The suburb was laid out in 1881 by Edward Castres Gwynne who was born at Lewes in Sussex, England, near the towns of Firle and Glynde, where his father was a rector.

Gwynne came to South Australia on the Lord Goderich in April 1838 and purchased 500 acres of land on the foothills east of Adelaide.

He was elected to the first representative Parliament in 1857 and twenty years later was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of South Australia.

Gradually the area developed as a residential suburb as transport services such as trams and buses were introduced in the early 1900s.

The original family homestead of Edward Gwynne, known as 'Glynde House' has managed to survive at 54 Avenue Road, Glynde, and is on the South Australian State Heritage Register.