Life in the colony, 1830s – 1850s
The Swan River Colony was established in 1829, and in its first 21 years, its European population was mainly comprised of free settlers from the British Isles – contrasting with other British settlements such as New South Wales, which had been established chiefly as a penal colony. It was also home to many Aboriginal nations which had been settled in this territory for up to 75,000 years. These included the Noongar people from the southwest; the Yamatji people of the Midwest, Murchison and Gascoyne regions, and the Wankai people of the Goldfields and Nullabor region.
By 1839, it comprised a number of settlements outside of the main towns of Perth and Fremantle, and hosted growing fishing and whaling industries on the coast, alongside agriculture which involved the raising of sheep, cattle and crops; colonists had also established flour mills, breweries and boat building yards, plus shops, hotels and churches, a courthouse and a jail. However, the sheer size of the colony meant that towns were often far apart, making transport quite slow, and its population remained small – only 2000 people in the 1830s.
Under the leadership of first Governor James Stirling, millions of acres of land – often very large properties – had been granted to settlers, but much of it remained uncultivated, and this was a contrast with other colonies of Australia, where the land was considered to be ‘better quality’ and under cultivation. By 1843, the economy of the Swan River Colony – now under second Governor John Hutt – was in depression, causing a fall in both the price of goods and wages. As a result, the decision was made to introduce transportation, with encouragement from organisations such as the York Agricultural Society.
Arrival of convicts in the colony
The period of transportation to the Swan River Colony saw 9721 convicts – all male – arrive between June 1850 and January 1868. The first batch of 75 men arrived on 1 June 1850 on the Scindian, accompanied by 50 pensioner guards, 46 wives of these guards, and 78 of their children. The guards were often former soldiers – many had served in Ireland – and they were offered a gratuity of 10 pounds and 10 acres of land upon arrival. Many chose to be released from their service upon arrival, but they were often called upon to break up disturbances between convicts and free settlers.
As for the convicts, they were initially men serving relatively short sentences, meaning they could obtain a ticket of leave – giving them more freedoms – within a short period of time. This meant that they could marry, obtain land and property, and choose their employer. It also meant they could not be allocated to labour on public works without their consent. After the first 4 years, the latter provision encouraged free settlers to request that men on longer sentences be transported to the colony.
Initially, most convicts were accommodated at the Establishment in Fremantle, and at hiring depots in Mt Eliza and Guildford, where those most in demand were farm labourers, then stone masons and builders. However, after an unexpectedly large number arrived on the Pyrenees in August 1851, it was decided by Governor Charles Fitzgerald that additional depots should be built in Bunbury, York and Toodyay.
The demand for young women
Because transportation brought only male convicts to the Swan River Colony, it also introduced a new problem: a growing gender imbalance which required the arrival of women, preferably those who could marry both free settlers and the burgeoning population of ticket of leave men. Groups such as the Colonisation Assurance Society – established in the colony in 1850 – received much support in Britain, as it sought to encourage female migration through contact with the government there.
Initial overtures to workhouses and other institutions in England were received with little enthusiasm, but there was much more demand among Irish women, who wished to leave after the devastation wreaked on their communities by the Famine. The situation was seen as a win-win: as well as offering the girls a new life, their emigration would reduce pressure on local workhouses, and the Colony would receive a fresh infusion of female settlers. Young Irish women began to arrive in the early 1850s, although the first notable batches were those on the Travancore (in January 1853) and the Palestine (in April of the same year). They immediately attracted interest from employers, who hired them directly upon their arrival in Fremantle.
But they were also needed in rural areas, and in July 1853, Governor Fitzgerald suggested to the Resident Magistrate of Toodyay, J S Harris, that an Immigration Depot could be opened in that town to enable employers to hire Irish girls from there. The depot would receive 61 immigrants – 49 of them Irish girls – and while they were awaiting its construction, they would be accommodated in the straw huts previously inhabited by the Pensioner Guards, and the town barracks. These girls – who were often referred to as ‘Irish Needlewomen’ due to their training in fine needlework and lace-making, taught by nuns during the Famine years – were also in strong demand in Toodyay and surrounds, with almost every housewife in the district hiring an Irish girl. Many also married quickly to free settlers and ticket-of-leave men, sometimes put in charge of large houses, while others went out ‘bush’ with their shepherd husbands.
Relations with the Aboriginal communities
Relations between colonists and Aboriginal groups were often marked by conflict around the allocation of, and access to, resources, and this often led to violence. One example was the Pinjarra Massacre, when – in October 1834 – a detachment of soldiers, police and settlers led by Governor James Stirling attacked a group of Binjareb Noongar people, killing an uncertain number of men, women and children (estimates say between 15 and 80 people). These tensions also seeped into the politics of the colony, for example when Governor John Hutt (who replaced Stirling) attracted the ire of settlers by suggesting that Aboriginal people should not be tried under white man’s law.