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Mark Currie
Mark John Currie arrived June 1829 on Parmelia, with his wife Jane, an artist. On 31 December 1828, he had been appointed Harbour Master for the Swan River Colony. He started work in a tent at Perth, but soon moved to the wreck of Marquis of Anglesea. Currie's wife Jane painted in watercolour a panorama of Fremantle south of Arthur Head which includes the wreck where her husband had his 'office'. He was also the colony's auditor, and Clerk to the Legislative Council. He soon left, however, on 12 August 1832, on board Sulphur. Point Currie is still named after him, tho it's more usually now known as Pelican Point (RPYC is there), on land that he was granted, and which is now the campus of UWA.
Ewers writes (3) that Commander Currie was appointed by Lt-Governor Stirling during the voyage aboard the Parmelia which arrived 2 June 1829.
However, according to Statham-Drew (2004: 25), it was the Colonial Office that appointed Captain Currie as first harbour master, 31 December 1828.
References and links
Ewers, John K. 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. [1st ed. 1948].
Statham-Drew, Pamela 2004, James Stirling and the Birth of the Swan River Colony, Pandorus, Swanbourne.
Stephens, Robert 1950, 'A sweet spot in an old Colonial Garden: the historical background of the site of the University of Western Australia', Early Days, Vol. 4, Part 2: 27-47.
Wikipedia entry
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 7 April, 2017 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/currie.html (it was last updated on 9 August, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.