3 March 1840   First wool sale

The first sale of wool by auction in Australia was held in South Australia on 3 March 1840. The wool, shorn from the flocks of Captain John Finniss, was sold by V. and E. Solomon in a sale room in Currie Street.

Wool sales took place at various localities until July 1886 when a number of men met to form the Adelaide Wool and Hide and Skin Salesmen's Association, the forerunner of the Adelaide Woolbrokers' Association. In 1896 the Wool Exchange rented premises in the new Brookman Building and the first sale there took place on 30 September 1897 when 6393 bales were offered.

Sales continued in this venue until the 1970s although under difficulties, for by 1966/67 580,578 bales were offered for sale. The lease on the building ran out in 1973 when it was planned to demolish it and the Wool Exchange moved to Port Adelaide for the series beginning on 22 June 1974. It has been estimated that sales in the Wool Exchange in Brookman Building amounted to almost 22 million bales for $2364 million, at an average price of $209 a bale, over a period of sixty years.

Stock Journal, 12 September and 7 November 1974, Newspaper Cuttings Book, Volume 3, p. 165. SSLM