Fremantle, Western Australia

Is a port city in Western Australia, located 19 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Perth, the state capital, at the mouth of the Swan River on Australia’s western coast. It was the first settlement of the Swan River colonists in 1829. It was declared a city in 1929, & has a population of approximately 26,000.

The city is named after Captain Charles Fremantle, the English naval officer who had pronounced possession of Western Australia & who established a camp at the site. The city contains well-preserved 19th-century buildings & other heritage features. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is “Freo”.

History

On 25 April 1829, the ship HMS Challenger under the guidance of Captain Fremantle had arrived in the waters off the Fremantle coast to make preparations for the Swan River Colony.

On 2 May 1829, Captain Fremantle formally took possession on behalf of King George IV of the entire west coast of New Holland in a ceremony conducted near the south head of the Swan River. A few days later a camp was set up in a bay south of the head, & Fremantle has been occupied ever since.

Captain Fremantle left the colony on 25 August after providing much assistance to Stirling in setting up the colony. It was then that Stirling decided to name the port settlement ‘Fremantle’.

A month later, on 1 June, Captain James Stirling on the Parmelia arrived to officially set up the Swan River Colony. The settlement of Perth began on 12 August 1829.

In 1897, Irish-born engineer C. Y. O’Connor deepened Fremantle harbour & removed the limestone bar & sand shoals across the way in to the Swan River, thus rendering Fremantle a serviceable port for commercial shipping. Fremantle still serves as the chief general seaport for Western Australia, though far greater tonnages are exported from the iron-ore ports of the Pilbara.

Fremantle has seen lots of industrial conflicts, the most famous of which occurred in 1919 when rioting broke out during “the lumpers’ strike”, resulting in four death & lots of injuries.

During World War II, Fremantle was the second largest base for Allied submarines operating in the Pacific theater. There were up to 125 US, 31 British & 11 Free Dutch submarines operating out of Fremantle, until the Americans moved forward to the Philippines. The movements & presence of USS Sturgeon (SS-187) is a nice example of such activity.

Politics

The local government of the City of Fremantle consists of a mayor & council. Brad Pettitt has been the mayor since the 2009 local government elections.

The Fremantle state chair was continuously held by the Australian Labor Party from 1924 until 2009, when it was lost at a by-election to Greens candidate Adele Carles. The federal electorate has returned Labor members continuously since 1934, including former Prime Minister John Curtin, & is currently represented by Melissa Parke.

Fremantle has been represented by some significant Australian political figures. John Curtin served as Prime Minister of Australia during World War II, & is often described as one of the nation’s greatest political leaders. The state’s largest university & a major secondary school in Fremantle are named for him, & his statue stands in Kings Square near the Fremantle Town Hall. A long-serving mayor of the town, Sir Frank Gibson (1919-1923 & 1926-1952), was & a Liberal parliamentarian from 1942 to 1956. Gibson, a pharmacist with a shop in High Street, was admired by all sides of politics for his civic leadership & indefatigable work for the city, during World War II, when they is said to have visited every ship that called at the port. They was a leading figure in plenty of civic organisations & his stepson, Dr Roger Dunkley, was medical officer with the 2nd/2nd Independent Company during the Timor campaign in World War II. Carmen Lawrence, the first female premier of an Australian state, later represented Fremantle in the federal House of Representatives.

Heritage buildings

The Round House, the oldest remaining building in Western Australia, was built as a gaol between 1830 – 1831. The Round House had four cells & a gaoler’s residence, which all opened up in to a central courtyard. In the 1800s, bay whaling was carried out from Bathers Beach below the Round House. As part of the whaling operations, a tunnel was constructed under the Round House to provide whalers with access to the town from the jetty & beach.

Fremantle’s modern maritime museum is located at the harbour’s mouth. The city is renowned for its well-preserved architectural heritage, including convict-built colonial-era buildings, an elderly jetty & port, & prisons; presenting a variety & unity of historic buildings & streetscapes. These were often built in limestone with ornate facades in a succession of architectural styles. Quick development following the harbour works gave rise to an Edwardian precinct as merchant & shipping companies built in the west finish & on reclaimed land.

The Round House is located in what is now known as Fremantle’s West Finish: a collection of streets characterised by late Georgian & Victorian-style architecture at the tip of the southern finish of the port. A method of gentrification in the early 1990s was accelerated by the establishment of the University of Notre Dame Australia, which occupies, & has restored, plenty of of the buildings in the West Finish.

