[[Ewers/index.html|
]]
Fremantle Stuff > Ewers
John K. Ewers 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. [1st ed. 1948].
File:Freotopia ewers img cover.jpg
= Chapter 11:
The Turn of the Century =
page 101
The nineties were for Fremantle, as indeed they were for the whole state, years of great change. The population of the town grew from 3,641 in 1881 to 5,607 in 1891. By 1901, it was no less than 14,704.
Changing conditions brought about alterations in the municipal boundaries. Towards the end of 1892, areas in Richmond and Plympton were added and the new East Ward thus created contributed £6,482 of rateable property in the first year. This was to some extent offset by the loss of North Fremantle. In June 1894 a petition signed by 77 ratepayers requested the Council ‘to recommend the Government to proclaim the present suburb of North Fremantle a separate municipality’. 1 This was referred to a committee, the necessary steps were taken, and in September of the following year the new municipality was gazetted. It held its first election on 25 October 1895.
From the outlying areas administered by the Fremantle Road Board came two new municipalities, the East Fremantle Council being established in 1897 and the Melville Road Board three years later. Thus the Fremantle district was welded into a compact group of local governing bodies, which, while retaining their individual identities, could and did in subsequent years combine to further the interests of the area as a whole.
Within the Fremantle municipality an enlarging population was accompanied by a steady increase in rateable values. In 1891 these were £51,839; in 1901 they had more than doubled, growing to £121,819; while in 1905 they reached the considerable figure of £156,476. 2 Revenue increased to an even greater degree. In 1891 the estimated income of the Council was only £3,700. 3In 1905 it was £25,535. This increase was due partly to higher rates on higher
page 102
rateable property, and also to the fact that, after the introduction of responsible government in 1890, municipalities received a government subsidy which, in the case of Fremantle, was as high as 155. for every £1 of estimated income from rates. Moreover, during these years, the Council was becoming the proprietor of municipal properties which were in themselves income earning.
One of them was the Town Hall. Two more, which were added during the nineties were the markets and the Oval. A third venture, although this did not become a producer of revenue until 1906, was the Municipal Tramways and Electric Lighting Scheme.
The first definite move towards public markets for Fremantle was made on 30 April 1889, when a piece of land ‘abutting on the corner of the extension of William and Norfolk Streets’ was sought for that purpose. Apparently this fell through, for in April 1891 the Director of Public Works offered a block at the corner of South Terrace and Henderson Street This block was in due course reserved, but the government decided not to grant the deed until the Council was prepared to go on with the project. It was not until 1898 that the buildings were erected and henceforth rentals varying from £750 to £1,000 were received annually from this source.
Initiative for the provision of an Oval came from two sporting bodies. On 21 April 1893 the Fremantle Football Club and the Fremantle Cricket Club took a deputation to the Council, asking their assistance in obtaining the Barracks Field for a public recreation ground. This was the open space immediately below the gaol, where in the sixties C. A. Manning paraded his Volunteer Defence Corps. Actually it was the parade ground of the enrolled pensioners who occupied the Barracks near by, but since their disbandment it had become an area of crown land with no specific use. There seems to have been no good reason why it should not have been immediately vested in the town, but when the Council took a deputation to Sir John Forrest, he told them bluntly that he thought it was not in the best interest of the town to make it available to them. 4 Four months later they wished to send another deputation, but Sir John refused to see them until after parliament had been prorogued. It was not until June 1894 that the Council were informed that the governor in Executive Council had approved of the grant. This was ratified on 3 July and without delay the Council set about preparing
page 103
it for the opening of the football season in the following year. It was first used for this purpose on 4 May 1895. At that time, a block of land belonging to the Jewish congregation in Fremantle and intended for a synagogue projected into the Barrack Field. 5 After some negotiation this was exchanged for a block on the opposite side of the street. Later in the year the Council embarked on works costing £640 for the improvement of the Oval. This included levelling, reticulating it with water from the existing supply, and forming a bicycle track round its outer circumference, macadamized with a top-dressing of tar pavement. In January 1897 a prize was awarded to F. W. Burwell for a design for a pavilion. This building which cost £3,650 was opened by Sir John Forrest on 6 November of that year.
