In 1836 between July and December eight ships came accross to Kangaroo Island and aboard two of those boats were Col William Light aboard the HMS Rapid and George Strickland Kingston aboard the HMS Cygnet.
Light and Kingston both set off to survey the coastline and find a bigger land mass for the colonists to settle on. This is when they came accross what is now known as Glenelg. Glenelg was named after Lord Glenelg the Secretary of State for the Colonists.
In December 28th 1836 Captain Hindmarsh arrived aboard the HMS Buffalo, which now has a replica of the of the ship sitting near Wigly Reserve and is a restaurant. It was on this day that Captain Hindmarsh Proclaimed South Australia where the Old Gum Tree stands today.
There is a lot of history in Glenelg and too many to list all, but here are a few that you can see such as;

Glenelg Jetty (The Pier)

• The 381 metre Jetty was built in 1859 and in 1873 the lighthouse at the end of the jetty was burnt down by fire, then in April 1948 Glenelg was hit by a hurricane and the jetty was washed away. This only left the kiosk and aquarium , which was unsafe and therefore it was destroyed. In 1969 the jetty was rebuilt this time only being 215 metres long.

Pier Hotel (Stamford Grand)

• The Pier Hotel- this was the first building to be built in 1856. It was then removed and replaced by a 3 storey building in 1912 and then removed again in 1990 and replaced with the Stamford Grand.

Pioneer Memorial

• The Pioneer Memorial This was erected in 1936 to represent 4 of the biggest colonists and it was finished off with the HMS Buffalo sitting on the top of it.

HMS Buffalo

• The HMS Buffalo is located in Wiggly Reserve and is a replica of the ship that came out in 1836 with the first Governor from England. Today they use the replica as a restaurant for all to come and eat on and they still have some of the equipment used on the boat for you to take a look at also.

The Old Gum Tree

• In December 1836 the old gum tree was the site that Governor Hindmarsh proclaimed South Australia. There were approximately 200 settlers and colonial secretary Robert Gouger present at the proclamation. Today the proclamation is read on the exact date each year.

Partridge House

• Partridge House was built in 1899 and in 1971 was going to be demolished and made into units, but the Glenelg council brought it and restored it. The fountain in the front garden was a gift from William Townsend in 1877. The gardens and grounds are now used for weddings and the public to have a look around and use the outside facilities.

Glenara

• It is located on the south esplanade and is a beautifully designed house that was built in 1873 for William Hill, which up until 1990 was still owned by the Hill family.
  For any more information or to find out where the other locations are please feel free to call the Discovery Centre or the Information Centre we are only too happy to help.

The Town Hall

• The town hall was built in 1875 and was designed by Edmund Wright, but without the clock and the clock tower and it’s purpose was to be used as the Institute building. In 1887 the Glenelg council brought it and it then became the town hall, then in 1997 the Glenelg and Brighton council formed the Holdfast Bay Council and the town hall was no longer being used, this is when it turned into the Bay Discovery Centre.

We can not forget to mention the great people who were here long before the British settlers even arrived and that is the aboriginal group called the Kaurna people, they lived in and around the Glenelg area.
If you would like to find out more about the history of Glenelg please drop in to the Discovery Centre and they will only be too happy to answer any questions.