The colony was also referred to as the Crown Colony of Western Australia until , as it was ruled by a governor who had been appointed by the monarch. In May the British authorised the conversion of Western Australia to a penal colony and the colony received over convicts during the next 19 years. The last transportation of convicts arrived in the colony in and Western Australia once again became a free settlement. The reception of convicts and the small population of Western Australia meant self-governance took much longer to achieve than in other states.
In the colony received representative government with a Legislative Council that had 18 members; twelve of them who had been elected. In the colony was granted a constitution by the British Parliament, giving them a self-government.
However the British Parliament retained control of Aboriginal affairs until as there was concern about the treatment of Indigenous people in Western Australia. The expedition did not enter King George Sound due to bad weather.
French whalers followed to exploit resources of the area. In , Matthew Flinders entered King George Sound and stayed about a month before charting the rest of the southern Australian coastline. By he had completed the first circumnavigation of Australia. Fearful of a French claim to the area, in the British sent a military contingent to King George Sound.
On 25 December Major Edmund Lockyer, accompanied by a surgeon, storekeeper, officers, and 23 convict tradesmen arrived aboard the brig Amity. Major Lockyer selected a site for military occupation, the first European settlement in Western Australia, and which is now Albany. In Dr Alexander Collie, the first Government Magistrate arrived, accompanied by two families who became the first permanent town residents. More free settlers began to arrive and by the population numbered While the harsh and yet unknown environment frustrated rural development, many locals turned to bay whaling and sealing.
This eventually petered out in the s. In British shipping companies made Albany a bunkering depot for mail and passenger steamers that were servicing the demands of a Victorian gold rush. After the construction of a railway between Albany and Perth attracted more settlers to the Albany district and provided greater opportunities for trade and commerce. The population of the town increased from 1, in to 2, in but Albany remained a place of transit.
In the s the rush to the goldfields around Southern Cross, Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie saw another wave of migration and new prosperity as passengers and goods for the goldfields came through the port. Businesses closed or moved to Perth and people left the town. The population declined to 1, in The National Museum of Australia acknowledges First Australians and recognises their continuous connection to country, community and culture.
Defining Moments Founding of Perth. European exploration of the west coast Aboriginal people have lived in the south-western part of Western Australia for at least 47, years. Captain James Stirling, The first exploration Setting out three days later, Stirling and his party navigated around 54 kilometres up the Swan River, assessing the land for its suitability for agriculture and settlement. Legislative Council of Western Australia, Stirling soon realised that the soil on the coast was not suited to agriculture.
Early struggles Intense interest in the Swan River Colony in Britain resulted in a rush of people applying to emigrate. Lieutenant-Governor Stirling to Sir George Murray, Perth, Many of the settlers who have come should never have left a safe and tranquil state of life … I would earnestly request that for a few years the helpless and inefficient may be kept from the Settlement.
Frontier conflict Relations between European settlers and the Noongar people, which were amicable at first, quickly deteriorated into armed conflict. Convicts arrive By , when Stirling resigned as governor, the colony had become more self-sufficient, but it still suffered from a lack of the capital and labour needed to develop its public infrastructure. Curriculum subjects. Year levels.
Explore defining moments. Dirk Hartog lands off Western Australia. Flinders circumnavigates Australia. Soldier settlement. Trans-Australian Railway. Edith Cowan. You may also like. Hidden Past.
0コメント