William Light - Memorials

Memorials

Colonel William Light is commemorated in a number of ways, including:

• The naming of Light Square, Adelaide, and the monument there over his grave. He remains the only person legally buried within the Adelaide "square mile".
• The statue on Montefiore Hill, (also referred to as Light's Vision), depicting him pointing to the Adelaide CBD. This is not necessarily where he actually first stood to make his declaration; there is evidence that he actually stood near the corner of North and West Terraces, and there is a memorial and plaque in that vicinity marking the approximate location of the Land and Survey offices, and of Light's and Fisher's huts, which were destroyed by fire in 1839.
• The naming of the Adelaide suburb of Colonel Light Gardens.
• The Colonel Light Hotel. (Light Square, corner Currie St.) Established in 1849 as the Sir Robert Peel Hotel, in 1888 it was renamed the Colonel Light Hotel.
• Light Square in the Adelaide suburb of Marion (Cnr. Nixon and Market Streets). Four cairns commemorate the early history of the area and original survey of the village by Light, Finniss and Co. in 1838.
• The Light River which has its source at Waterloo, South Australia and runs 164km to its mouth in the Gulf St Vincent.