Since then the Fremantle Oval has become a popular sporting centre. Until the opening of the East Fremantle Oval in 1953 it was the training ground of both East and South Fremantle Football Clubs and many an exciting Fremantle Derby has been witnessed there. Local and interstate cricket matches have been played there, and both Australian and English teams have used it when passing through to a Test series. The first of such occasions was in February 1897, when an Australian eleven played a three-day match.
The first suggestion of tramways for Fremantle was made by Mr D’Arcy Longson of Perth as early as October 1885. The Council decided they were unable to entertain such an idea. It will be remembered that in 1883 the Council had accepted the offer of Mr A. Gra Rosser to light the streets of Fremantle with gas. This led to the establishment of the Fremantle Gas Company, although not all the streets were illuminated in this way. Kerosene lamps still existed in outer sections when in October 1892 it was suggested in the Council that electric lighting should be introduced. Nothing was done in the matter, except to request cheaper rates from the Fremantle Gas Company. This was agreed to and the Council appointed a committee to enquire into the relative merits of electric light and gas light. This committee recommended a continuance of gas and the acceptance of the reduced rate for a period of twelve months.
In the following year, when Alexander Mackenzie offered to instal electric lighting within four months, the Gas Company made a
page 104
similar offer, but there the matter rested until January 1896, when Mr A. F. Williamson sought a licence to instal an electric light system for Fremantle. This was granted pending further investigation. It was approved in March and in the following September an agreement was drawn up, one of its terms being that Mr Williamson was to pay a deposit of £500. A little over a year later, he made a suggestion for tramways for Fremantle. This was subsequently agreed to and the deposit increased to £750, but by 8 February 1898 no steps had been taken towards the fulfilment of the agreement, which was therefore deemed cancelled and Mr Williamson lost his deposit.
Almost at once, there was a suggestion that the Council should undertake the installation of electric light and a committee was formed to go into the matter. 6 While a Fremantle electrician, Mr G. Arthur Wright, was preparing a report for the Council, Mr Williamson was given another chance to make a start, but once again he failed to come up to expectations. At the beginning of 1899 the Electric Light Committee began to have grave doubts about the wisdom of embarking on such an ambitious municipal undertaking. They thought it would prove too great a tax upon the resources of the ratepayers. It was agreed to forward Mr Wright’s report to leading manufacturing firms in England to obtain estimates of the plant that would have to be installed.
Before replies could be received, applications were invited from persons willing to instal a combined system of electric light and trams for a term of 14 years, the Council to have the right to purchase the concern at the end of the first 14 years or every 7 years thereafter. The only applicant was a Mr Deakin, but before the Council could come to a decision regarding this it received two petitions asking that a public meeting should be called to consider the question. This meeting was held on Friday 13 October 1899, when it was decided to take a poll on 20 November. The vote showed a small majority in favour of electric light and tramways. Votes recorded for the proposal numbered 1,085; those against were 903. 7
Apparently Mr Deakin’s offer was not sustained, for on 1 May 1900, the Council transferred the right to construct the system to the British Insulated Wire Company. But again nothing was done, so that the possibility of undertaking the project as a municipal venture was once more raised. This time, the East Fremantle Council
page 105
was also interested, and on 26 August 1903 a referendum was held in both municipalities. 8 The question asked was: ‘Are you in favour of the Municipalisation of the proposed Electric Lighting and Tramways undertakings?’ The voting was not large, but in both cases a ‘yes’ majority was recorded. The figures were:
| Yes | No | Majority for yes | |
| Fremantle | 461 | 336 | 125 |
| East Fremantle | 187 | 92 | 95 |
