Thomas Gilbert,

ONE of the early pioneers of South Australian colonization. In company with his brother they carried on the business of opticians to the Hon. East India Company in London, and their experiments for the improvement 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. When first the project of colonizing South Australia was mooted, Mr. Gilbert entered into it with great energy, and from March 1834 up till his departure from England two years afterwards, devoted to it his entire time, and no small amount of money, acting in conjunction with Mr. (afterwards) Sir E. D. Hanson, Sir Geo. Kingston, Dr. Everard, Mr. John Brown, and other early colonists, who were endeavouring to bring into action the plan suggested by their coadjutor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield. In March 1836, the Act for the establishment of the colony being passed, Mr. Gilbert sailed in the "Cygnet," (Capt. Rolls) with other pioneers and a large party of surveyors and labourers. On Sept. 10 of the same year they landed at Kangaroo Island, where they remained until sent by Colonel Light to Holdfast Bay. Mr. Gilbert, who had charge of the Government stores on board the "Cygnet," received the appointment in England, on March 3, 1836, of Colonial Storekeeper, and he also acted as Postmaster until December 13, in the same year. The former position he retained till Dec. 31, 1854, when he retired with a pension of £200 per annum, which he enjoyed for the remainder of his life. He was one of the earliest appointed magistrates, and a regular attendant at the meetings of the Bench. Perhaps no man in South Australia had a larger circle of attached friends, and he was really beloved by all who had the pleasure of his intimate acquaintance. At the time of his death, which took place in Adelaide on May 30, 1873, he was in his 87th year.