Western Australian Readings
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Edith Cowan University Research Online ECU Publications Pre. 2011 1977 Western Australian readings James M. R. Cameron (Ed) Edwin K. G. Jaggard Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks Part of the History Commons Cameron, J.M.R. & Jaggard, E.K.G. (Eds.). (1977). Western Australian readings. Churchlands, Australia: Churchlands College. This Book is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks/6803 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. A court may impose penalties and award damages in relation to offences and infringements relating to copyright material. Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. :···~ .,. ··:.r, ;, . ,, ·... ,.,.·• . :........ ,... ' ... \· .. ··. ,· ., .. STEI\N AUSTBALUN BEADINGS Edited by J.M. R. Cameron E.K.G. Jaggard Perth, Churchlands College 1977 r Copyright © 1977 by Churchlands College. All rights reserved. First published 1975. Second edition 1977. Western Australian readings, edited by J.M.R. Cameron [and] E. K.G. Jaggard. 2d. ed. Perth, Churchlands College, 1977. viii, 232p. illus. diagrs. maps. 23cm. 1. Western Australia - History. 2. Western Australia - Dis covery and exploration. I. Cameron, James McDonald Rapson. 11. Jaggard, Edwin Kent Glauert. 111. Churchlands College. 994.1 (Cataloguing entry compiled by the Churchlands College Library) Cover and Title Page designed by Brian Lever A.I.T. (W.A.I.T.) Printed by Eastern Press Pty. Ltd., Osborne Park, W.A., for Churchlands College, Western Australia. National Library of Australia card number and ISBN O 909360 15 4 PHOTOGRAPHS Swan River 50 Miles Up .................................................... 23 Captain Dick Demi-Solde ................................................... 35 Carnac Island on which the stores of H.M.S. Success were landed ......................... 43 View of Fremantle from Church Hill East of the town, 183 2 ............................ 45 Albion House, Augusta, Western Australia ........................................ 83 Turn wood on Hardy's Inlet after Settlement. ...................................... 83 Perth, 1847 ........................................................... 100 Perth, 1850 ........................................................... 101 York, 1857 ........................................................... 103 Camel Team on the Goldfields ............................................... 145 The Halford Family Arriving at Bulong from South Australia, December, 1903 ............... 151 Condensers, Used for the Production of Fresh Water ................................ 161 Dry Blowing for Gold ..................................................... ,192 ' Prospecting 'Show' near Coolgardie ............................................ 196 Miners' Bush Camp - Circa. 1900 ............................................. 197 Coolgardie at its Peak - Circa. 1898 ........................................... 201 A Small Crushing and Treatment Plant ......................................... 208 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS When Churchlands College of Advanced Education opened in February, 1972 the first students undertook a short course in West Australian history, with particular emphasis on discovery, settlement and the gold boom of the 1890's. The course has gradually expanded and Western Australian Readings is an attempt to compile a limited collection of source material to which students can refer. The editors gratefully acknowledge the Battye Library, West Australian Art Gallery, W.A. Historical Society, the Director, Geological Survey W.A. Department of Mines, Dr. D. Mossenson, Mr. A.C. Staples, Mitchell Library (Sydney), Dixson Galleries (Sydney), Macmillan Company of Australia, Oxford University Press, Imperial Printing Co. and the University of W.A. Press, for granting permission to reproduce material included in the book. For their advice and assistance the editors are also indebted to Dr. D. Jecks and Mr. Ted Mayman. Churchlands, J.M.R. Cameron January, 1977. E.K.G. Jaggard CONTENTS Pre-Settlement Western Australia ............................................... 1 Prelude to Colonization .... ·................................................. 8 Swan River Mania ....................................................... (34; The First Arrivals ........................ : ............................... 39 I Near Collapse of Swan River Colony ........................................... (SQ) .-r---,. The First Ten Years in the Swan River Colony .................................... C58. 1 Coming to Terms .............................. ; .......................... 76 The Development of Agriculture .............................................. 82 Agriculture Day by Day .................................................... 90 Shelter ............................................................... 94 Convicts .............................................................. 98 Town and Country ...................................................... 100 Maps and Figures ........................................................ 106 Statistical Summary ............................................... ~ ...... 1__ 11 Introduction -- Re-Examination of the Eastern Gold fields in the l 890's .................. (124 An Early Description of the Gold fields Region ................................... ; 133 The First Discoveries .................................................... ; 139 Kanowna ............................................................. 156 The \\later Problem ...................................................... 160 Attitudes to Asiatics ...................................................... 168 The Emergence of the Gold fields Press ......................................... 171 Goldfields' Grievances .................................................... 180 Recollections and Impressions of the Goldfields ................................... 19 I A Family of Footballers ................................................... 210 Oral History. .. ............................................. 214 Siatistics ............................................................. 225 PRE-SETTLEMENT WESTERN AUSTRALIA The first confirmed European contact with the Australian landmass was made in the early months of 1606 when the Dutch ship the Duyfken sailed along the western fringe of Cape York Peninsula. Ten years later, Dirck Hartog explored Shark Bay. With the establishment of the Dutch East India Company's headquarters at Batavia in 1619, Dutch contact with the coastline increased. By the end of the seventeenth century, the general outlines of the northern, southern and western coast had been determined. The interior remained unknown. The conviction that Australia existed pre-dated its discovery by at least 2,000 years for this was the legendary Great South Land, the Terra Australis Incognita, of the classical cosmographers. The Greeks, with whom this conviction originated, believed that this southern continent was at least equal in quality, if not superior, to the most favoured areas of the known world; that it was, in fact, an 'antipodean paradise'. This myth of a 'paradise' was one of the most enduring illusions of European geographic thought and explains much of the character of Australia's pre-settlement history. Even though James Cook's major voyage of 1768-1771 delimited the extent of the continent, showing it to be much smaller than imagined, the several accounts of that expedition were unable to eradicate the belief that the southern lands were superior to their northern counterparts. The 'South Seas' continued to be praised as the home of the 'noble savage', and visionaries could still forecast a bright future for eastern Australia, although it had been converted to a gigantic penal colony in 1788. As late as 1829, it was believed that Western Australia, particularly the Swan River area, was one of the most desirable~ unoccupied parts of the globe. The equating of Western Australia with an 'antipodean paradise' must, at first sight, appear para doxical and contrary to all that was known of the area prior to its settlement. Since the first contacts by the Dutch in 1616, its coastlines had earned an unenviable, but well deserved, reputation for their barrenness and the dangers they posed to shipping. High cliffs alternated with low, sandy dunes and were flanked by a string of offshore islands and fringing reefs which made all approaches difficult and dangerous. Rivers were small, un-navigable and frequently had bar mouths. Vegetation was stunted, sparse, dull green in colour, and as unattractive as it was unfamiliar. The inhabitants, although rarely seen, appeared to be barbarous and extremely hostile. The appearance of these coastlines gave no indication tl).at they bordered a superior landmass. They were more to be feared than praised. The Dutch made extensive examinations extending over a period of more than 100 years. They found nothing of value. Vlamingh even explored Swan River,