Australian Agent, 3, Austin Friars.
Just Published, price 4s. PLAN of the TOWN of ADELAIDE, received per "Rapid," with the Acre Allotments numbered, and a marginal reference to the names of the Proprietors; by JOHN GLIDDON, South Australian Agent, 3, Austin Friars.7
Within a year Light's views and plans were available for sale in Adelaide.8
Other versions of this city plan were printed for the British Parliament. As early as 26 January 1838 the House of Commons ordered a version (see State Library of South Australia (SLSA) | C974). Purchasers' names were included in an annex instead of appearing in the map margins.
In seeking to make the map's information more accessible, I transcribed original purchasers and located the acres on an online geo-rectified copy of the map. I present this information in the form of an interactive map and an index.
Errors. I welcome advice of any errors or inconsistencies with other sources (such as the referenced newspaper report of sales).
The index is helpful for looking up a particular acre or owner. The link will then take you to that entry on the interactive map.
You can also explore using the map, "browse data" and filter by owner name.
Technical: I georectified the NLA map in MapWarper and used the result as the custom background in uMap. More information: S.T. Gill in Maps.
1. See internet archive: NLA catalogue <https://web.archive.org/web/20230208214021/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2232633>, SLSA catalogue <https://web.archive.org/web/20230208213539/https://catalog.slsa.sa.gov.au/record=b1831757>, SA History Hub
<https://web.archive.org/web/20221206173550/https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/panoramas/lights-plan-of-adelaide-1840>.
2. Jude Elton, History Trust of South Australia, "Light's Plan of Adelaide, 1840", SA History Hub, History Trust of South Australia, <https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/panoramas/lights-plan-of-adelaide-1840>, accessed 6 February 2023.
3. South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, 3 June 1837: 2. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31749644> and 3. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31749647>
4. South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, 3 June 1837: 1. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31749645>
5. The Hobart Town Courier (Tas.) 23 June 1837: 2. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4171198>
6. The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas.) 3 June 1837: 2. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65949709>
7. South Australian Record (London) 27 November 1837: 2. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245931960>
8. Southern Australian, 27 October 1838: 1. <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71684867>
David Coombe, February 2023. Updated 9 February 2023. Formatted 27 December 2023.
CITE THIS: David Coombe, 2023, 1837 Adelaide Plan with Original Purchasers of Acres, accessed dd mmm yyyy, <https://coombe.id.au/1840s_South_Australia/1837_Adelaide_Map_Original_Purchasers.htm>
Note: I have generally kept text as it appears on Light's map and any of my additions are in brackets. Some acres have two names recorded. As female purchasers were uncommon, I have identified these with "[female]" where name or title makes this feasible.