With the arrival of Governor Hindmarsh on HMS Buffalo on 28 December 1836, the new private colony of South Australia was proclaimed.

Its Surveyor-General, Colonel William Light, was charged with the surveying of the land into 80-acre (32 ha) allotments ready for sale to the new settlers to South Australia.

On 16 June 1837, the Colonial Commissioner Sir James Hurtle Fisher, John Morphett, Colonel William Light, and a party of marines set off from Glenelg intending to travel overland to Encounter Bay to visit whalers who were employees of the South Australian Company.

Colonel Light's diary records: "At 4.00pm the party arrived at a beautiful valley, where they encamped for the night, the country and soil together adapted for grazing or agriculture; the whole distance was not more than ten or eleven miles (18 km) from Glenelg.

A later survey map drawn by John Mclaren in 1857 shows the area covered some 107 x 80-acre (32 ha) allotments, stretching from the hills in the east towards the coast in the west with the Field River running through the centre of the valley.

A little later he had to cut the fences to allow for the alignment of a proposed road for the passage of a regular mail run to Encounter Bay which was established by the end of 1839.

We have received instructions to submit to public competition this promising Township....."[5] "The township consists of about 40 acres (16 ha) of land divided into allotments varying from one quarter to two acres with the Great South Road dividing it equally from North to South..."[5] "A fine steam mill of four storeys is already erected in the town ship and a handsome hotel is in rapid progress and will be open by winter.

Plans may be seen at Hay's Tapley's Hill, The Emu, [these are early hotels in the district] and also at the Blacksmith's shop on the ground.

[6] However, by the end of the Nineteenth Century as many farmers had moved to the northern agricultural lands, Reynella was said to be "a village of the past, as several ruined houses along the road remain to testify.

They developed a close relationship and eventually married, moving their pottery operation away from Reynella to Ballarat in Victoria state.

[citation needed] Although the exact date it was erected is not known, records show that it was operation prior to the sale of land for the hotel on 22 August 1853.

It is recorded that on 15 August 1853, the mill property, lot number 81 on the town plan, was sold to a consortium of gentlemen and farmers of the district, namely Robert Montgomery, Charles Smith, John Reynell, Henry Douglas, William Sherriff, Ignatius Sullivan and James Bain, operating as the Southern Grist Mill Company.

Evidence would suggest that the first documented Certificate of Title found is for Robert Eglinton, Reynella Blacksmith, dated 17 January 1867.

[4] He greatly expanded and developed the business, building a distillery, enhancing the firm's reputation for brandy making.

The official opening of the Adelaide – Willunga railway was on Wednesday 20 January 1915, although there would have been construction and work trains operating on the line well before this date.

It is home to the Old Reynella Bus Interchange with connections to the Noarlunga Centre, the city and Westfield Marion.

The Reynella Neighbourhood Centre is on Old South Road and is a hub for many activities for the youngest to the oldest members of the community.