The Birth of Perth

In 1829, Captain James Stirling founded Perth as part of the Swan River Colony. Stirling thought the natural environment around Perth was “as beautiful as anything of this kind I had ever witnessed” and advocated that a colony be established there. The British Government agreed to found the colony as the first free settlement in Australia, and settlers began to arrive in Western Australia in June 1829.

To discover more of the fascinating story of the first years of the Swan River Colony, you can download ‘Settlement of the Swan’ by local historian, Ruth Marchant James. This article is reproduced by kind permission of the magazine Australian Heritage.

Click here to download ‘Settlement of the Swan’ [1.46 MB]