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Henry Wray's residence aka Government House aka 'Marmion Cottage'.
South Terrace, c. 1850-1939, near the corner of Alma Street
Lang & Newman: This building was constructed after 1850 as part of the [[../organisations/convicts.html|Convict Establishment]] as the residence of Royal Engineer (then) Captain (later Lieutenant-General) [[../people/wrayhenry.html|Henry Wray]]. It later became the summer residence for the Governor, but was rarely used for that purpose. Later again it was later known as Marmion's House (or Cottage). It was on the Mandurah Road (now South Terrace) not right on the corner of Alma St, but roughly where the middle of the western facade of the Fremantle Hospital now is. According to a government media statement (see below) it was used as post office from 1879. It was demolished in 1939, and Fremantle Hospital is now on the site. (Lang & Newman: 13)
Library: Fremantle Library image #LH005168 c. 1935. Vice Regal residence in South Terrace. The Vice Regal residence in South Terrace known as Marmion Cottage was built c. 1850 and rarely used for Vice Regal purposes. In 1850 Lieutenant [Henry] [[../people/wrayhenry.html|Wray]] RE lived there and in the 1880s Lady Barker (Broome) was 'at home' there on the 1st Monday of the month. Other tenants included the Colonial Surgeon, Dr Mayhew, W S [[../people/marmion.html|Marmion]] MLA and C R Penny, Crown Prosecutor. It was demolished in 1939.
Library: This residence, known as Marmion Cottage, was built in 1852. Lt. R.E. Wray was in residence in the 1850s and Lady Barker (Broome) was "at home" here the first Monday afternoon in the month in the 1880s. The property was used by [[../hospitals/fremantlehospital.html|Fremantle Hospital]] in the 1930s and demolished 1939. Taken 20 April 1938. Text and 1938 photo #2048B from Fremantle City Library Local History Collection.
Garrick & Jeffery: On grounds directly to the west of the hospital and fronting South Terrace, was [in 1903] a strip of land on which a two-storeyed house had been built at [near] the Alma Street corner. The house which had been used by the Governor on occasion as a summer residence, was currently tenanted by Mrs Marmion. Garrick & Jeffery: 100. [Mrs Marmion was the widow of [[../people/marmion.html|W.E. Marmion]] MLA, a prominent man who had died in 1896 aged 51.]
WA Govt: After mid-1830, the postal service was entrusted to a succession of local merchants and it was not until 1879 that a full-time post master was appointed to run the service from a residence in South Terrace which was later known as Marmion House. wa.gov.au.
[[../books/hitchcock1919.html|Hitchcock 1919]]:
After ceasing to be used as a vice regal marine residence the old Government House was successively occupied by Dr. [[../people/mayhew.html|Mayhew]] (Government Medical Officer), Mr. L. W. [[../people/clifton.html|Clifton]] (Collector of Customs), and Mr. W. E. [[../people/marmion.html|Marmion]]. In the centre of the spacious grounds at the back was another large building [The Knowle] which now forms part of the Public Hospital, but was then used as a dept of invalid and convalescent prisoners.
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[[../index.html|Freotopia]] > buildings >
Government House
There have been half a dozen government houses in Western Australia: residences built for the permanent or temporary habitation of the representative of the Head of State (HRH the King of Australia): the first on Garden Island, three in Perth, one in Albany, one in Fremantle (not built for that purpose, and where the governor almost never stayed), and one on [[../rottnest/index.html|Rottnest Island]] (not finished in time for the governor who commissioned its building to stay there, and now a hotel). Of the seven, two remain, the one on [[../rottnest/index.html|Wadjemup]] (the hotel), and the one still in use in St George's Terrace Perth.
Statham-Drew:
Stirling selected part of the foreshore of the Perth township for his residence and gardens in about September 1829 and by Christmas he and his wife were able to entertain officers of the visiting Success in a 'commodious wooden house' (S-D: 156).
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The second government house, 1834, designed by Henry Reveley, photo 1861 (Stone?), SLWA. Scaffolding for the third one on the right? Click/tap.
The second and third Perth government houses, in [[../people/stone.html|Alfred Stone]]'s c. 1865 photo, taken from the front yard of his house, Alpha Cottage, just across St George's Terrace. The one on the left, a 2-storey stone building, was designed for Stirling by Henry Reveley in 1834. After replacement it remained as a private residence until demolition in 1887. The governor (Arthur Kennedy, who arrived in 1855) moved into the current building before it was finished. It is from 1859-63, and is extant, with Kim Beazley in residence, now the only Government House in the state, and one more than we need.
[[../people/stone.html|Alfred Hawes Stone]]'s photo of a review of the [[../organisations/pensioners.html|Enrolled Pensioner Force]] at Government House in 1863.
Government House in 1864. Probably by [[../people/stone.html|Stone]], given the position of the camera. Compare it with Stone's photo above with the same picket fence.
City of Perth:
Government House is the only vice-regal residence in Australia built in the style known as ‘Jacobean’ after King James I of England. Built by convicts and free men, the foundation stone was laid in 1859, but the building was not fully complete until 1864. The grounds of Government House are well-known for their beauty and much of the original layout from the 1850s and 1860s has been preserved. (Text from a City of Perth walking trail pamphlet)
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Stone posing in front of Rottnest's Government House, in his own photograph.
'Marmion Cottage', Henry Wray's house in Fremantle, also used as a Government House
References
O'Brien, Jacqueline & Pamela Statham-Drew 2012, Court and Camera: The Life and Times of A.H. Stone, privately published, distributed by Fremantle Press.
Statham-Drew, Pamela 2003, James Stirling: Admiral and Founding Governor of Western Australia, UWAP.
Campbell, Robin McKellar 2010, [[../books/campbell.html|Building the Fremantle Convict Establishment]], PhD, UWA (Faculty of Design).
Garrick, Phyl & Chris Jeffery 1987, Fremantle Hospital: A Social History to 1987, Fremantle Hospital.
Lang, Karen & Jan Newman 2004, Wharf Rats and Other Stories: 100 Years of Growing up in Fremantle, Fremantle Primary School.
'Heritage listing for historic Fremantle Post Office', media statement, wa.gov.au - which mentions Marmion House in the middle of the story
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 22 June, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/marmioncottage.html (it was last updated on 3 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.
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 7 June, 2018 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/govthouse.html (it was last updated on 31 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.