Rottnest Island, often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a 19-square-kilometre (7.3 sq mi) island off the coast of Western Australia, located 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class reserve, the highest level of protection afforded to public land.
The human history of Western Australia commenced "over 50,000 years ago and possibly as much as 70,000 years ago" with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the continent.
Admiral Sir James Stirling was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia. In 1854, when Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station, Stirling on his own initiative signed Britain's first Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty. Throughout his career Stirling showed considerable diplomatic skill and was selected for a number of sensitive missions. Paradoxically, this was not reflected in his personal dealings with officialdom and his hopes for preferment received many rebuffs. Stirling also personally led the attack in Western Australia on a group of approximately seventy Bindjareb men, women and children now known as the Pinjarra massacre.
Admiral Sir Charles Howe Fremantle GCB was a British Royal Navy officer. The city of Fremantle, Western Australia, is named after him.
John Septimus Roe was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in the Pinjarra massacre on 28 October 1834.
Thomas Peel organised and led a consortium of the first British settlers to Western Australia. He was a leader of the colonial militia that participated in Pinjarra massacre in 1834, which saw 70-80 of the Aboriginal Binjareb people killed. He was a second cousin of two-times British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel.
Parmelia was a barque built in Quebec, Canada, in 1825. Originally registered on 31 May in Quebec, she sailed to Great Britain and assumed British registry. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), in 1827–1828. In 1829 she transported the first civilian officials and settlers of the Swan River Colony to Western Australia. She then made two voyages transporting convicts to New South Wales, Australia. A fire damaged her irreparably in May 1839.
The Swan River Colony, established in June 1829, was the only British colony in Australia established on the basis of land grants to settlers. Under the conditions stipulated by the Colonial Office, settlers would be granted land in proportion to the value of assets and labour that they brought to the colony. To ensure "productive" use of land, settlers were not given full title to their grants until they had been sufficiently "improved". The system of land grants continued until 1832, after which crown land was disposed of by sale at auction.
Success Bank is a sandbank to the north of Cockburn Sound, off Fremantle, Western Australia within the limits of the Fremantle Outer Harbour.
The Vergulde Draeck, also spelled Vergulde Draak and Vergulde Draek, was a 41.8-metre (137 ft), 260-tonne (290-ton) ship constructed in 1653 by the Dutch East India Company. The ship was lost off the coast of western Australia in 1656, with a minority of its crew reaching shore, and only seven subsequently reaching civilization.
Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539.
Captain Mark John Currie RN played a significant role in the exploration of Australia and the foundation of the Swan River Colony, later named Western Australia.
James Drummond was an Australian botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.
Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. It was established by Britain as the Swan River Colony in 1829. The area had been explored by Europeans as early as 1697, and occupied by the Indigenous Whadjuk Noongar people for millennia.
Dr Alexander Collie was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who journeyed to Western Australia in 1829, where he was an explorer and Colonial Surgeon.
The Murray River is a river in the southwest of Western Australia. It played a significant part in the expansion of settlement in the area south of Perth after the arrival of British settlers at the Swan River Colony in 1829. It should not be confused with the Murray River in southeastern Australia, which is the longest river in the country.
Western Australia Day or simply WA Day is a public holiday in Western Australia (WA), celebrated on the first Monday in June each year, to commemorate the founding of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Because of the date of the Western Australia Day public holiday, Western Australia does not have the King's Official Birthday public holiday in June, as do most of the other Australian states; it is held in September or October instead.
This is a timeline of Aboriginal history of Western Australia.
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval visits, and operates 24 hours a day. It is located adjacent to the city of Fremantle, in the Perth metropolitan region.
The coastline of the Albany area was observed by Europeans for the first time in 1627 by the Dutchman François Thijssen, captain of the ship 't Gulden Zeepaert, who sailed to the east as far as Ceduna in South Australia and back. Captain Thijssen had discovered the south coast of Australia and charted about 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) of it between Cape Leeuwin and the Nuyts Archipelago.