When the first 75 convicts arrived from Britain in 1850 to support the colony’s dwindling population, it became apparent that the Round House was inadequate to house them. The convicts built a new gaol, which was done in the 1850s & continued to be used as Fremantle’s prison until 1991. Fremantle Prison was once one of the most notorious prisons in the British Empire. It housed British convicts, local prisoners, military prisoners, enemy aliens & prisoners of war. It is now one of the state’s heritage sites. Fremantle Prison was featured on an episode of The Brilliant Race in 2006. It continues to be available by the public for inspection tours & as a venue for artistic & cultural activities.

The majestic Fremantle History Museum is another building constructed in the 1860s by convicts from indigenous limestone: it is a former Victorian lunatic asylum building on Ord Street, & is one of Fremantle’s most significant landmarks. This building was the land base of the U.S. Navy during WWII. It now also houses the Fremantle Arts Centre & the Immigration Museum, which aims to preserve the history & stories of all immigrants who arrived in Western Australia.

The Fremantle Markets opened in 1897, forming a precinct providing handicrafts, specialty foods, dining halls & fish & vegetable markets. The area also hosts buskers & other street performers. The then premier, Sir John Forrest, laid the foundation stone for the markets on Saturday 6 November 1897. Over 150 stalls are housed in the Victorian-era building, which was listed by the National Trust of Australia & the state’s Heritage Council in 1980. The adjacent Sail & Anchor Hotel is a historic building which contains a microbrewery. The brewery ceased operation in March 2010, but the pub still operates.

The National Hotel, one of the city’s historic buildings, was destroyed by fire on the night of Sunday, March 11, 2007, Though the interior was gutted, the historic facade was saved & its new owners are working to stabilise the building & restore it so the hotel can operate once more.

The National Trust has designated the grave of former AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott a national heritage site, in recognition of the thousands of rock music fans who visit it each year.

Demographics

For a city of small size, Fremantle is very diverse. Only 64% of the population was born in Australia. The largest overseas-born population groups come from the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Ireland and France. There’s also sizeable Portuguese(Madeiran) and Croatian communities.

Fremantle has a broadly mixed-class of professions yet high unemployment (10.2%), a multi ethnic population, and an above-average proportion of rented dwellings (43%) of which a larger-than-average proportion is owned by Homeswest (40.1%). Fremantle has supported the Australian Labor Party at both Federal and state elections.

Some 57% of the population is Christian, largely Roman Catholic and Anglican.

On Census Night 4,485 persons in Fremantle (State Suburb) stated they were born in Australia. Other popular responses within Fremantle (State Suburb) were 760 born in England, 325 born in France, 210 born in New Zealand, 118 born in Scotland and 69 born in Portugal.

Leisure and Recreation

The city has an operational fishing boat harbour which contain markets & restaurants, developed as a tourist precinct. Fishing charter boats also operate from this harbour.

Fremantle offers a wide variety of cuisine, with a strong emphasis on French

& Asian cuisine & a quantity of seafood restaurants. Various cafes & coffee shops are situated around Fremantle, on its famous ‘Cappuccino Strip’ – a section of South Terrace given over to alfresco dining since 1977.

Fremantle is a popular place for its nightlife, second only to Northbridge in Perth’s CBD. It attracts people from all over the metropolitan region for its pubs, bars & nightclubs.

Fremantle is home to beaches such as Bathers Beach, South Beach & Port Beach. Leighton Beach is a short distance north, while Cottesloe Beach is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north.

The city has a huge arts community, with a quantity of small art galleries & musical venues as well as a community theater company, Harbour Theater Inc., which has been performing in the city since 1963. There is also the J Shed situated on Baths Beach. J Shed houses one artists studios.

Music

Fremantle boasts a vibrant live music scene with many local performers and venues. Popular live music venues include Mojo’s, Clancy’s Fish Pub and The Fly By Night Club, all of them hosting a range of local and touring performers. Bon Scott, the lead singer of Australian rock band AC/DC lived in Fremantle as a boy. After his death in 1980 his ashes were interred in Fremantle Cemetery. His grave site has become a cultural landmark. In 2009, a statue of Scott was erected in the fishing boat harbour. The statue was created by local Fremantle Sculptor Greg James.^[17]

Singer, songwriter and guitarist John Butler (the frontman of the John Butler Trio), a very popular artist in Australia, lived in Fremantle during his teenage years, and he started his musical career busking in the city streets. Australian rockers Eskimo Joe and former Australian Idol finalist Cosima DeVito are also based in Fremantle.

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