Thomas Gilbert (b. 1789, d. 1873) was a pioneer of Adelaide, South Australia, having arrived with the first settlers in order to operate the first Colonial Storehouse.
Prior to coming to Australia, Thomas Gilbert was an optician who worked in London with his brother William. Their "experiments for the improvements of glasses were so extensive that the Government assisted them by a suspension of the Excise supervision, so that their large outlay should not be increased by the payment of duty"[1]. Many early South Australian settlers were those who had relinquished good positions in Britain to help establish "a model state which would not reproduce the inequalities of older countries".[2]
He arrived at Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia on 11 September 1836 with other first settlers and surveyors on the Cygnet before travelling on to the mainland to establish the Colonial Storehouse. Gilbert had been appointed the task of operating the Colonial Storehouse by the South Australian Association formed by Robert Gouger.
In 1837, shortly after the Proclamation of South Australia, Thomas Gilbert was appointed by Governor Hindmarsh as first Postmaster in South Australia, with the first post office originally being operated from his private residence. Thomas Gilbert was never officially given the title of Postmaster General and was granted a salary of thirty pounds per year for the Postmaster position. Thomas Gilbert managed the post office for approximately fifteen months, at which point he lodged a grievance with the South Australian Government as he had not been paid for this role. The Government published an official censure on Thomas Gilbert and, as a result, Thomas Gilbert resigned the position of Postmaster but continued in his capacity as Colonial Storekeeper.[3] Officially, the General Post Office in Adelaide does not recognise Thomas Gilbert as the first Postmaster General and, instead, they have an oil painting of Charles Todd as their first Postmaster General.
Thomas Gilbert's storehouse, post office and residence was the first European structure built on the Adelaide plains. It was a temporary hut built on the banks of the River Torrens.
He was a member of the Street Naming Committee and a founding member of the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association, which was first established in London in 1834. Gilbert was also a founding member of the South Australian Lodge of Friendship No. 613. He was elected and initiated into Freemasonry the first meeting of the Lodge which was held in 1834 at the South Australian Association in London. He later was elected Master of the Lodge of Friendship on the 14 August 1838 and over the next years served a number of terms as its Master.
Gilbert attended the Proclamation of South Australia at Glenelg on 28 December 1836. He is said to have proclaimed the toast: "Mrs Hindmarsh and the Ladies" at the event.[4]
Thomas Gilbert retired in 1854. He died on 30 May 1873 aged 84 years of age and is buried in West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.
On his gravestone is written "Erected by a few colonialists in token of their sincere admiration of his honorable and generous qualities as a public officer and faithful friend".[5]
Gilbert Street in the city centre of Adelaide is named after Thomas Gilbert. The Gilbert Valley in mid-north South Australia, along with the river flowing through it (the Gilbert River) are also named after him, with the town of Riverton deriving its name from this same river.