work hard for the monied settlers to ever afford their own land. As a result of this policy, Adelaide does not share the convict settlement history of other Australian cities like Sydney, New South Wales; Brisbane, Queensland and Hobart, Tasmania.
As it was believed that in a colony of free settlers there would be little crime, no provision was made for a gaol in Colonel Light's 1837 plan. However, by mid-1837 the South Australian Register was warning of escaped convicts from New South Wales, and tenders for a temporary gaol were sought. Following a burglary, a murder, and two attempted murders in Adelaide during March 1838, Governor Hindmarsh created the South Australian Police Force (now named South Australia Police) in April 1838 under 21-year-old Henry Inman. The first Sheriff, Mr Samuel Smart, was wounded during the robbery, and on 2 May 1838 one of the offenders, Michael Magee, became the first person to be hanged in South Australia. William Baker Ashton was appointed Governor of the temporary goal in 1839, and in 1840 George Strickland Kingston was commissioned to design Adelaide's new Gaol. Construction of Adelaide Gaol commenced in 1841.
Adelaide's early history was wrought by economic uncertainty and incompetent leadership. The first governor of South Australia, John Hindmarsh, clashed frequently with others, in particular with the Resident Commissioner, James Hurtle Fisher. The rural area surrounding Adelaide was surveyed by Light in preparation to sell a total of over 405 km (156 sq mi) of land. Adelaide's early economy started to get on its feet in 1838 with the arrival of livestock from New South Wales and Tasmania. Wool production provided an early basis for the South Australian economy. Light's survey was completed in this period, and land was promptly offered for sale to early colonists. By 1860, wheat farms had been established from Encounter Bay in the south to Clare in the north.
Governor Gawler took over from Hindmarsh in
