This chain was for land measurement, a Gunter's chain, of a type that goes back into the seventeenth century. It is an example of one of the tools used to lay out the City of Adelaide.
This surveyor's chain was used by Isaac Guley in surveying the City of Adelaide with Colonel Light. There are no records of Isaac Guley arriving in South Australia but the 1841 census shows him, his wife Mary Ann and three children living in "District A" immediately north of Adelaide. Reference to Isaac Guley can be found in an article in the "Register" 7-12-1852 headed "An Affectionate Father". He is recorded as having land at West Beach. The biographical index records his occupation as farmer.