In 1929, Western Australia (WA) celebrated the centenary of the founding of Perth and the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent European settlement in WA. A variety of events were run in Perth, regional areas throughout the state, and even across Australia such as the Western Australian Centenary Air Race. [1]
In 1926, the 25th anniversary of federation passed without much recognition, due in part to the sense of isolation that help to form Western Australia's identity. There was limited acknowledgement from the other states of the unique circumstances of Western Australia's situation, due to what historian Geoffrey Blainey described as "the tyranny of distance". It was this isolation that helped focus the community on celebrating its centenary; later, it would also be the catalyst for a growing secessionist movement. [2] [3]
In 1927, the premier, Philip Collier, asked Hal Colebatch to write a history of the state, and in 1929 A Story of a hundred years : Western Australia, 1829–1929 was published. [4]
A celebration committee began preparations in 1928, and in 1929 produced a number of publications including calendars of events. [5] As 1929 approached, most towns formed their own committees and organised events, these ranged from special race meetings to regional shows, formal dinners, dances and sporting events. Additionally some towns and community organisations also renamed existing local features like parks and buildings, while others set aside an area for a monument which was then unveiled in the presence of dignitaries including the Governor, Premier and descendants of the early settlers.
In April 1929 there was a demonstration held in Perth of fire brigades from around the country. [6]
In June 1929 there was the Australian national general Methodist conference. [7] [8]
In July 1929 there were interstate football games held in Perth. [9]
Many locations in Western Australia had buildings or locations that became known as Centenary memorials; for example the Municipality of Fremantle built a Centenary Building, the Claremont Showground has a Centenary Pavilion [10] that still stands, and Northam had a Centenary Hill.
Avenues of trees were planted in Kings Park in commemoration of the event as well as honouring people involved in the celebrations.
The Perth Branch of the Royal Mint produced a commemorative medal. [11] Most of the 85,000 medals struck were bronze, and the majority were given to Western Australian school children. 900 silver medals were also made, as were 3 gold medals. [12]
The Governor Sir William Campion presided at the placement of a plaque in the wall of the Perth Town Hall on Barrack Street that recorded the centenary celebrations in August.
The Centenary Celebration Period was designated as 28 September 1929 – 12 October 1929.
Despite a range of events involving various national bodies in the year, the specific main event was the 1929 Centenary Parade, which was held on Wednesday 2 October (which had been made a public holiday) and known as the Historic and Industrial Procession, passing through Perth.
Wednesday 2 October 1929 was a public holiday in Perth.
The main Centenary procession (1929 Centenary Parade) involved considerable preparation of floats representing commercial and regional attributes of the state. [13] [14] It passed through the streets of Perth.
The Centenary Ball and celebrations at the Perth Oval were also held. [15]
The afternoon at Perth Oval on the same day was the site of a Naval and Military Tournament.
In September, 1929, a choir of 1,000 voices sang at a Children's Thanksgiving Mass in Victoria Square, and also in a Centenary concert in His Majesty's Theatre. [16]
On 24 November 1929, the Kings Park War Memorial Cenotaph was unveiled by the Governor William Campion to commemorate the fallen of World War I. [17]
One of the events organised was a re-enactment of the 1829 arrival of settlers at Fremantle, [18] attended by Campion.
In October, the Premier, Philip Collier announced that prisoner sentences of more than one month would be reduced at the rate of two days for each month of sentence remaining, after allowing for good conduct. Prisoners serving sentences during His Majesty's pleasure were excluded from the remissions.
