Before the settlement by European immigrants, a small number of Aborigines lived in the area. The first European explorers came through the Barossa Valley in 1838 under the leadership of Colonel William Light . The first settler in Williamstown was Thomas Adams, who named the place Victoria Creek . The land was deemed so worthless that Adams traded it for a herd of horses. The new owner, a man named Johnstone, divided the land into parcels. He named the small town after his eldest son William and Elizabeth Street after his wife.
