High Street, north side, between Pakenham to Market Street
The earliest owner of Lot 412 recorded by Hitchcock (1929) was Joseph Moore.
At the end of 2022, by my estimation, using Google Maps and streetview, Lot 412 is now the site of the former Commonwealth Bank building (1934) 82 High Street. Current tenants: Common Ground.
Hitchcock 1919, describing the situation as he recalled it in 1869:
Next to the Albert Hotel were several small wooden shops occupied respectively by W. Leach, bootmaker; Miss Leach, fancy goods; Theophilus Carter, watchmaker; E. Wellstead, cabinetmaker; D. B. Francisco, auctioneer; and Rankin and Watson, retailers. Then came a tiny little cottage having a neat flower garden in front and occupied by ‘Paddy’, the wheelbarrow man. Paddy was an eccentric character, the butt of all the small boys, and made a comfortable living by removing luggage, etc, with his barrow, the town not having yet reached the carrier’s cart stage. On the next allotment was a greengrocer’s shop and firewood yard kept by Mr. Weeden, adjoining which was the Era newspaper office. Fremantle could boast two newspapers in those days – the Herald and the Era – though it has since often been without even one.
The Era was owned and published by a versatile gentleman named George Barrow. In the day time he worked as accountant for Mr. Lionel Samson, and in the night time on the production of his newspaper. It was a small affair printed in lithograph, and published once a week at the price of 6d. Barrow afterwards left the colony and obtained a Government appointment at £800 a year in Mauritius, but on its becoming known there that he was an ex-convict from W.A. he lost his position. Of his subsequent career I know nothing, but if ability and energy account for anything, I have no doubt that he found scope for his activities elsewhere.
References and Links
Hitchcock, J.K. 1919, [[../books/hitchcock1919.html|'Early Days of Fremantle: High Street 50 Years Ago']], Fremantle Times, one of a series of articles on 'Early Days of Fremantle' publ. 21 March - 20 June 1919.
Fremantle History Centre. Look for the PDFs called:
Purchasers of Fremantle Town Lots 1829-1837
Purchasers of Fremantle Town Lots 1855-1879
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 December, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/lots/412.html (it was last updated on 16 December, 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.