The term 'commonage' refers to common land, that is, land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. (Wikipedia)
The Fremantle Commonage dates from 1884. Ewers (1948):
A further addition to the open spaces of Fremantle was made in February 1884, when, following a deputation from the newly-formed Municipal Council, a commonage of 4,000 acres was set apart to the east of the town.
Ewers 126-7:
Building was brisk throughout these post-war years. An acute housing shortage was revealed in 1923 and there was a suggestion of a Council Housing Scheme. [fn17] This was rejected in favour of assisting established organizations such as Building Societies and the Workers Homes Board, by making available nines acres of land in Gibson, Shepherd and Lefroy Streets and 182 acres of the commonage adjoining [[../places/chesterpark.html|Chester Park]].
Heritage Council:
The demand for leasehold public housing escalated dramatically in the post-World War Two period with the return of servicemen and the concurrent post war immigration to Australia. In the mid to late 1940s, both State and Commonwealth Governments formulated new legislation in response to this public need.
The Workers Homes Board was renamed the State Housing Commission and was responsible for the administration of public housing schemes operating in the State.
As early as 1946 and 1947, negotiations had taken place between the City of Fremantle and the Commission regarding the release of more Commonage land for public housing purposes. Council’s primary aim was to ensure that the subdivision allowed for public space and amenity and one of the ways it did this was by stating in the Act, which laid out the transfer of land, - ‘the land, when subdivided into building allotments, shall be granted to the State Housing Commission after provision has been made for all necessary road and reserves.’
In 1949, the Fremantle City Council made 135 acres of land in the Fremantle Commonage available to the State Housing Commission for public housing purposes to the east and south-east of the initial Commission project in Hilton Park. This subdivision of Hilton Park comprised 144 residential lots, 5 lots for commercial purposes, 5 acres for community purposes, and 14 acres for a school site. Some of the public facilities eventually established in Hilton Park included an infant health centre, a recreation reserve, children’s playgrounds, a school, and a row of shops.
By 30 June 1948, 41 houses had been completed at Hilton Park under the Commonwealth and State Rental Homes Scheme (CSRHS). A total of 97 homes were built by June 1949 and, by June 1950, 164 had been constructed with 28 under way.
In the 1940s/1950s period, due to the high cost of homes of brick construction, the Commission focused on a timber houses building program: ‘special attention was again give to the provision of cheaper wooden homes for lower paid workers’. (At this time, timber houses could only be constructed in some parts of the metropolitan area because of local planning by-laws and this in turn meant that the Commission was only able to acquire land for these purposes in certain areas.)
Work continued of the development of the Fremantle Commonage area in Hilton Park throughout 1951 in preparation for its subdivision and building construction. This included the clearing of land, the completion of roads, and the extension of water mains. By June 1951, 355 vacant lots were made available for public housing at Hilton Park.
The Fremantle Herald, 15 December 1883, p. 3:
Fremantle Corporation.
The first monthly meeting of the corporation was held in the Council Chamber, Fremantle, on Wednesday evening the 5th inst. Present the Mayor (Mr. B. C. Wood) and Crs. Davies, Herbert, Snook, Albert, Doonan, Pearse, Solomon, Samson, and Congdon. Prior to taking their seats Crs. Solomon and Pearse took the usual oath of allegiance and declaration of office, after which the minutes of the preceding meeting were duly read and confirmed. ...
The Mayor read a communication from the Commissioner of Crown Lands asking if the Council had any objection to the alienation of certain lands within the Commonage application for the purchase of which had been made. Discussion ensued, from which it appeared that the Commonage had been considerably reduced from his original area of 16000 acres to 3,900. It was thought that if proper representations were made, and something stronger than a feeble resistance were offered, the Government would not step over the heads of the Corporation and dispose of its Commonage, especially in view of an increase of population and the extension of the town. It was resolved on the motion of Cr. Solomon, seconded by Cr. Doonan, that the Commissioner of Crown Lands be written to stating that the Council objected to any alienation of its commonage, and that it deemed it desirable that the Commonage should now be vested in the municipality. ...
The West Australian, 8 May 1884, p. 3:
COUNTRY NEWS
Fremantle, May 7.
The town commonage, an area of 4000 acres, has been vested in the Municipal Council, and was surveyed last week ; from this source the Council anticipate deriving a considerable increase of revenue.
The West Australian, 8 May 1884, p. 3:
FREMANTLE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.
The monthly meeting of the Municipal Council of Fremantle was held on Tuesday evening last, the Mayor presiding and all the councillors being present.
CORRESPONDENCE.
The MAYOR read a letter received from the Commissioner of Crown Lands vesting the Fremantle commonage – an area of about 4000 acres – in the Municipal Council ...
References and Links
[[../ewers/index,html|Ewers]], John K. 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. (1st ed. 1948).
And as above.
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 9 March, 2024 and hosted at freotopia.org/places/commonage.html (it was last updated on 10 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.