A joint sub-committee was formed of representatives of both municipalities. Early meetings were devoted to interviewing electrical engineers and others with experience of municipal tramway systems.0 Among these was the manager of the Kalgoorlie Council’s electric-light works. The premier was approached regarding the passage of an enabling bill to raise £100,000. Finally, the sub-committee prepared a table of figures showing expenditure and receipts based on an initial outlay of £80,000. 10
The Fremantle Council approved of these recommendations, but not before the mayor, Mr T. Smith, J.P., took strong objection to the fact that two meetings had been held during his absence owing to illness. The sub-committee had recommended that a referendum should be held on 26 August to ascertain ratepayers’ wishes regarding the loan. To this also the mayor objected as it did not give the ratepayers long enough notice. However, he was outvoted on that point also, and the referendum would have been held as arranged had not North Fremantle indicated that the date was inconvenient. The vote was therefore held over and when it was finally taken on 5 March 1904, North Fremantle did not participate. The Fremantle vote on that occasion was: yes, 497; no, 165; informal, 3; majority for yes, 332. 11
Meanwhile, at the invitation of the Council, two experts, Messrs Shaw and Desmond, came from Sydney for a period of six weeks. They checked the sub-committee’s report and figures of capital cost and working expenses. They also prepared plans and specifications enabling tenders to be called.
It is interesting to note that at this stage the mayor of East Fremantle put forward the far-sighted suggestion that provision should
page 106
be made to enable the tramway authority to include the use of motor vehicles in their scheme. These would, he said, be used as ‘feeders’ for the tramway service. The matter was discussed at some length, but nothing of a definite nature was arrived at.
Within a month of the favourable vote for permission to raise a loan, £80,000 worth of debentures were tendered for by Messrs Thonemann & Co. of Melbourne, returnable in 25 years at 5 per cent. This offer, which was conditional upon the work of construction being entrusted to Noyes Bros, was accepted subject to the satisfactory completion of a legal document.
Mr T. Smith’s opposition to the move for municipal electric light and tramways cost him his position as mayor. In the election held on 23 November 1903 he was replaced by Mr F. Cadd who had been untiring in his advocacy of the enterprise. Indeed, in recognition of his efforts in this direction the Council made Mr Cadd a presentation in September 1904. He was chairman of the first Tramway Board elected in the previous June. Other members were E. Solomon, representing the Fremantle owners; C. S. Nathan, representing the East Fremantle owners; R. J. Lynn, representing Fremantle occupiers; and H. Bennett, representing East Fremantle occupiers. The ownership of the system was vested in the Fremantle and East Fremantle Councils in the proportions of six-sevenths and one-seventh, respectively.
Nine days after the election, the Board ratified the agreement made between the Councils and Messrs Noyes Bros. Construction started on 6 February 1905, and on 30 November of that year tram traffic was opened on the South and East Fremantle routes, Beaconsfield and Marmion Street routes being completed shortly afterwards. The work was finished on 11 April 1906.
Meanwhile, the mayor who had been elected in 1903 because of his support for a municipal electricity and tramways enterprise, Mr F. Cadd, had resigned and was succeeded by Mr Michael Samson, eldest son of pioneer settler and businessman, Lionel Samson, and father of the present mayor. Sir Frederick Samson. His wife participated in the official opening ceremony in November 1905, by taking a turn at the wheel of the first tram to run on the East Fremantle route.
page 107
Soon afterwards an arrangement was made with the North Fremantle Council to supply that municipality with electric light and power. The question of extending the tramway to the northern suburb was also raised, but the condition of the traffic bridge across the river made that impracticable for the time being. Indeed, a curious situation had arisen. There were in 1906 two traffic bridges at North Fremantle and neither was suitable for the proposed extension of the tramway.
