Front view of the Colonel William Light statue on Montefiore Hill.

William Light, surveyor-general of South Australia, was directed by the South Australian Colonization Commissioners to select the site for the colony's capital. Although critised during his lifetime by opponents of his choice for the position of Adelaide, Light was honoured on his death. His one time deputy, George Strickland Kingston, designed a memorial for his grave in Light Square (it eventually fell into disrepair and had to be replaced) and 450 mourners were said to have been at his funeral.

The statue commemorating Light which stands on Montefiore Hill was designed by Burnies Rhind in 1906. It was originally unveiled on Victoria Square, but later moved to this more elevated position from where Adelaide's cityscape can be viewed.

Light, William, 1786-1839

Dutton, Geoffrey and David Elder. Colonel William Light : founder of a city, Carlton, Vic. : Melbourne University Press, 1991

Johnson, Donald Leslie and Donald Langmead. The Adelaide city plan: fiction and fact,Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 1986

Johnson, Donald Leslie. 'The Kingston/Light plan of Adelaide and founding the city',Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, number 32, 2004, p. 5-18

Whitelock, Derek. Adelaide from colony to jubilee : a sense of difference, Adelaide : Savvas Publishing, c1985