Many of William Light's personal papers and sketchbooks were destroyed in a fire at his cottage in Adelaide in January 1839. Fortunately, some were saved and give us an insight into his decisions for the planning of Adelaide and also his character. Many of the surviving sketches bear the signs of the fire with charred edges.

William Light was born on 27 April 1786 in Kuala Kedah in Malaya. His father Francis was the superintendent of Penang for the East India Company. At the age of six, Light was sent back to England where a family friend, Charles Doughty of Theberton in Suffolk, educated him. Light joined the Navy in the last years of the century but left after two years and some time later purchased a junior commission in the 4th Dragoons. He served with distinction on the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. A good linguist and artist, he was employed on the Duke of Wellington's staff on mapping and reconnaissance duties.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, Light served in various parts of Great Britain, and retired from the Army in 1821 as a major. He later served in the Spanish revolutionary army with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In 1824 he married the wealthy Mary Bennet and together they travelled in Europe and cruised the Mediterranean in their yacht Gulnare. They also spent time in Egypt where Light helped to recruit personnel for the Egyptian Navy, and later brought the paddle steamer Nile from England to join the Navy. It was at this time that he met John Hindmarsh, later to become Governor of South Australia. Light's Mediterranean sketches, most of which are beautiful watercolours, were produced during this period.

In January 1836 Light was appointed Surveyor General of South Australia.

In 2007 the State Library successfully nominated the William Light papers to the UNESCO Australian memory of the World.

These sketches were selected as part of a 'staff favourites' exhibition. The staff member wrote, in nominating several items, that the Light sketches were her 'very favourites', showing an aspect of Light's life before he came to South Australia and created the city of Adelaide. The sketches also reveal an Englishman's view of the Mediterranean world from a period before 20th century development had encroached upon it.