Held on Sunday 20 October 2024 from 12:45 for 1:00 PM start, at the Fremantle History Centre, Ground Floor, Walyalup Civic Centre.
The four speakers and their topics are listed below.
Lucy Hair was to present about Colonial Surgeon/Asylum Superintendent Henry Calvert Barnett and his wife Annie, but the programme was changed.
Meath and Smith: The Boys Reformatory, Rottnest Island Prison
- Simon Meath and Anne Smith
- The Boys Reformatory, Rottnest Island Prison: Forgotten genocide site of the Frontier Wars
The need to house European children away from the adult prison system prompted the building of a Reformatory for boys at Rottnest in 1881. Once there, however, boys as young as 10 were exposed to the gruesome realities of the Aboriginal prison system. Over 3700 Indigenous men and boys were incarcerated at the Rottnest prison and at least 370 died. The most infamous of the penal settlement buildings is the octagonal-shaped Quad. The history of the associated Boys Reformatory and its role also as the prison hospital is lesser known. The years of service the Reformatory gave as the hospital and the exact number of deaths in custody fell into obscurity. At least 37 Indigenous men died there in the winter of 1883. One European boy, George Webb, died at the age of 11 in 1893, making him one of the youngest child deaths in custody in Australia.
Anne has always been enchanted by the natural beauty of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island, becoming interested in its history later in life, reading published works, then turning to the archives held in the State Records Office for in-depth answers to niggling questions and missing research on the island. Anne is deeply moved by Indigenous history, believing that to move forward as a people we must confront our past.
Simon completed an undergraduate degree in Communications at ECU, a BA at UWA and a post graduate Diploma of Education at Notre Dame (Fremantle). He has accumulated twenty years of experience in diverse academic and professional roles, including work in both the film and music industries, and taken part in over twenty archaeological digs, predominantly sites associated with WA’s very early colonial settlement.
With a personal reflection from Marie a family member.
Ingram: Dead in the water
- Caroline Ingram
- Dead in the water: The life and trial of Margaret Cody
Margaret Cody, 2nd woman in WA executed for murder.
Margaret’s case illustrates the challenges working class women faced in the 19th century, and the way in which women, perceived not to conform to middle class values of femininity might be vilified in the press.
In 1871, the body of a naked man was found floating in the water of the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River), near Fremantle. Margaret Cody, the wife of Pensioner Guard James Cody, and her partner William Davis were consequently tried for the murder of James Holditch. Both defendants were convicted after Margaret refused to turn “Queen’s evidence” and she became the second woman to be executed in Western Australia. Decades later, Margaret was remembered in newspapers as a “dissolute woman” and one of the “arch-fiends of the cold-blooded Fremantle murder.” This significant, but often overlooked, case in Fremantle’s history, illustrates the challenges for working class women during the 19th century, and the way in which women who were perceived not to conform to middle class values could be vilified in the press and marginalised in the courtroom.
Caroline, recipient of the 2023 Ron and Dianne Davidson Scholarship, is an early career historian who is interested in the experiences of women in the criminal justice system. Her recent thesis examined the trials of women in the upper courts of 19th century WA to determine how the outcomes of the trials were impacted by legal rules and institutions and how this was mediated by the gender, class and race of defendants, witnesses, judges, lawyers and jury members.
Everett: Wobblies on the waterfront
- Nick Everett
- Wobblies on the Waterfront. The Fremantle Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies) during WWI and in the conscription debate and subsequent upheaval on the waterfront in 1917.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) nicknamed ‘Wobblies,’ originated in the US. An international labor union, they argued that workers should amalgamate into One Big Union in order to resist capitalism and abolish the profits system. In 1914 they established a branch in Fremantle. Nick will discuss the part played by Fremantle IWW members in the conscription debate and the subsequent industrial upheaval on the waterfront in 1917 and again in 1919.
Nick has a keen interest in Aboriginal and labour history. In 2021, he worked alongside members of the ‘Remembering the 1946 Pilbara Strike’ committee to organise commemorative events in Perth and Fremantle to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1946 walk off by Pilbara Aboriginal pastoral workers. He authored a chapter in the book ‘Radical Perth, Militant Fremantle’ on the labour movement’s solidarity with the Pilbara Strike. Based in Fremantle, Nick works with remote and town-based Aboriginal communities to address their housing needs.
Gormlie: Founding women of Soroptimist International
- Kiara Gormlie
- The founding women of Soroptimist International Fremantle: Early intentions and lasting legacies
- Fremantle Soroptimist International. The story of the impact upon Fremantle that this women’s advocacy group has had, and the power of uniting to bring about change.
Soroptimist International has over 100 years’ worth of a worldwide legacy, and its Fremantle chapter nearly 75, yet you hear little mention of them. A worldwide service organisation boasting almost 70,000 members committed to justice, equity, and the empowerment of women and girls, the organisation has a tradition of working in the shadows, supporting their communities and sisters through the harshest times with little recognition. The Fremantle chapter, founded in 1953, was host to three notable women: founding President Dorothea Parker, Vice President Gladys Locke, and member Sadie Stone, each contributing to an impressive legacy of Soroptimism that guides the Fremantle club today. This paper highlights this historic legacy and draws the link between the three Fremantle members as Soroptimists and their dedication to their community.
History student and human rights activist Kiara Gormlie is currently undertaking her Honours at the University of Notre Dame, conducting research in literary resistance and anti-colonialism. Winner of the 2023 ‘The Floor is Yours’ public speaking competition, Kiara promotes the imperative for women to support the generations of young women to come. As a member of Soroptimist International, she is a staunch advocate for the empowerment of women and girls, and recognises the change enabled by the unity of women.