Sir William Robinson GCMG Governor for the third time 1890-1895 (he was Governor in 1875-1877 and 1880-1883).
News of the discovery of gold in Yilgarn and Southern Cross creates a stir and from Fremantle were fitted out a few score prospecting parties. The town soon lively with newcomers from the Eastern States and merchants and shopkeepers have their first indication of the busy and prosperous period that followed.
Town's water supply commenced, a matter for pride that Fremantle was the first town in the colony to organise a water supply. The revenue from the sale of water that year: £1,004.
1 October. On the anniversary of Trafalgar Day, the Moreton Bay fig tree in the triangle of Adelaide Street and Edward Street planted by His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Robinson, in commemoration of responsible government being granted to the colony. The tree was provided by Phillip Webster, one of the auditors of the Fremantle Municipal Council, who, with the mayor and councillors, attended the Governor and handed to him a gold-painted spade with which he performed the ceremony. It was intended that the spade should be placed with the municipal treasures, but it disappeared. Webster, it should be recorded, planted most of the trees growing in [[../churches/stjohns.html|St John's Church]] grounds.
December. First election under responsible government. Members elected to the Legislative Assembly for the Fremantle district: [[../people/marmion.html|WE Marmion]] (Fremantle, Minister for Lands); [[../people/pearse.html|WS Pearse]], North Fremantle; David Symon, South Fremantle.
[[../people/moorewd.html|WD Moore]] appointed by the Governor to represent Fremantle in the Legislative Council as, under responsible government, the Council did not become elective until the population of the State reached 60,000 which did not come about until 1893.
The [[../churches/scots.html|Presbyterian Church]] in South Terrace erected.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 6 August, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/timeline/1890.html (it was last updated on 19 December, 2018), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.