Colonel William Light was appointed as the first Surveyor-General for South Australia in February 1836, his main task was to select and survey a suitable area to establish the new settlement of Adelaide.

The survey was conducted from this camp of temporary dwellings.This quote from his diary hints at the difficulties he faced in selecting the site:

‘The reasons that led me to fix Adelaide where it is I do not expect to be generally understood or calmly judged of at present … I leave it to posterity … to decide whether I am entitled to praise or to blame.’ (William Light, 1839)