Timeline of Adelaide's History: 18 Hundreds
Pre Settlement:
1627: First recorded European sighting of the South Australian coast.
1802: South Australian coastline mapped by Matthew Flinders and Nicolas Baudin.
1802 (Circa): Unofficial settlement of Kangaroo Island by sealers.
1830: Captain Charles Sturt travels to the mouth of the Murray River in a whale boat.
1831: Captain Collet Barker explores the Adelaide Plains and climbs to the summit of Mount Lofty.
1830s
1834: South Australia Act passed on 15th August 1834 providing a legal framework and funds for the British settlement in what is now South Australia.
1834: The South Australian Lodge of Friendship No. 613 was founded 22nd October. The Lodge held its first meeting at 7 John Street, Adelphi, London.
1836: Letters Patent erect and establish the Province of South Australia on 19th February 1836. It was to be Australia's second free colony and the first experiment of the Wakefieldian systematic colonisation theory.
1836: Tent city set up by the South Australian Company on the site now known as Kingscote on Kangaroo Island.
1836: The site for Adelaide is chosen by Colonel William Light beside the River Torrens as Australia's first free colony. Governor John Hindmarsh on the HMS Buffalo lands at Holdfast Bay and proclaims the new colony of South Australia on December 28th.
1837: Colonel Light completes the survey of Adelaide and designs the city's grid layout. Single-acre allotments (4,000 m2) are made, first to holders of land orders and then by auction. The city's first hospital opened on North Terrace. The first regional town - Gawler - is founded north of Adelaide.
1838: The South Australian Police, the first police force in Australia, is formed in Adelaide (28th April) under Henry Inman. (My Personal note: I believe the best police force in the nation - I don't like their new uniforms (approximately in 2012), they look like security guards more so than Police or are they trying to look like the American SWAT?) The first German immigrants arrive and settle in Adelaide and it surrounds eg Klemzig, Hahndorf etc.
1839: Colonel William Light dies on 6th October at Thebarton and is interred in Light Square - a memorial will be built over the grave. Port Road opens as the first road built in South Australia. Edward John Eyre begins his explorations of the Flinders Ranges and beyond.
Late 1830s: The first stone house in Adelaide is built by William Austin Barnes on the corner of Morphett and Grote Streets.
Government House Front Gates 2012
Government House 2008
1840s
1840: The first portion of Government House is completed, becoming the first in Australia. The Corporation of Adelaide is founded as the first municipal authority in Australia, and James Hurtle Fisher is elected mayor. An agricultural show, which will become the Royal Adelaide Show, is first held in the yard of Fordham's Hotel in Grenfell Street.
1841: Construction begins of Adelaide Gaol, and the first section is completed. (I love visiting the Old Gaol). The Adelaide Hospital later to be known as the Royal Adelaide Hospital is opened. (a new RAH in a different location on North Terrace was built and completed in 2017 - the old site is now currently called Lot 14)
1843: The first Legislative Council building is opened on North Terrace.
1844: The colonial Government takes control of the Corporation of Adelaide.
1847: St Peter's College is established.
1848: Pulteney Grammer School is established. The Savings Bank of South Australia begins trading from a room in Gawler Place.
1849: City Commissioners are nominated to manage Adelaide.
1850s
1850: G.P. Harris and J.C. Lanyon, the forerunner to Harris Scarfe, opens on Hindley Street.
1851: Responsible Government is introduced to South Australia, enfranchising wealthy male colonists.
1852: The Corporation of Adelaide is reconstituted and James Hurtle Fisher again becomes mayor. The first overland transport of gold arrives in Adelaide.
1853: The first four local governing bodies in South Australia (apart from the Corporation of Adelaide) were established as the district councils of Mitcham, East Torrens, Onkaparinga and Hindmarsh, following the passing of the 1852 'Act to appoint District Councils'. The Philosophical Society of Adelaide founded (later becoming the Royal Society of South Australia).
1855: Central Adelaide Mosque.
