Answers to Quiz 12: Fremantle Council

1. No-one. North Fremantle had its own council only 1895-1961, and is now back in the Fremantle fold.

2. There were five women councillors when I wrote this quiz in 2022, including the mayor: Hannah Fitzhardinge—Jenny Archibald, Su Groome, Rachel Pemberton, and Marija Vujcic. (And there are eight men.) Since then, Su Groome, Rachel Pemberton, and Marija Vujcic have left, and Ingrid van Dorssen and Jemima Williamson-Wong have been elected (Jenny Archibald is the elected Deputy Mayor.) So in 2024, there are four women on council, and seven men.

3. Doug Thompson has been a councillor since 1988 without a break. He will, deo volente, be in office until 18 October 2025.

4. Sir Frank Gibson (1929-1951) and John Cattalini (1984-1994) were both pharmacists.

5. Jenny Archibald was the first female mayor, in office 1994-1997. In 2023 she became also the first deputy mayor.

6. Sir Frederick Samson (1951-1972) was childless, and left his house in Ellen Street to the community to become a museum. The house was actually built for his father Michael, also a mayor. Sir Fred slept for most of his life in the room he was born in.

7. The Samson family boasts three mayors: William Frederick (1892-1893), Michael (1906-1907, who died in office), and another William Frederick, who was known by his second name as Sir Frederick (mayor 1951-1972).

8. Les Lauder AM, was the first president of the Fremantle Society in 1972 (fiftieth anniversary this year!) and was on Fremantle City Council 1973-1979.

9. Former WA premier Geoff Gallop served as a Fremantle City councillor 1983-1986.

10. When the town council became a municipal council in 1883, the chair was able to assume the title of Mayor. The first to do so was Barrington Wood, 1883-1885. You may have thought of Frank Gibson, who was the first mayor of the City of Fremantle. Give yourself a point for either.

Freotopia

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 March, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org (it was last updated on 27 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.