East Fremantle People

People who are somewhat identified with or somehow significant to East Fremantle

It is convenient to think of three families as being associated with three of the four present wards of the Town of East Fremantle. In Plympton, the Pearses were the major owners. The Moore family had the Woodside estate in what became the ward of that name. And the Eastons owned property in what is now the Richmond ward.

The Pearse family was the single most significant pioneer family in the area. Plympton was the earliest area of development in East Fremantle. It was originally mainly property owned by the family of William Pearse (1808-1866) between East and Silas Sts (Lee: 127) up to Canning Road. The current Tradewinds Hotel was formerly the Plympton Hotel (1898). The George St Precinct is in Plympton. Plympton is the southwest ward, containing the Town Hall (1899) and former (originally Plympton) Post Office (1898).

Joseph F. Allen, architect, was also East Fremantle Mayor 1909-1914.

William Angwin was an East Fremantle Mayor and also an MLA and Deputy Premier of WA. Angwin Street is named after him, though the Angwin house is at 3 Glyde Street.

Leonard Burlington Bolton was East Fremantle Mayor, 1914-19. He was an East Fremantle Town Councillor, 1909-1914, and lived in Hill Street (qv, now Knutsford Street) from 1907 to the 1920s. Bolton Street is named for him.

John Clayton owned land in the vicinity of present Easton Street. He subdivided the land and named a street Easton as a compliment to a neighbouring landowner. In return, the Easton family named one of the streets in their estate in honour of him, Clayton Street, East Fremantle.

The Doig family had several members who played for East Fremantle Football Club. Steve Doig is a professional photographer and freelance web designer.

Walter Easton emigrated to Australia in 1857 as schoolmaster to the convicts in Fremantle Gaol and became one of the biggest landowners in the East Fremantle area. He named the land he owned Windsor, but it became the locality and ward called Richmond, and was divided by his successors. Easton, Walter, Stratford, Gill and Morgan (later changed to Osborne) Streets were named after the Easton family. His son Frank Gill Easton (1868-1917) was an East Fremantle councillor 1897-1900.

Easton Street, East Fremantle was named for the most prominent family in Richmond (East Fremantle) by John Clayton. They reciprocated.

Robert Gordon was an EF Councillor 1921-45. The street ormerly known as Chester Street was renamed Gordon after him to avoid confusion with the street in South Fremantle.

William Temple Graham (1795-1941) arrived on board the Warrior, 12 March 1830, with his wife, Harriet. He was formerly a captain with the Royal African Corps. He was granted permission to act as a public notary and also practised as a solicitor in the colony. In 1830 he was appointed coroner and Justice of the Peace but resigned in 1832. Richmond House, his Fremantle home, was apparently on Beach Street west of the traffic bridge (as Hitchcock writes that a famous fatal duel was fought at that location at the rear of Graham's house). He became involved with Keziah Lockyer, the wife of millwright Paul Lockyer, and left his estate to her daughter.

Joseph John Holmes (1866-1942) was MLA for East Fremantle 1897– 1904, 1905–1906 and Mayor of Fremantle in 1910.

Herbert J. Locke was Mayor of East Fremantle 1924-31, 1934-44. Locke Crescent, East Fremantle, and Locke Park are named for him.

Stephen William Marsh (1924-) played 226 games for the South Fremantle Football Club between 1945 and 1956 and 39 games for the East Fremantle Football Club between 1957 and 1960. In 1995 he was made an inaugural member of the Fremantle Football Club’s Hall of Legends. Marsh Close in the suburb of O'Connor is named for him.

George Fletcher Moore, an early settler who arived 13 February 1830 per the Cleopatra, was an uncle of William Dalgety Moore. (Lee: 177) Fletcher Street, East Fremantle is named after G.F. It was formerly called Reserve Street because it ran beside the reserve that is now East Fremantle Oval.

William Dalgety Moore had his Woodside estate in East Fremantle. Dalgety Street got its name from his middle one.

Matthew Lewis Moss (1863-1946) born Dunedin, was the first Mayor of East Fremantle, 1897-1900. He was a barrister and politician, being MLA for North Fremantle 1895-97.

John Munro was Mayor of the Municipality of East Fremantle 1933-34, and Munro Street, East Fremantle is named for him.

The Osborne family were a well-known East Fremantle family, one member of which was Mrs Ivy Antoine. Osborne Road runs N-S through the centre of Richmond ward, parallel to Windsor Road.

Horace Parker (1897-1944) was East Fremantle's first Town Clerk 1897-1944, and Parker Street, originally called View Street, was renamed for him.

George Pearse, son of William Pearse, who had arrived in WA in 1829, has George Street, East Fremantle named after him.

William Silas Pearse, son of the patriarch William Silas Pearse, had Silas Street East Fremantle named for him, as well as another Silas Street in South Fremantle (which was changed to McLaren Street).

Arthur Rawlinson played for the East Fremantle Football Club 1912-1923.

W. Reynolds was a Town Councillor, 1897-1901, and had Reynolds Street East Fremantle named for him.

C.A.B. Staton was a member of the East Fremantle Municipal Council, 1901-1931 and 1933-1934, and Staton Road East Fremantle - formerly Victoria Road in 1902 - was renamed for the councillor in 1925.

Bruce Thorpe (b. 1948) is the son of Rev. Hallam Thorpe, minister of the East Fremantle Presbyterian Church, cnr King Street and Canning Highway, 1951-1959. His memories of living in East Fremantle during that period are here.

William Wauhop MBE (1887-1971) was Mayor of East Fremantle 1944-1964, and Wauhop Road and the adjacent Park are named for him.

References and links

Charlesworth, Helene 1997, Small but Strong: a Pictorial History of the Town of East Fremantle 1897-1997, Town of East Fremantle.

Lee, Jack 1979, This is East Fremantle, East Fremantle Town Council: 175-178.

Thorpe, Bruce, 'East Fremantle Memories' (2022).

EFTC's Heritage Trail.

Museum of Perth's Streets of East Freo website.

Freotopia

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 18 July, 2019 and hosted at freotopia.org/eastfremantle/eastpeople.html (it was last updated on 21 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.