1856: The South Australian Institute is founded, from which will derive the State Library, State Museum and the Art Gallery. The first telegraph line and steam railway between Adelaide and Port Adelaide are opened.
1857: Adelaide Botanic Gardens opens at today's site in the Parklands off North Terrace with George Francis as the first director. Railway between Adelaide and Gawler was opened.
1858: The Melbourne-Adelaide telegraph line is opened.
1859: A jetty more than 350 metres in length is constructed at Glenelg. It has a wooden lighthouse at its end, which will later be destroyed by fire. 3-8 February: devastating fires in the Adelaide Hills around Cox's Creek near Bridgewater. The Norwood Town Hall was built on the Parade at Norwood. It was the first Town Hall in South Australia.
1860s
1860: Thorndon Park Reservoir supplied water through new reticulation system. 29th February: the Agricultural and Horticultural Exhibition, the “Adelaide Autumn Show”, takes place for the first time in a specially constructed building adjacent to North Terrace.
1861: East Terrace markets opened.
1863: First gas supplied to city.
1865: Bank of Adelaide founded.
1866: The Italianate Adelaide Town Hall is opened.
1867: Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, make their first royal visit to Adelaide. Gas Street Lights first appear on Adelaide streets.
1868: 10th February: Major fire at D. & W. Murray's, drapery, King William Street
1869: The City Market later to be known as Central Market is opened on Grote Street. The Brighton Town Hall was built on Brighton Road, Hove.
1870s
1870: Port Adelaide Football Club established.
1872: The General Post Office opened. Adelaide became the first Australian capital linked to the Imperial London with completion of the Overland Telegraph.
1873: First cricket match played at Adelaide Oval.
1874: The Adelaide Oval officially opened. (My Personal note: I believe the best Oval in the world, until recently, when they removed a historical look of it and stands for the prospect of earning more money in the future.) The University of Adelaide founded.
1875: 18th April: Major fire at Townsend Duryea's photographic studios, King William Street[
1876: Adelaide Children's Hospital founded.
1877: The Adelaide Bridge across the Torrens completed.
1878: First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in the city . Port Adelaide railway extended to Semaphore.
1879: Foundation stone of the University of Adelaide laid.
1880s
1880: Telephone introduced. Royal Society of South Australia received royal patronage.
1881: The Art Gallery of South Australia opened by Prince Albert Victor. Ornamental Torrens Lake created following construction of weir.
1882: First water-borne sewerage service in Australia commenced. The City Baths opened on King William Street. 12 March: Major fire at James Marshall & Co., drapers of Rundle Street
1883: Adelaide Zoological Gardens opened. Roseworthy Agricultural College established, the first agricultural college in Australia.
1884: 6th January: Major fire at Academy of Music on Rundle Street. 15th November: Major fire at Patrick Gay's cabinetmaking workshop and showroom, Rundle Street. Adelaide Trades and Labor Council inaugurated. Largs Bay Fort opened. Grand Lodge of South Australia Established. 16th April with 30 Lodges and 2064 members.
1885: The Adelaide Arcade opened. Flinders Column erected at the Mount Lofty Summit. 16th December: Major fire at W. H. Burford & Son's soap and candle factory, Sturt Street.
1887: The Inter-colonial Express starts running between Adelaide and Melbourne. Stock Exchange of Adelaide formed.
1889: School of Mines and Industries opened on North Terrace.
1890s
1890: Adelaide's first public statue, Venus, is unveiled on North Terrace.
1893: The Australian Association for the Advancement of Science meets in Adelaide - credit is universally accorded to Colonel William Light for his selection of the site and for the design of Adelaide.
1894: The world's second Act granting women suffrage is passed in Parliament House on North Terrace.
1895: 24th July: Major fire at W. Menz & Co. confectioners, Wakefield Street opposite fire station
1896: Moving pictures are shown for the first time in South Australia at Theatre Royal on Hindley Street. Happy Valley Reservoir is opened.
1899: The South Australian contingent left Adelaide for the Second Boer War - Corner of North Terrace and King William Street.