Thomas Gilbert (pioneer)

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Thomas Gilbert (b. 1789, d. 1873), a pioneer of South Australia, was its first Colonial Storekeeper (a government official responsible for all government stores) and its first Postmaster.

London Origins

Prior to coming to Australia, Thomas Gilbert worked in Leadenhall Street, London, with his brother William as opticians to the East India Company. 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]

Colonial Storekeeper

In London Gilbert had been appointed the task of operating the Colonial Storehouse by the South Australian Association formed by Robert Gouger. 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 at Adelaide.

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.[3]

Thomas Gilbert's storehouse, post office and residence, known as the Colonial Store and the adjacent Iron Store, were the first European structures built on the Adelaide plains. These temporary huts were built on the banks of the River Torrens, on the present City of Adelaide Golf Links, just south of Strangways Terrace, North Adelaide. All manner of pioneering equipment, rations, hardware, and clothing were issued from this store to government parties such as builders, surveyors, police, and the Protector of Aborigines. Also, to assist the pioneering population some items and rations were sold when there were general shortages.

It was always expected that the Colonial Storekeeper position would eventually become redundant when settlement became so well developed as to support commercial suppliers to government, selected by a Supply and Tender Board answerable to a Commissioner of Public Works.

Postmaster

In addition to his normal duties, on 10 April 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 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.[4] He 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 Gilbert and, as a result, he resigned the position of Postmaster effective 13 December 1838 but continued in his capacity as Colonial Storekeeper.[5] 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.

Civic Activity

Gilbert was highly regarded among his fellow colonists, holding various official positions including magistrate. 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.

Thomas Gilbert retired as Colonial Storekeeper on 31 December 1854, being replaced by John Vidal James (1820-97), son-in-law of Sir James Hurtle Fisher. Along with Thomas Lipson, the government granted him a lifetime pension. 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".[6]

Legacy

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.

Notes

  1. ↑ The South Australian Register, June 17, 1873, Adelaide..
  2. ↑ Article about Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, sources: G. W. E. Russell, Lady Victoria Buxton: a Memoir, with some account of her husband, 1919. Contributor: F. F. [Frank Fox] Published: 1927. Accessed 6 July 2008.
  3. ↑ The history of Hamley Bridge, accessed 5 July 2008.
  4. ↑ Burgess, H.T. (ed) : The Cyclopedia of South Australia. (Adelaide 1907), Vol.1. p.268. Facsimile ISBN 0858722003
  5. ↑ The South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register - 1838 (exact date not yet known)
  6. ↑ Photograph of Thomas Gilbert's gravestone, accessed 5 July 2008.

References

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