Western Australian historian Geoffrey Bolton ties in the events and the subsequent difficult times due to the economic depression in his book A Fine Country to Starve in (1972). [19] While more recently Annette Davis looked at the popular entertainment values of the era. [20]
A significant amount of the organisation of the celebrations was attributed to the librarian James Sykes Battye, whose efforts in organising committees were noted in the celebration year. [21]
The Royal Western Australian Historical Society commissioned plaques that were ceremonially placed upon locations of significance to Western Australia. Locations included:
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Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch was a long-serving figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the twelfth Premier of Western Australia for a month in 1919, agent-general in London for five years, and a senator for four years. He was known for supporting free trade, federalism and Western Australian secessionism, and for opposing communism, socialism and fascism. Born in England, his family migrated to South Australia when Colebatch was four years old. He left school aged 11 and worked for several newspapers in South Australia before moving to Broken Hill in New South Wales in 1888 to work as a reporter for the Silver Age. In 1894, he moved to the Western Australian Goldfields following the gold rush there, working for the Golden Age in Coolgardie and the Kalgoorlie Miner in Kalgoorlie. Two years later, he moved to Perth to join the Morning Herald, but after that newspaper collapsed, he moved to Northam where he started The Northam Advertiser. He also became friends with local bank manager James Mitchell and convinced Mitchell to run for state parliament. Colebatch was the mayor of Northam between 1909 and 1912.
Edith Dircksey Cowan was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. Cowan has been featured on the reverse of Australia's 50-dollar note since 1995.
The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held in Perth, Western Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. It was held after the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for wheelchair athletes.
Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party.
The State Library of Western Australia is a research, education, reference and public lending library located in the Perth Cultural Centre in Perth, Western Australia. It is a portfolio agency of the Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts, and facilitated by the Library Board of Western Australia.
Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia.
The convict era of Western Australia was the period during which Western Australia was a penal colony of the British Empire. Although it received small numbers of juvenile offenders from 1842, it was not formally constituted as a penal colony until 1849. Between 1850 and 1868, 9,721 convicts were transported to Western Australia on 43 convict ship voyages. Transportation ceased in 1868, but it was many years until the colony ceased to have any convicts in its care.
Blackboy Hill was named after the Australian native "black boy" plants, Xanthorrhoea preissii, which dominated the site which is now absorbed into Greenmount, Western Australia.
WAY 79, also referred to as WAY '79 and WAY 1979, was the official 1979 sesquicentennial celebration of the European colonisation of Western Australia.
The Foundation of Perth 1829 is a 1929 oil-on-canvas painting by George Pitt Morison. It depicts a reconstruction of the ceremony by which the town of Perth, Western Australia was founded on 12 August 1829. Morison painted the work as part of Western Australia's centenary celebrations, and presented it to the Art Gallery of Western Australia in February 1929.
The following lists events that happened during 1829 in Australia.
The Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) is a yacht club in Perth, Western Australia. It is the third oldest yacht club in Australia after the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. It is based at the Crawley Marina on Pelican Point and at the Fremantle Annexe in Challenger Harbour.
James Sykes Battye (1871–1954) was an Australian librarian who was the first chief librarian of the Victoria Public Library in Perth, Western Australia. He was a leading historian, librarian and public figure in Western Australian and also served as a Chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
The All Saints Church in Henley Brook is the oldest church in Western Australia. It was built by Richard Edwards between 1838 and 1840, with the first service taking place on 10 January 1841. The site is on a small hill overlooking the Swan River and near the conjunction of the Swan and Ellen Brook. This site was where Captain James Stirling camped during his 1827 exploration of the area.
The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries of the Government of Western Australia. The current gallery main building opened in 1979. It is linked to the old court house – The Centenary Galleries.
A number of members of the Leake family were prominent and notable individuals in the Swan River Colony and the history of Perth, Western Australia – and the History of Western Australia.
The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) is the Western Australian government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The SRO also delivers best-practice records management services to state and local government agencies.
The Western Mail, or Western Mail, was the name of two weekly newspapers published in Perth, Western Australia.
Horace Clive Miller OBE was a pioneering Australian aviator and co-founder of MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA).
Mounts Bay Road is a major road in Perth, Western Australia, extending southwest from the central business district along the north bank of the Swan River, at the base of Kings Park.
