Museum Metadata Exchange

Names

Name PrimarySurveying Collection

IDs

ID LocalMM 12

ID Urihttp://migration.historysa.com.au/collections/surveying-collection

Descriptions

Brief DescriptionA collection of objects related to the surveying of South Australia and to the surveyors who worked here during the 19th century. Many of these objects form a sub-collection of the Historical Relics Collection.

Full DescriptionA number of the objects relate to South Australia's first Surveyor General, Colonel William Light. These include surveyors' chains and the first plan of Adelaide, drawn up to Light's instructions. Another highlight of the collection is 'Poeppel's post', the original marker used in 1880 by Augustus Poeppel to mark the intersection of the boundaries of South Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland.

SignificanceThe history of Adelaide as a 'planned city' and the broader history of South Australia's British settlement under the Wakefield system make surveying of particular importance to South Australia's history. This collection preserves some of the tools used by early surveyors and records the development of official boundaries, as well as the understanding of and changes to territory administered by the South Australian colonial government. This collection complements other History SA collections, in particular a large collection of surveying instruments held at the South Australian Maritime Museum.

AccessA Migration Museum collection. Access to collection items held in Museum Stores is by appointment only.

Subjects

localBritish Settlemen; Colonel William Light; South Australia; Surveying

person_orgColonel William Light; Migration Museum, South Australia

pontDocuments; Surveying equipment

aptSurveying

scotSurveying (Geography)

Coverage Spatial

TextAustralia; South Australia

Coverage Temporal

From1795

To1805

Related Collections

hasAssociationWith

Dates

Date Record Updated2012-12-12 16:50

Date Created in MME2011-03-22 15:47