Early Life in the Swan River Colony

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Early Life in the Swan River Colony
Hello children, I am here to tell you about how
this state was settled.
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Between 1616 and 1829, several English and French
ships visited the west coast.
These ships did not usually stay for long but all
the explorers who had visited the coast wrote of

• the amazing variety of plants

• the huge size of some of the trees

• the large number of fish, birds and seals.

There was a lot of interest in Europe for this
new land.
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Before this time, the only inhabitants of this
area was an Aboriginal group known as Noongars.
They

• had a close relationship with the land

• were skilled hunters and gatherers

• knew which plants they could eat and which were
  poisonous

• used plants for medicine

• moved around the area following food and water

• never stayed in the one place too long

• had friendly contact with the first explorers

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In 1827, an explorer named Captain James Stirling
made a voyage from Sydney to the south west coast
of Australia.
He explored the Swan River as far as it was
possible to go with his boats.
During this journey he met with a group of
Noongar people near the mount of wallabies.
This is now called Kings Park.
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Captain James Stirling sailed back to England.
He was very excited about what he had seen and
wanted to start a new colony at the Swan River.
He convinced the British Government to allow him
to take settlers across the oceans to begin the
Swan River Colony.
The journey aboard the sailing ships was long and
the passengers were cramped.
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After 4 months at sea, Governor James Stirling
and his brave new settlers arrived off Garden
Island. It was 1829.
The settlers had brought all sorts of items with
them

• furniture
• food
• clothing
• farm equipment
• animals such as cows, sheep, horses, cats and
  dogs

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In the next few months, lots of other settlers
arrived. People in England were excited about
starting a new life in this colony.
However, life was proving to be very hard in that
first year

• It was taking a long time to divide up the land
  so that settlers could start their farms

• They had to camp on the beach. They cut down
  trees to make shelters to keep them out of the
  hot sun

• Some of the animals died because they ate
  poisonous plants

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In February 1830, the Hardey family arrived
aboard the brig Tranby. They were soon
allocated land along the Swan River in Maylands.
They built several homes that were destroyed by
flood waters. The last house still remains today.
This is where your work begins. Put your
knuckles to the grindstone and find out all you
can about this wonderful house and the Hardey
family who built it. Close this Presentation
and return to Task 1.