After having served in the British Army and travelled widely in Europe, Light was appointed surveyor-general of the colony of South Australia in 1836. He selected the site, surveyed and laid out the plan of Adelaide, and he explored parts of the region. He wrote a journal about his activities in South Australia, A Brief Journal of the Proceedings of William Light... (Ferguson No. 2789). Light also published other works without Australian connections, including artworks. Several Australian writers have written commemorative poems on Light.
