George Gawler Lieutenant - Colonel George Gawler , KH , ( 21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869 ) was the second governor of South Australia ; from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841 . Biography . Gawler was the only child of Captain Samuel Gawler , captain in the 73rd Regiment of Foot , and his wife Julia , née Russell . Gawler ' s father was killed in battle in Mysore , India in December 1804 . The Gawler family historically came from Devon . George Gawler was educated by a tutor , then at a school in Cold Bath , Islington . Two years were then spent at the military college , Great Marlow where he was a diligent and clever student . In October 1810 Gawler obtained a commission as an ensign in the 52nd ( Oxfordshire ) Regiment of Foot and in January 1812 went to the Peninsular War . He was a member of a storming party at Badajoz , and was wounded and saved from death by a soldier who lost his own life . He was in Spain until 1814 , taking part in the advance on Madrid . The regiment returned to England and Gawler , now a lieutenant , fought at the Battle of Waterloo . He remained in France with the army of occupation until 1818 , and in 1820 married Maria Cox of Friar Gate , Derby who was the niece of Samuel Richardson . Gawler ' s new , sister - in - law Mary Ann married William Leeke , a fellow officer from the 52nd . Gawler and his wife were sincerely religious and when the 52nd was sent to New Brunswick in 1823 they did much social and religious work . Gawler returned to England in 1826 and from 1830 to 1832 was engaged in recruiting . He reached the rank of lieutenant - colonel in 1834 and in 1837 received the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order ( KH ) , third class . In 1838 Gawler was appointed governor of South Australia in succession to Captain John Hindmarsh , who had been recalled . Gawley and his wife and children arrived on the Pestonjee Bomanjee on 12 October 1838 . They had made a four month journey via Tenerife and Rio de Janeiro . Gawler found the colony had almost no public finances , underpaid officials and 4000 immigrants living in makeshift accommodation . He was allowed a maximum of £12 , 000 expenditure a year , with an additional £5 , 000 credit for emergencies . His first goal was to address delays over rural settlement and primary production . He persuaded Charles Sturt to come from New South Wales to work as surveyor - general , personally overseeing the surveys in the meantime , as Colonel William Light had resigned due to ailing health and the demands placed on him with insufficient staff . Gawler appointed more colonial officials , set up a police force , took part in exploration , and improved the facilities at Port Adelaide during his tenure as governor . The first permanent Government House was built and this is now the East Wing of the present building . Due to droughts in other Australian colonies in 1840 , before South Australia was self - sufficient for food , the cost of living increased rapidly . Gawler increased public expenditure to stave off collapse , which resulted in bankruptcy and changes to the way the colony was run . Over £200 , 000 had been spent and the land fund in London had been exhausted . A £155 , 000 loan was approved by the British Parliament ( later made a gift ) and Captain George Grey was sent to replace Gawler , after Grey promised to " maintain the strictest economy " . In his time in office Governor Gawler had managed to make South Australia self - sufficient in terms of agriculture and had restored public confidence . Gawler ' s work was long misjudged , largely because his successor Grey , in his dispatches , made the worst of his predecessor ' s acts , without suggesting the difficulties under which he had worked . Gawler was a gallant and energetic officer who , when he found the settlers faced with disaster , saw at once what it was necessary to do , and saved the colony . However , although in his " Colonization of Australia " Mills accepts the view that Gawler had been guilty of carelessness and extravagance and cannot be wholly acquitted of blame , the extraordinary difficulties with which he was faced are acknowledged . Charles Sturt and other men at the time generally agreed that his administration had greatly benefited the settlement , and the select committee on South Australia reported that the critics of his expenditure were " unable to point out any specific item by which it could have been considerably reduced without great public inconvenience " . Gawler was recalled , but later investigations show him among the founders of South Australia . Legacy . In 1845 , Gawler wrote a book in which he suggested that Jews be allowed to establish Jewish agricultural settlements in the Land of Israel as compensation for their suffering in Europe and under Turkish rule . In 1849 he toured Israel with Moses Montefiore . Two years later ( in 1852 ) , he established an association for the colonization of Palestine . Gawler died in Southsea and was buried in Portsmouth . The town of Gawler was named after him , as it was surveyed soon after he arrived . The Gawler Ranges at the north end of Eyre Peninsula are also named after him . Derby ' s Town and County Museum in the 1830s included Gawler in its list of principal benefactors . Gawler had contributed a collection of minerals and exotic stuffed birds which included an albatross from his time as governor . In addition Gawler ' s gardener , Joseph Whittaker , in Australia contributed hundreds of pressed flowers and plants to Derby Museum and to Kew Gardens .