Founder Of A City: Colonel William Light - 1960 - Australian History Book

Founder Of A City: The Life Of Colonel William Light - First Surveyor General Of The Colony Of South Australia: Founder Of Adelaide

By Geoffrey Dutton

Published by F.W. Cheshire: Melbourne 1960 1st Edition

"Colonel William Light was the first Surveyor-General of the Colony of South Australia and the founder of its capital city, Adelaide. His life is a story of colour, change, adventure, frustration, tragedy, yet of monumental achievement. Light's life span encompasses that dramatic period of history when the expanding frontiers of the Western world reached the furthest corners of the globe. Born in Penang (founded by his father, Francis Light), he became a sailor and soldier in succession, distinguished himself in the Peninsular War, lived on and married into the fringe of British aristocracy, travelled widely in Europe and served in Mohammed Ali's navy in Egypt. He expected to become the first Governor of South Australia, but as Surveyor-General having been caught in an almost unbelievable mesh of intrigue, he succeeded in conceiving and laying out what is perhaps the most gracious city in Australia. He was the bridge between two types of colonialism: the one which is now passing in Penang and the other which brought forth vigorous new nations. In this vivid biography, Geoffrey Dutton, in shrewd and perceptive remarks and with a rare lucidity and elegance of writing, throws a beam of understanding on this complex man and his time."