merinos from the German region of Saxony, and cows and goats were also shipped over. Sheep and other livestock were brought in from Van Diemen's Land and New South Wales. The wool industry was the basis of South Australia's economy for the first few years, with the first wool auction held in Adelaide in 1840. The settlers were mostly British, but some German settlers, mainly "Old Lutherans", also emigrated in the early years. The first large group of Germans arrived in 1838, with the financial assistance of the Emigration Fund. Most moved out of Adelaide and to the Barossa Valley and settlements in the Adelaide Hills such as Hahndorf, living in socially closed communities, by 1842, and did not participate in government until responsible government was granted 15 years later in 1857. 1840: Adelaide City Council Established in 1840, with its first meeting held on 4 November 1840, the City of Adelaide Municipal Corporation was the first municipal authority in Australia. At its time of establishment, Adelaide's (and Australia's) first mayor, James Hurtle Fisher, was elected. However, the new corporation suffered financial woes, after several of its actions were unauthorised or reversed by the British government, leading to considerable debt and, so it wound up as insolvent in 1843. Architecture and engineering The office of Colonial Architect was established by July 1840, with George Strickland Kingston the first appointee to the role. Other architects who served in this role included Richard Lambeth; William Bennett Hays; and Edward Hamilton, with George Soward acting in the position for six months after Hamilton's resignation in 1860. Engineering and architecture departments changed in structure and naming over the years, with the names including: Colonial Engineer's Office (1841–1852) Colonial Architects Department [I] (1852–1854) Public Works Department (1854–1857) Colonial Architects Department [II] (1854–1860) Engineer and Architect's Department (1860–1867) From 1867, the functions were split into separate entities: Engineer in Chief's Department (1867–1906) Architect in Chief's Department (1867–1960) Demise of the Colonization Commission As it became evident that the colonial administration had brought the province of South Australia to near bankruptcy in 1840, the South Australian Colonization Commission was stripped of its powers. Torrens wrote a report "intended to have been given to the Committee on the Affairs of South Australia, as part of his evidence" on 30 March 1841, outlining how the financial administration of the colony had been mishandled, and how it would not have