As early as 1889 doubts had been expressed in the Council as to the safety of the old bridge erected by convicts in the sixties, and in October 1891 the Under-Secretary for Works and Railways wrote that the question of lowering the traffic bridge to the level of the railway bridge was under consideration. But that was as far as the matter got. Two years later the government suggested that the Council might take over the care and control of the bridge, but this was declined. Further complaints in 1894 led to the bridge being specially discussed at a meeting of ratepayers held to consider the needs of the district. That meeting recommended that the government should obtain a professional opinion as to its safety. In the event of its being considered unsafe, they should either lower the present bridge or build a new one. Following this, minor repairs were effected, the roller of the Fremantle Council being borrowed by the government to roll metal.
However, in 1898 the old bridge had become so insecure that a temporary structure was erected alongside the old one. This was lightly timbered, built at a much lower level, obviously not intended for long use. The old bridge was reserved solely for pedestrian traffic, and again the government sought to enlist the Council’s assistance in the care and control of both bridges. Again the Council refused.
Thus matters stood in 1906 when it was desired to extend the tramway service to North Fremantle. In March of that year the Director of Public Works promised to send an engineer to report on the bridge without delay, and a sum was placed on the estimates to cut the level down so as to admit of tramway traffic.
Curiously enough, when the examination was made, the old bridge was found to be in a less parlous state than had been imagined. Of the 319 original piles, only 13 had slight defects. The other 306 were in perfect condition, and in the reconstruction that followed
page 108
none of the old piles had to be removed, although some new ones were added. Over this basic foundation a new superstructure was built, the bridge was levelled off, and on 30 September 1908 the tram service to North Fremantle was opened.
At this time, High Street was the principal thoroughfare in Fremantle and ‘one of the busiest retail marts in the State’.12 Ten years earlier it had begun to extend in an easterly direction, when the section from Ord Street to the Grammar School was formed. In 1897, the portion between Cliff and Adelaide Streets, a distance of 25 chains, was taken up and paved with wooden blocks. The area covered was 6,840 square yards and the cost was £7,000. These blocks did good service. Except for portions where water leaked in adjacent to the tram-tracks, the original paving blocks continued in use until 1954 when, following the removal of the tram-lines, a new concrete roadway was laid in that portion of High Street.
This Grammar School, to which reference has been made, had been opened in 1882 by Henry Briggs on a site where Hoyt’s Theatre now stands. In 1886 Mr Briggs resigned and established a boys’ school of his own further up High Street. As a consequence, the Grammar School closed down and he took it over, continuing in charge until 1897.
C. G. Nicolay’s Handbook of Western Australia reports that
in 1891 there were 27 boarders and 93 day scholars . . . Some of the boys come from Perth and others from the country; the course of instruction being arranged to supply the wants of the children of the middle classes principally. 18
Mr Briggs took an active part in Fremantle affairs and was later knighted when he was President of the Legislative Council. His school was subsequently acquired by the Church of England authorities and became a girls’ grammar school. At first conducted by the Misses Haynes, it was later taken over by Miss Bessie Scott who was joined by Miss Barbara Lightly. Known as Girton College, it continued in existence until late in the 1930s. After a period of disuse, it was allocated to the Air Raids Precautions organization, and A.R.P. lectures were held there during World War II. Finally, in June 1945 it was purchased from the Diocesan Trustees of the Church of England by the Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who still use it as their place of worship.
page 109
Other educational institutions at the turn of the century included the Christian Brothers’ College, which in 1901 had taken over the older portion of its present building where Mr Otto de Grancy had conducted the Roman Catholic Boys’ School. Of course, schools for both boys and girls, conducted by the state since the early fifties, continued to cater for ever increasing numbers. The Fremantle Boys’ School had grown from the modest building erected in 1854 to the design of W. A. Sanford, and its subsequent additions preserved the harmony of its original architecture. In 1900 the girls shifted to the new school built on a site which had been reserved for the purpose in 1894. It received the name of the Princess May School in 1901, when the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later the King and Queen) visited Fremantle. Meanwhile, the Fremantle Technical School in South Terrace had been opened in 1903, five years after the beginning of evening classes in Fremantle. It was not until 1912 that it was housed in adequate buildings.
