The Lynton Convict Hiring Depot (1853–1857) was the first convict depot north of Fremantle, Western Australia. It was established on 22 May 1853 with the arrival of the 173 ton brigantine Leander, which transferred 60 ticket-of-leave convicts and Pensioner Guards that had arrived at Fremantle on the Pyrenees on 1 May. It was established to supply labour to the Geraldine Lead Mine, 64 kilometres north of the site on the Murchison River, and to local settlers. The depot was closed by order of Governor Kennedy on 3 January 1857 due to the high cost to the government of its maintenance.
The Newcastle Gaol Museum is a prison museum on Clinton Street in Toodyay, Western Australia, founded in 1962. The museum records the history of the serial escapee Moondyne Joe and his imprisonment in the "native cell".
The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en route to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants of land on arrival. Their initial employment lasted for six months, or the duration of the voyage, whichever was the longer time. After this they became "pensioners" and had to serve 12 days per year as well as whenever called upon. They paraded annually in Perth at the Pensioner Barracks. Part of their purpose was to fulfil a promise by the British government to send free settlers to the colony to dilute the convicts, and to maintain law and order in the colony.
Hackett's (Pensioner) Cottage is located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia and was built around 1855 by convict labour.
Toodyay Manor on Stirling Terrace was originally the Newcastle Hotel in Toodyay, Western Australia.
James Martin's cottage is located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia.
Stirling Terrace is the main street of Toodyay, Western Australia, originally called New Road until 1905.
The former Toodyay Court House in Toodyay, Western Australia has been used as municipal offices for Toodyay since the 1950s.
West Toodyay was the original location of the town of Toodyay, Western Australia. It is situated in the Toodyay valley, 85 kilometres (53 mi) north east of Perth. The Toodyay valley, discovered by Ensign Robert Dale in 1831, was opened up for settlement in 1836. The original site for the town of Toodyay was determined in 1836 and its boundaries were finalized 1838. The first survey of the town was carried out in 1849. After several serious floods, the decision was made to move the town of Toodyay to higher ground. In 1860, the new town of Newcastle was established 3 miles (4.8 km) further upstream. Newcastle was renamed in 1910 to Toodyay, and the original site became known as West Toodyay.
Canon Raffaele Martelli was Toodyay's first Catholic priest. He was a scholarly and gentle man who was much loved by settlers of all faiths. Martelli did not keep a diary, but his personality and humour shines through his regular correspondence with his friend Bishop Rosendo Salvado of New Norcia. His letters from Toodyay reveal the day-to-day travails of a priest who started out with no house or church. He had to rely on the goodwill of his parishioners for a roof over his head and food on the table, while a pair of woollen winter socks from Salvado brought him untold joy.
William Amed Demasson, a carpenter and wheelwright by trade, was one of Toodyay's citizens who made a substantial contribution to the civic life of the town. Among the many organizations that he belonged to, he is particularly associated with the formation of a branch of the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in Toodyay, or Newcastle, as it was known at the time.
Owen Hackett (1809–1862) was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) that came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868. Their role was to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
Francis Kirk was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) who came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
John Acton Wroth (1830–1876) was a convict transportee to the Swan River Colony, and later a clerk and storekeeper in Toodyay, Western Australia. He kept a personal diary that recorded life on board the transport ship and his experiences at the country hiring depots of York and Toodyay. This diary is lodged in the archives of the State Library.
David Gailey (1807–1881) was one of a number of Enrolled Pensioner Guards (EPGs) who came to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868. Their role was to guard and oversee the work of the prisoners transported to Western Australia.
In 1851, the Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot was set up in the original township of Toodyay, now called West Toodyay. Temporary accommodation for the Enrolled Pensioner Guards was also constructed and surveys were carried out to enable more permanent accommodation to be built close by. The Enrolled Pensioner Guards were men who had either completed their duty of service or who had sustained injury while on active service. They had then volunteered as guards on the ships transporting convicts to Western Australia. Once the men were released from permanent duty, other duties of a peace keeping or military nature were expected of them. Many of these men became warders in charge of convicts.
Toodyay Gaol stood on lot R66, close to the first Convict Hiring Depot, in the original townsite of Toodyay, now known as West Toodyay, in Western Australia. Although generally referred to as a gaol, it was technically a lock-up, holding prisoners only until they were brought before the resident magistrate.
The Church of Sancta Maria was the first Catholic church built in the original townsite of Toodyay in Western Australia. It was consecrated in 1859, and served as church, priest's residence, and schoolhouse for the Toodyay Valley Catholic School. It later housed the Toodyay Valley government school.
Construction of the new Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot began in February 1852 and was completed by 1856. The depot was closed in 1872. The site chosen, Avon Location 110, was an area of Crown land measuring just over 45 acres (18 ha). It was situated approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream from the site of the previous Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot (1851) located at the Toodyay townsite. The previous depot had only ever been a temporary arrangement born of necessity when accommodation was required at short notice. The new depot site was surveyed by Francis Thomas Gregory in 1852.
The Pensioner Guard Cottage is a historic building in the Perth suburb of Bassendean, Western Australia. It is the oldest building in Bassendean, built between 1855 and 1857 by ticket of leave convicts staying at the Guildford convict depot. It was built with a group of three other similar cottages in Bassendean whose purpose was to house Pensioner Guards. In 1893, a house was built adjacent to the cottage. The other three cottages were demolished during the first half of the 20th century, and the house was significantly expanded in 1952.
