Western Australia History

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Australia

Western Australia

History

Online Resources

• The Royal Western Australian Historical Society Inc.
• Family History Western Australia Western Australia History

Online Books

• Wikisource: W. B. Kimberly, History of West Australia
• Gutenberg.au: J. S. Battye, Western Australia : a History From its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth

Brief History

• The origins of the present state began with the establishment of a convict-supported settlement from New South Wales at King George III Sound. The settlement was founded in response to British concerns about the possibility of a French colony being established on the coast of Western Australia.[7] On 7 March 1831 it was transferred to the control of the Swan River Colony, and named Albany in 1832.
• In 1829, the Swan River Colony was established on the Swan River. By 1832, the British settler population of the colony had reached around 1,500, and the official name of the colony was changed to Western Australia on 6 February that year.
• The two separate townsites of the colony developed slowly into the port city of Fremantle and the state's capital, Perth. York was the first inland settlement in Western Australia. York was the staging point for early explorers who discovered the rich gold reserves of Kalgoorlie.
• Population growth was very slow until significant discoveries of gold were made in the 1890s around Kalgoorlie.