During these years the Council was served by a succession of mayors, of whom Mr Elias Solomon occupied the chair for the greatest number of years. In 1901 Mr Solomon was elected the first representative of Fremantle in the Federal House of Representatives. His place was taken by Mr E. W. Davies, who, owing to ill-health, attended only one meeting, after which the position of mayor was again declared vacant and Mr L. Alexander was elected. Short as Mr Davies’s term of office was, it is not the shortest on record. That distinction belongs to Mr J. J. Holmes who was elected on 1 December 1910, but resigned without presiding over a single Council meeting.
The grand old man of the Council was Mr George Bland Humble, who had been Clerk of Works from 1874 until 1883, when he continued as town clerk. At the outset, Mr Humble had received £20 a year. Later this was increased to £100, but in December 1891, two years after he had retired from his position as headmaster of the Fremantle Boys’ School, it was thought that the time had arrived for the appointment of some person ‘able to devote more time and in regular office hours to the performance of his work’. 14 A committee was therefore formed to enquire into the best way to carry this out.
page 110
This committee recommended that the duties of Town Clerk and Secretary of the Local Board of Health should be amalgamated at a salary of £200 per annum. His office hours were from 9 to 12 and 1 to 4 on week days, and on Saturday from 9 to 1. He was also required to attend all meetings of the Council and of the Board of Health. Mr Humble was chosen to carry on in this new capacity, and in 1901 his salary was raised to £400. It must have come as somewhat of a shock to the Council—it certainly did to the town clerk—when at a meeting on 14 March 1904 the mayor, Mr F. Cadd, opened the proceedings by asking for Mr Humble’s resignation on account of age. Considerable discussion ensued, but finally it was agreed that this was the wisest course. Mr S. J. McMillan was appointed to succeed him and continued in office until 1910. It is interesting to note that, when Mr F. Cadd resigned from the mayoralty in July 1905, Mr Humble contested the position at the ensuing election and was only 34 votes behind the successful candidate, Mr M. Samson.
Mr Humble was a man of many interests. In addition to being headmaster of Fremantle Boys' School until 1889, he was for 25 years secretary of the Fremantle Building Society, and for over 40 years secretary of the Fremantle Masonic Lodge. He died in 1930 at the age of 90.
Two other municipal enterprises during this period are deserving of notice. In 1895 Mr J. Lilly was offered a bonus of £300 to be granted on the erection of public baths in Fremantle. Some months later, when it was decided to float a company with a capital of £2,500, the Council agreed to extend its offer of a bonus to the company. A site was chosen near Arundel Street and for some years the public used these premises. In 1900 there was a suggestion that the Council should purchase the baths, but this was rejected. Five years later a special committee appointed to investigate the matter, recommended the construction of Municipal Sea Baths and a site was selected near Douro Road. This was subsequently rejected in favour of a position between the Long Jetty and the Fishing Jetty. The tender of Spence Bros for £3,526. 0s. 11 %d. was accepted and the baths were opened in the summer of 1906-7. They were immediately popular and in 1909 the Council approved of ‘continental' evening entertainments, when mixed swimming was allowed in the
page 111
gentlemen’s baths, the ladies at the same time retaining the use of their own section, dressing rooms, etc. A system for heating the water was installed and the baths continued in use until 1917 when they were finally disposed of.
Adjacent to these baths was the Long Jetty which, no longer required for shipping, was threatened with demolition until the Council made representations to the government that it should be converted into a promenade. It was made safe for this purpose by the erection of a protecting fence in 1906 and in the following year a hall was erected at its extremity. Apparently, Fremantle had ambitions to become another Blackpool or Brighton with promenade concerts on the pier, for in 1907 the hall was leased to Messrs Luscombe and Sumner for a series of entertainments. These were not outstandingly successful. The contract expired after a few months and the building on the jetty was later removed to South Beach which was gradually becoming popular as the watering place of the town. This beach was officially opened by His Excellency the Governor on 15 November 1909, and in the years that followed was developed into an attractive seaside resort—for many years the only beach adjacent to Perth with a shark-proof swimming enclosure. The Long Jetty continued as a promenade until, with the passage of time, it fell into disrepair and was finally demolished in 1921.
