Adelaide at the Reform Club

I was familiar with Adelaide’s origins as a planned city of free settlers, but I did not know about its links with London’s famous Reform Club (the starting point for Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days”) until I attended a fascinating event there organised by the Australia Britain Society while I was back in London last week.

Britain’s Reform Act of 1832 made Parliament a bit more democratic, removing the old “pocket borough” constituencies and shifting the balance towards the growing industrial towns and cities (though 95% of the population still did not have the vote). As a result a number of radical young Whig members were elected; many of whom became founders of the Reform Club. Many of the same group were also involved in developing ideas about Systematic Colonisation to develop overseas settlements offering economic opportunity and civil liberties.

They were behind the South Australia Act of 1834 which led to Col William Light setting off to survey and plan the new city of Adelaide. I had come across the name before when I lived in South East Asia and was interested to learn that it was his father, Francis Light, who had been the founder of Penang in Malaysia. Clearly a family tradition.

Modern visitors to Adelaide comment on the well planned layout of Adelaide’s central streets and gracious parks. But they are probably not aware that when a committee met in 1837 to name the first 60 streets of the new city, almost half of them were named after members of the Reform Club, like MPs George Grote and William Molesworth.

I learned all this thanks to a fascinating presentation by Adelaide resident Jeff Nicholas, who has been researching for a book on the links between his city and the Reform Club. He was joined by former SA Premier John Bannon, who also spoke very knowledgeably about his state’s history. And another former Premier was also present in the form of current Australian High Commissioner in London, Mike Rann.