Thomas Gilbert was a pioneer of Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, 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". 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".

He arrived at Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf St Vincent. Its closest point to the mainland is off Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is long...

, 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

Robert Gouger

Robert Gouger was one of the founders of South Australia and colonial secretary.-Early life:Gouger was the fifth son of nine children of George Gouger , who was a prosperous city merchant, and his wife Anne, née Sibley. Robert was educated at Nottingham, England, and on leaving school he entered...

.

In 1837, shortly after the Proclamation of South Australia, Thomas Gilbert was appointed by Governor Hindmarsh

John Hindmarsh

Rear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh KH RN was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838.-Early life:...

 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. 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

River Torrens

The River Torrens is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains and was one of the reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Adelaide Hills near Mount Pleasant, across the Adelaide Plains, past the city centre and empties...

.

He was a member of the Street Naming Committee

Street Naming Committee (Adelaide)

The Street Naming Committee was set up to decide the names of the streets, the squares and the river of the new settlement of Adelaide, South Australia, as it had been laid out by Colonel William Light in 1837. Light's map corresponds to the modern Adelaide city centre and North Adelaide...

 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

South Australian Lodge of Friendship No. 613

The Province of South Australia was established by an Act of the British Parliament and was assented to by King William IV on 15 August 1834. Freemasonry became included in the plans for the proposed new settlement with the establishment of a new Lodge in England...

. 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.

Thomas Gilbert retired in 1854. He died on 30 May 1873 aged 84 years of age and is buried in West Terrace Cemetery

West Terrace Cemetery

The West Terrace Cemetery is South Australia’s oldest cemetery, first appearing on Colonel William Light’s 1837 plan of Adelaide. The 27.6 hectare site is located in the south-west corner of the Adelaide central business district, between West Terrace, Anzac Highway, Sir Donald Bradman Drive and...

, 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".

Gilbert Street

Gilbert Street, Adelaide

Gilbert Street is a main street in the CBD of the centre of Adelaide, South Australia. The street was named after Thomas Gilbert, a pioneer and early storekeeper in Adelaide....

 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

Riverton, South Australia

Riverton is a small town of distinctive character and interest to travellers in the Mid North of South Australia, in the Gilbert Valley. It is situated on the Gilbert River, from which the town derives its name...

deriving its name from this same river.