The one retrograde step during this period, as far as Fremantle was concerned, was the removal of the railway workshops. These had been built soon after the opening of the Perth-Guildford line and their presence in Fremantle gave added industrial stability to the town. To some extent the harbour works threatened to encroach upon their already restricted area, and in 1892 the government invited Mr Allison Smith of the Victorian Government Railways to advise them on the best possible site for new workshops. Mr Smith, after examining possible sites at Fremantle, Perth, and on the Canning, recommended an area at Midland Junction, This aroused a storm of protest at the port. Public meetings were held and there was no doubt of the temper of the people when in November 1893 they declared the removal of the workshops to be ‘not only an unfair menace to the prosperity of the town, but . . . opposed to the interests of the public of the Colony on the grounds of economy, convenience and policy’. 15 A standing committee was formed to
page 112
ascertain the intentions of the government and if necessary draw up a memorial to the new parliament protesting against the removal. This later became known as the Vigilance Committee and added to its duties a search for other suitable sites within the Fremantle district. In this respect, it subsequently selected and recommended an area at Richmond. These public meetings further pledged themselves to oppose at the next elections any local member of parliament who supported the removal of the workshops.
However, the government was determined. In March 1895 the Premier, Sir John Forrest, notified Mr W. E. Marmion, M.L.A., of its irrevocable decision. Deputations failed to move him. He insisted that the government had ‘to do in the public interest what they would rather have not done if they had only their own personal interests to consider’.16 In September, it was formally moved in parliament ‘that in the opinion of this House, the Railway Workshops should be removed from Fremantle to a site near Midland Junction’. 17 The objections to the Fremantle site were enumerated by the Minister for Public Works, Mr H. W. Venn, when he introduced the motion. It was almost level with the sea, with the result that variations in tides affected the wash-out pits; it was subject to inclement weather; it was too near the heart of the town; and most emphatically it was far too restricted in area. His objection to the site at Richmond which the Fremantle ratepayers had selected after surveys of Mr E. W. Young, M.C.I.E., conducted at their expense, was that it contained not one acre of level ground and would require £24,178 to make it level. He had many other objections, and when the motion was put it was carried in spite of the eloquence and the united voting opposition of the Fremantle members.
There the matter rested for five years, no doubt because during that time the public exchequer and the resources of the Public Works Department were fully taxed by the harbour works. But in September 1900 Mr J. Ewing, a member of the opposition, and representative of the Swan electoral district, moved ‘That, in the opinion of this House, the erection of the workshops at Midland Junction should be proceeded with forthwith.’18 In moving this motion, Mr Ewing was directly interested in advancing his own electorate. In opposing it, the Fremantle members were equally interested in protecting theirs. The resulting debate was bitter. The
page 113
gloves were off and no one pulled his punches. There was much talk of vested interests. The vested interests of Fremantle were known and acknowledged, since the existence of the workshops in that area had led over 250 workers to establish homes there. The vested interests of Midland Junction were more of a speculative nature. There were many suggestions that, since the government’s intentions had been known for five years, there had been land deals in preparation for the removal. Three amendments were moved in the course of the debate and all were lost. When the motion was finally put it was carried by nineteen votes to eight.
This sealed the fate of the workshops at Fremantle. Their removal was a great loss to the town. How great can, perhaps, be best gauged by the population returns which between 1901 and 1911 showed a decrease of 203.
