In 1954 the Synod initiated an appeal for a memorial to the late Bishop Nutter Thomas who died that year. The committee raised £760 and eventually decided that replacing the chairs that had been used at to that time with oak pews would be a suitable memorial. The memorial pews were designed by James Irwin, Cathedral Architect, and made by the joinery firm of A S Bissland.

The first four pews for each side were dedicated on 11 December 1960, after which people were invited to subscribe the cost of a pew, and to have a memorial inscription carved into its back. As each pew was ready, it was blessed during worship, when members of the family involved were invited to be present. The project continued into the 1970s.

Coats of Arms

As well as the memorial inscriptions, each pew has a wooden shield at either end, on which is painted a Coat of Arms. The drawings for these were prepared by the then Bishop of Adelaide, Thomas Thornton Reed, an acknowledged expert in the fields of genealogy and heraldry.

The project had the blessing of the Cathedral Council but Bishop Reed took it on as a personal project because of his connection with the original appeal committee in 1954.

On the ends of the pews facing the central aisle the Coats of Arms on the lectern side represent the National or Regional Churches of the Anglican Communion, while on the pulpit side the Coats of Arms represent the Dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia as at the time the pews were installed.

Facing the side aisles are Coats of Arms or badges having an association with the names in whose memory the pew was given; for example saints, families, schools, colleges, universities, or regiments.