Centenary of Western Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

In 1929, Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

celebrated the centenary of the founding of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

and the establishment of the Swan River Colony

Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...

, the first permanent European settlement. A variety of events were run in Perth, regional areas throughout the state, and even across Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

such as the Western Australian Centenary Air Race

Western Australian Centenary Air Race

The Western Australian Centenary Air Race was a air race held in 1929 from Sydney to Perth to commemorate the Western Australia Centenary....

Preparations

In 1926, the 25th anniversary of federation

Federation of Australia

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...

passed without much recognition, due in part to the sense of isolation that help to form Western Australia's identity. There was limited acknowledgement from the other states of the unique circumstances of Western Australia's situation, due to what historian Geoffrey Blainey

Geoffrey Blainey

Geoffrey Norman Blainey AC , is a prominent Australian historian.Blainey was born in Melbourne and raised in a series of Victorian country towns before attending Wesley College and the University of Melbourne. While at university he was editor of Farrago, the newspaper of the University of...

described as "the tyranny of distance". It was this isolation that helped focus the community on celebrating its centenary; later, it would also be the catalyst for a growing secessionist movement

Secessionism in Western Australia

Secessionism has been a recurring feature of Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after European settlement in 1829. The idea of self governance or secession has often been discussed through local newspaper articles and editorials and on a number of occasions has surfaced as very...

In 1927, the premier

Premier of Western Australia

The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...

, Phillip Collier, asked Hal Colebatch

Hal Colebatch

Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch CMG , better known as Sir Hal Colebatch, was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics...

to write a history of the state, and in 1929 A Story of a hundred years : Western Australia, 1829-1929 was published.

A celebration committee began preparations in 1928, and in 1929 produced a number of publications including calendars of events. As 1929 approached, most towns formed their own committees and organised events, these ranged from special race meetings

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

to regional shows, formal dinners, dances and sporting events. Additionally some towns and community organisations also renamed existing local features like parks and buildings, while others set aside an area for a monument which was then unveiled in the presents of dignitaries including the Governor, Premier and descendants of the early settlers.

Celebrations

Many locations in Western Australia had buildings or locations that became known as Centenary memorials; for example the Claremont Showgrounds

Claremont Showgrounds

The Claremont Showgrounds were built in 1905 in the Perth suburb of Claremont. The Showgrounds are home to the annual Perth Royal Show. They were also the original home of Claremont-Cottesloe in its first year in the WAFL before moving to Claremont Oval....

has a Centenary Pavilion that still stands, and Northam

Northam, Western Australia

Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...

had a Centenary Hill.

Avenues of trees were planted in Kings Park

Kings Park, Western Australia

Kings Park is a park located on the western edge of Perth, Western Australia central business district. The park is a mixture of grassed parkland, botanical gardens and natural bushland on Mount Eliza with two thirds of the grounds conserved as native bushland. With panoramic views of the Swan...

in commemoration of the event as well as honouring people involved in the celebrations.

Perth

The main Centenary procession (1929 Centenary Parade) involved considerable preparation of floats representing commercial and regional attributes of the state. It passed through the streets of Perth in the later part of the year as well as the Centenary Ball and celebrations at the Perth Oval
The Governor Sir William Campion

William Campion

Colonel Sir William Robert Campion KCMG, DSO, TD, DL was a British politician and Governor of Western Australia from 1924 to 1931....

presided at the placement of a plaque in the wall of the Perth Town Hall

Perth Town Hall

The Perth Town Hall, situated on the corner of Hay and Barrack streets, is the only convict-built town hall in Australia.Designed by Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning in the Victorian Free Gothic style, the hall was built by convicts and free men between 1868 and 1870...

that recorded the centenary celebrations in August.

In September, 1929, a choir of 1,000 voices sang at a Children's Thanksgiving Mass in Victoria Square, and also in a Centenary concert in His Majesty's Theatre.

On 24 November 1929, the Kings Park

Kings Park, Western Australia

War Memorial Cenotaph was unveiled by the Governor Wiliiam Campion to commemorate the fallen of World War One.

Fremantle

One of the events organised was a re-enactment of the 1829 arrival of settlers at Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

, attended by Campion.

Prisoner remissions

In October, the Premier, Phillip Collier announced that prisoner sentences of more than one month would be reduced at the rate of two days for each month of sentence remaining, after allowing for good conduct. Prisoners serving sentences during His Majesty's pleasure were excluded from the remissions.

Proximity to Depression

Western Australian historian Geoffrey Bolton

Geoffrey Bolton

Geoffrey Curgenven Bolton AO is an Australian historian born on 5 November 1931 in North Perth , Western Australia. He attended Wesley College, Perth from 1943 to 1947. He has been publishing works on Australian history since 1952, and has authored 13 books, most recently Land of Vision and Mirage:...

ties in the events and the subsequent difficult times due to the economic depression

Great Depression in Australia

Australia suffered badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and...

in his book A Fine Country to Starve in (1972). While more recently Annette Davis looked at the popular entertainment values of the era

Later celebrations

The subsequent major celebration was the sesquicentennial milestone in 1979 which was known as WAY '79. The 175th anniversary conducted in 2004 resulted in significant icons being identified but the celebrations of the event were of less impact upon the community at large compared to the 100th and 150th.

Historical Society Plaques

The Royal Western Australian Historical Society

Royal Western Australian Historical Society

Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia...

commissioned plaques which were ceremonially placed upon locations of significance to Western Australia. Locations included:

The Round House
Round House
The Round House is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia. It is located at Arthur Head in Fremantle, and recent heritage assessments and appraisals of the precinct of the Round House incorporate Arthur Head....

oldest still standing building in WA,
All Saints Church, Henley Brook
All Saints Church, Henley Brook
The All Saints Church in Henley Brook is the oldest church in Western Australia. It was built by Richard Edwards between 1838 and 1840 with the first service taking place on 10 January 1841. The site is on a small hill overlooking the Swan River and near the conjunction of the Swan and Ellen Brook...

at the camp site of Stirlings furthest up stream exploration in 1827.
Chippers Leap
Chippers Leap
Chippers Leap, formerly known as Chipper's Leap, is a granite outcrop on Greenmount Hill in Perth, Western Australia. It is located at 31º54'S 116º04'E, on the northern side of Great Eastern Highway, near the border between the suburbs of Swan View and Greenmount.Chippers Leap is named for John...