Town Lots 39 & 40

Mouat Street, corner of Phillimore Street.

Town Lot 39 and 40 are now occupied by [[../hotels/hismajestys.html|His Majesty's Hotel]].

The first owner of Lot 39 noted by [[../hitchcock.html|Hitchcock]] was H. Willett & Co. ([[../people/willett.html|Henry & William Willett]]).

The first owner of Lot 40 noted by [[../hitchcock.html|Hitchcock]] were Davey and Munday (qv infra).

Hitchcock (1919, describing Mouat Street in 1869):
At the time of which we write (1869) what is now [[../westend/phillimore.html|Phillimore-street]] formed part of the old Recreation Ground, known as ‘[[../parks/green.html|The Green]]’, and only a few of the allotments in [[../westend/mouat.html|Mouatt-street]] were built upon. An old widow lady named Mrs. [Eliza?] Agett resided in a fairly large bungalow house on the site now occupied by [[../hotels/hismajestys.html|His Majesty’s Hotel]]. During the gold boom times this house underwent alterations and additions, and became Fremantle’s first café under the name of ’[[../hotels/hismajestys.html|His Lordship’s Larder]]’. In course of time a hotel license was secured, and the old building gave place to the present modern structure.
Next to it was the station and quarters of the [[../harbourmasters/index.html|Harbour Master]]’s crew. This was a body of smartly uniformed and well disciplined men, whose duties were in connection with the shipping, which, at that time, was represented by sailing ships lying out in the open and exposed roadstead, none but the small coasting craft being to berth at the jetty.

Erikson:
DAV(E)Y, James Woodley. b. 7.1.1805 (England), d. 28.10.1852 (York) (of a bolting horse), son of John Davy (a joiner) & Elizabeth (nee Woodley), arr. 13.2.1830 per Egyptian ?with sister Harriet. Granted land at Avon & Cockburn districts. Builder & merchant Fremantle. Chairman of Fremantle Town Trust. His considerable assets c.£13,000 were inherited by his sister Harriet Morrell & a niece & nephew in England.
MUNDAY, James, b. 1806, arr. 6.7.1830 per Medina with brother John both dep. 17.1.1831 per Eagle for Tasmania (listed as Mr & Mrs), but returned early in 1831. Formed a partnership with James Davey in a building business at Frem. This was dissolved 11.3.1835 when he intended leaving WA. Dep. for SA per Minerva, arr. there 13.3.1840.

Erickson:
AGETT du Bois, b. 1796 d. 25.12.1866 (Frem), arr. 13.2.1830 per Egyptian with fami1y & several servants. m. Eliza b. 1800 d. 29.6.1883 (Nth. Frem). Chd. Richard b. 1818 d. at Amoy of fever (Inq. 4.2.1857), George b. 1821 d. 1859 (Police Const. d. Toodyay), Emma b. 1823/4 d. 1903, Harry b. 1824 d. 1853 (Victoria), Frederick b. 1825, Edwin b. 1827, Charles b. 1829, Mary Anne (W.A.) b. 1830. Ex member of Stock Exchange London. Granted land at the Swan & Avon districts but failed in his farming & business ventures. Entered Civil Service as Clerk
Customs Dept. Retired 1853. Frem.

References and Links

Fremantle History Centre. Look for the PDFs called:
Purchasers of Fremantle Town Lots 1829-1837
Purchasers of Fremantle Town Lots 1855-1879

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.

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 4 December, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/lots/39.html (it was last updated on 17 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.