Evan Davies

Sign in the park

Library:
The 1892 plan of The Town of Fremantle shows this small, triangular piece of land zoned for recreation. It was left as a paddock for many years but was later developed as a sportsground for a small primary school which was built on the site of Watkins and Montreal Streets. This was the only area where the ground was suitable for any sort of running games or sport without injury.
This park was named to commemorate Evan Morris Davies, (22.6.1892 - 10.4.1963), a loyal Labor man, Fremantle Council Member (1929-1963), West Province State Legislative Council Member (1947-1963) and resident of White Gum Valley.
It was through Evan Davies’ advocacy and untiring efforts that the first fully-rate-supported public library in Western Australia was established in 1949. The Fremantle Free Lending Library was renamed the Evan Davies Civic Library in 1956 to commemorate the part which he had played in the establishment of the library service.
Text courtesy of Fremantle City Library.

The park itself is now between Wood, Samson and Watkins Streets, with the fourth (western) side being housing.

In 1934 Evan Davies JP (since 1933) was living in Montreal Street, only one block from 'his' park.

References and Links

Fremantle City Library

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 13 June, 2018 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/daviesevan.html (it was last updated on 8 April, 2022), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.