Rous Head was named by Governor Stirling after Sea Lord Admiral Henry Rous, (1795–1877) who served in the Napoleonic Wars, and was in Eastern Australia 1827–9, and gave some places in NSW his own name. He was later First Lord of the Admiralty and Admiral. He organised a regatta in Sydney Harbour in April 1827. The place is shown in 1827 as Rous Point.
Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) Saturday 8 June 1895 - Page 38
... done. To give the figures showing what has been effected since Fremantle first ran up the British ensign at Rous Head would take too much space and time. Even now, perhaps, their dimension ...
The Goldfields Morning Chronicle, 5 June 1897:[1]
[T]he remainder of the force on the 17th June disembarked and encamped on the north bank of the Swan, now Rous Head, relieving the party of seamen and marines from the "Challenger," which had been left to protect the British flag planted there by Captain Fremantle during the preceding month.
HOISTING THE FLAG.
In 1829, on May 2, Captain Chas. H. Fremantle, of H.M.S. Challenger, who had been despatched from the Cape of Good Hope on March 20, of that year, by Commodore Schomberg, of the Indian squadron, for the purpose, anchored off the mouth of the Swan River, and, hoisting the British flag on the South head, took formal posseswon in the name, of His Majesty King George IV, of "all that part of New Holland which is not included within the territory of New South Wales."
Exactly one month later, on June 2, the hired transport Parmelia, 443 tons, J. H. Luscombe, commander, arrived in Cockburn Sound, having on board Lieutenant-Governor Stirling, his family, and other intended settlers numbering in all 69. Six days later, on June 8, her consort, H.M.S. Sulphur, arrived with a detachment (Light Company No. 2) of the 63rd. Regiment, consisting of three subalterns, one staff officer, two sergeants, three corporals, one bugler, and 46 men, under the command of Captain F. C. Irwin. Having left a party of about half its strength to protect the stores, etc., on Garden Island, the remainder of the force, on June 17, disembarked, and encamped on the North Bank of the Swan, now Rous Head, relieving the party of seamen and marines from the Challenger, which had been left to protect the British flag planted there by Captain Fremantle during the preceding month. With the landing of the emigrants from the Parmelia, the history of Western Australia, as a British Colony, begins.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/82402768
The passengers were Landed on Garden Island, where they built bough huts, and erected tents, to protect themselves from the stormy weather. Mr J. Drummond, the Botanist, planted a garden. Two days later H.M.S. Sulpher arrived, and thus was ended a voyage lasting nearly four months. On the 1st June, 1829, Lieutenant Governor Stirling, accompanied by the chief officers of the settlement, landed at Rous Head, and, in the name of the King, took control of our huge State. The passengers were still on Garden Island protected by a guard of soldiers. Other soldiers under Captain Irwin's command relieved the Challenger's marines at Rous Head. They had been stationed there under Lieutenant John Henry to guard the British Flag which had been hoisted in April by Captain Fremantle.
Bunbury Herald (WA : 1892 - 1919) Saturday 17 May 1919 - Page 6
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87109964
While the Parmelia was fitting out in England to bring out Lieutenant Governor Captain Stirling, R.N, and the first government officials, Commodore Schomberg, of the East Indian station, was ordered to detach H.M.S. Challenger, Captain Fremantle for service at the new settlement. He arrived in April, 1829, and annexed the country, hoisting the British flag on the north side of the mouth of the Swan River.
Bunbury Herald (WA : 1892 - 1919) Saturday 17 May 1919 - Page 6
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87109964
... month of April, 1821), Captain Fremantle, of H.M.S. "Challenger," who had been despatched by Commodore Schomberg, of the Indian Squadron, for the purpose, anchored off the Swan River, and, hoisting the British flag on the north side, at its month, took formal possession, in the name of His Majesty ...
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232975922
References
- ↑ SIXTY-EIGHT YEARS’ PROGRASS.—No. 1. (1897, June 5). The Goldfields Morning Chronicle (Coolgardie, WA : 1896 - 1898), p. 2. Retrieved September 2, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232975922
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 17 March, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/places/roushead.html (it was last updated on 17 April, 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.