On This Day - July 9th 1857
The Municipality of the Town of Gawler, South Australia, is proclaimed.
South Australia is the only Australian state to have been founded by free settlers, remaining entirely free of convicts during its early history. The site of its capital, Adelaide, was originally determined by Captain Collet Barker in 1831 and subsequently surveyed by Colonel William Light five years later.
Gawler is a Local Government Area (LGA) located 44km north of Adelaide. The year after Colonel Light surveyed the capital, he and his assistant, Boyle Travers Finniss, travelled through the area north of Adelaide. Light saw the benefits of establishing a town which would be the gateway to the north, and to the Murray River, the water and transport lifeline for South Australia. Light's recommendation for a survey of the area was initially not taken up, but Henry Dundas Murray, John Reid and a syndicate of ten other colonists noted Light's recommendation and applied for a Special Survey of 4000 acres (1618 hectares). Following this, Light was commissioned to survey the town. William Jacob then laid out the town from Light's plan and the town was officially established on 31 January 1839. It was named Gawler after Lieutenant-Colonel George Gawler, second Governor of South Australia.
The first settler in Gawler was John Reid, who arrived in February 1839 to take up his selection near the North Para River. Reid's property became a stopover for new pioneers to the area and overlanders from New South Wales. Gawler developed slowly until the discovery of copper at nearby Kapunda in 1842 sent its growth soaring. When the copper mines were established at Burra in the north, Gawler's importance as a trade and stopping centre increased. The establishment of agricultural areas to the north cemented Gawler's position as a permanent settlement.
With the introduction of Local Government to the region in 1853 and 1854, the districts of Munno Para East, Mudla Wirra, Barossa West (which included Gawler) and Munno Para West were formed. Residents of Gawler, however, were unhappy with the services provided by Barossa West, and lobbied for separation. The Municipality of the Town of Gawler was proclaimed on 9 July 1857.