The Fremantle Railway Station was originally some distance westward of the present site, with its main entrance at the end of Mouatt Street. There was also an East Fremantle Station near Edward Street. The decision in 1905 to erect a new station at Market Street to replace both of these was calculated to serve, not only the interests of the new harbour, but also of a town which during the nineties had been steadily spreading eastward. In May 1906 the tender of Mr S. B. Alexander for £12,773. 17s. was accepted for a portion of the work to be carried out. The design for the entire building, very handsome and dignified, was the work of Mr Dartnell, Chief Engineer of Existing Lines. The new station was opened on 1 July 1907.
The effect of its erection at the end of Market Street has been to alter completely the centre of gravity of business in Fremantle. As a result, that part of the town which lies at the western end of High Street at the foot of Arthur’s Head, still contains many interesting traces of the early days. Similar conditions exist in few other Australian cities, where the practice has been to demolish old structures and erect new ones on the site. Moving westward along High Street, one leaves behind the rush and bustle of modern times, and a brooding quietness settles on Henry, Mouatt, Cliff and Croke Streets. Dominating the scene is the weathered stonework of the Round House, which carries memories back to the early 1830s.
page 114
For many years Cliff Street was the commercial centre of the port. Running from the sea jetty to the river jetty, it was the main artery of the town’s traffic. Here may still be seen the old Customs House, and the original home of Lionel Samson, adjacent to the premises of Lionel Samson & Son, built upon the lot purchased in 1829. The old house is now a bond store attached to the business which remains in the hands of the Samson family—a record for longevity of tenure among business houses of Australia. To be strictly accurate, what today appears as the original home of Lionel Samson is only half of what it was at first. In 1898 the adjoining warehouse was burned down and in re-erecting it they increased its size at the expense of the house. Nevertheless, what does remain is genuine enough.
Wandering along these old streets of western Fremantle, it is not difficult to envisage the early town. As late as 1905, they were still the hub of commercial activities. A writer in that year points out that
on viewing Fremantle for the first time the stranger is in many ways reminded of Old Sydney, minus the beautiful harbour. High Street on Saturday night is a block cut out of George Street and the cuttings through the limestone hills increase the resemblance, which is further enhanced when the curious wanderer after dark finds that he can be so easily confused among the maze of tortuous streets. 19
He adds, however, that
There is an entire absence of the slum of Milson’s Point and the Argyle Cut; there is no reeking Chinatown or the deadly stews and horrid smells of Darling Harbour.
Today the tide of progress has flowed to the east. Stranded on the ebb, this western quarter of old Fremantle remains a memorial of earlier days.
References
1 M.F.M.C. 8 June 1894, F.T.H.
2 Western Australia Yearbook 1896-7, 10th ed. (Perth: Government Printer, 1898).
3 M.F.M.C. 8 Dec. 1891, F.T.H.
4 Ibid. 30 May 1895.
5 ibid. 7 May 1895.
6 Ibid. 13 Jan. 1899.
7 Ibid. 20 Nov. 1899.
8 ibid. 26 Aug. 1903.
9 Ibid. 20 Jan. 1904.
10 Ibid. 27 June 1904.
11 Ibid. 5 March 1904.
page 115
12 ‘Municipal Fremantle', Progressive Westralia, suppl. to Morning Herald, 1 Sept. 1905, p. 2.
13 C. G. Nicolay, Handbook of Western Australia 1881, 2nd ed. (Perth: B. Stein, 1896), p. 190.
14 M.F.M.C. 3 Dec. 1891, F.T.H.
15 Minutes of Public Meeting, M.F.M.C. 3 Nov. 1893, F.T.H.
16 M.F.M.C. 11 March 1895, F.T.H.
17 Hansard 1895, 5 Sept. 1895, p. 884. For further information see Harris, ‘A maker of Western Australia’, pp. 84-9.
18 ‘Votes and Proceedings of Parliament’, Hansard, 11 Sept. 1900.
19 Progressive Westralia, suppl. to Morning Herald, 1 Sept. 1905.
Go to Chapter 12: The First World War and afterwards.
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 2 July, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/ewers/ch11.html (it was last updated on 8 July, 2021), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.