The Mystery of the Colonel's Ghost Preview

Hi, my name is William, welcome to my city!

Well, 'my city' - I think it's more your city by now.

When I first started designing Adelaide I envisioned how future residents would live here, but in the end only time could tell of course.

I was born in Malaya on 27 April 1786. I loved the Navy, so I joined when I was 14 and soon I travelled all around Europe - Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Ireland, Sicily, Florence and Turin.

So come with me so we can both share our Vision of Adelaide together.

I had clear instructions.

Find a place for the capital with a good harbour, fertile land, fresh water and good sheep walks.

Well that wasn't Kangaroo Island.

We all know where I chose - but the decision was democratic.

To decide the issue, Governor Hindmarsh ordered a public meeting on 10 February 1837. At this meeting it was agreed that only those people with land orders could vote. My chosen site for Adelaide received 218 votes whereas Governor Hindmarsh who wanted Adelaide to be where Glenelg is now managed only 137 votes.

Now you know a bit more about me. By the way - I didn't always have the curly hair!

But you should know Adelaide for her grid - simply look up and down Hindley and Morphett to notice the symmetries.

I settled on a grid layout for the City of Adelaide in 1837 after the site was selected. Within this grid, land was divided into single-acre allotments. Some of these ‘town acres’ were sold in Britain before European settlement began. Others were sold by auction after the city was laid out.

Now put the side of your phone upright next to the two red symbols on the map. You see your second set of two symbols in the reflection! Draw them in the second row in the table on the side of the map.

The painting in the video shows at what North Terrace was like in 1841!

Next, look west toward the SAHMRI building and new Royal Adelaide Hospital. I lived at the corner of North and West Terrace at one time and started my plan for Adelaide from there.

Take a selfie to show what the same scene looks like today.

There are no questions or symbols to collect here so please walk on to your next location.

The Holy Trinity was the first church in Adelaide. I remember John Hindmarsh laying its foundation stone in 1838.

To cater for the spiritual needs of the pioneers and colonists who arrived into Glenelg aboard the HMS Buffalo in 1836, not only did Governor elect Hindmarsh bring with him from England a chaplain, he also brought his own flat-packed prefabricated church (though it wasn’t bought from IKEA!).

Accounts suggest that the ‘flat pack church’ was never built though.

I imagined at the time that it would be at the centre of the city. The builders quarried limestone near the Adelaide Oval to build it and If you look carefully you can still see the remains of marine fossils in some of the building stones.

The clock in the tower which has been there since 1838 was intended as the town clock and was put in this first Adelaide tower.

Next, play the second video to learn more about its history or if time permits, ask permission to go inside and look around. You will see the names of some important South Australian pioneers on the different congregational boards inside the church. Many local streets are named after these people.

Take a selfie in front of the church.

I think this is a nice spot to tell you a little more about my 'Vision' as you look toward the Rotunda.

Have a look at my original map above. In my plan, I included a central square, four other squares and seventeen main streets. I marked out 1042 city lots, 701 acre sites south of the Torrens, and 342 in North Adelaide.

I also created almost 7 kilometres of parklands that gives Adelaide her fresh air and park feel. I'm glad to see it turned out well - although even I did not foresee all those cars and trucks using the roads.

My plan of 1837 intended the city centre to be Victoria Square and for King William Street to be the main road. I provided for a cathedral within the square and set aside four acres bordering the square on King William Street for government offices and an acre on the southeast corner of Pirie Street and King William Street for a town hall.

Now step back from the phone and look at the image behind the barcode to see the first symbol of the fourth set. Draw it in the first space on the fourth line in the table on the right hand side of the map.

Take a selfie to show me what Victoria Square looks like today.

On 11 January 1837 I began my survey of Adelaide near where the new RAH is located. My plan was completed by May of that year. I also designed and pioneered an unprecedented co-ordinated cadastre for the Adelaide Plain, thereby expediting rapid re-survey based on trigonometrical survey, or triangulation. I'm pleased that this was expected to be the first of its type in the world.

From the date of choosing the site of Adelaide to the date of my resignation, my term in office was a year and a half. In 1838 I resigned and after I returned from my last job in the Barossa district on 22 January 1839 at 2.00pm I found my hut burned to the ground with most of my journals gone, several of my instruments, the whole of my valuable portfolios of drawings and my private journal I had diligently kept for the last 30 years.

Unbelievable! Also 30 years of my paintings perished!

The second symbol that completes the fourth set can be seen in the main photo in the video above. Draw it in the second circle on the fourth row in the table to the right of the map.

(Source: http://adelaidia.sa.gov.au/things/colonel-william-light-grave-and-monument)

I didn't use the same tools you use now like satellite imagery to do urban surveying.

In my time we used an instrument called a theodolite (like the one in the video above) which was a precision instrument for measuring angles in the horizontal and vertical planes.

Now for your next symbol.

Line up the blue and green spikes on the decoder tool video (on the left hand side of the treasure map) with the corresponding colours on the video and tap to begin it spinning. Where the long hand on the spinner ends up pointing is the first symbol of the last set to add to the table!

My official career was remarkably short!

After many disputes Iresigned in 1838 but my health had already begun to deteriorate, and when my temporary accommodation was burnt down I moved to a new house which I named ‘Theberton’ and was nursed by my mistress Maria Gandy. We had been together since 1832.

We often felt like outcasts and it caused us much heartbreak. Perhaps it was because of the bitterness and boorishness of the early Establishment that there is so little to remember her. There are no portraits, no photographs, no diaries and no letters of Maria except this sketch you see above that was done by me.

I eventually died of tuberculosis on 6th October 1839, rich in assets because of the size of my landholdings but poor in income. I left Maria all my possessions...

The factionalism of the early colonists pursued me to my death. A number of them avoided me because of old grudges, and some, including the Colonial Chaplain, refused to visit me, even on my deathbed, because I was living with his mistress.

(Source: http://adelaidia.sa.gov.au/people/colonel-william-light)

I was laid to rest here in a vault under the theodolite you see in front of you on October 10, 1839. There was a different monument originally but this one replaced it in 1905.

Ironically, it was my death which briefly set aside previous enmities. Governor George Gawler was anxious to show an appropriate level of respect and this resulted in what was, in essence, South Australia’s first State funeral. It was the largest assembly of people yet congregated within the colony.

OK - the last symbol.

Take a good look at the 'goatee beard' under my chin - it's the last symbol of the last set you to collect.