Tranby House - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Tranby is an historic farmers cottage located on Johnson Road, in Maylands, Western Australia

Maylands, Western Australia

Maylands is a suburb located approximately northeast of Perth centred on the Midland railway line and located on the northern bank of the Swan River....

overlooking the Swan River

Swan River (Western Australia)

The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....

, and is one of the oldest surviving buildings from the early settlement 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,...

. It is described as an English cottage-style farmhouse with loft bedrooms and wide verandahs and is associated with a group of devout Wesleyan

Wesleyanism

Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...

Methodists

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

, led by Joseph Hardey and other members of his family who arrived in 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...

on the ship Tranby in February 1830.

The Tranby was a 26 metre long, 8 metre wide ship which left from the city of Hull

Kingston upon Hull

Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...

in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

in September 1829 and was captained by a John Story. 370 passengers were on board as well as various livestock, farm equipment and building materials.

Joseph Hardey was a Wesleyan preacher from Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

. He arrived with his wife Ann, his brother John and a large group which included a surgeon, preacher, bricklayer, blacksmith, shoemaker, surveyor, hatter, midshipman and several farmers. They were given an initial grant of 41.5 hectares (102½ acres), 6 kilometres (4 mi) upstream along the Swan River

Swan River (Western Australia)

from the newly established town 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....

on a peninsula on the left hand side of the river. Subsequent grants of additional 73 hectares (180 acres) followed up to 1844. The property was known as Peninsula Farm and now forms much of the current suburb of Maylands.
Hardey's first house was built in May 1830, probably from material brought out on the Tranby. It was located on the low land about 100 metres downstream from the location of the present house. This house was destroyed by flood in July, and Hardey built a new house of wattle and daub

Wattle and daub

Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...

, with a thatched roof, the following year. It is not known where this second house was located although it also is believed to have been destroyed by flood. By June 1839, construction of the current house was completed, making it one of the oldest brick houses in the State and the earliest domestic residence still extant in the inner metropolitan area.

After the property was subdivided in 1903, the existing lot which includes the house remained as the Hardey family home until 1913 when it was bought by Henry Baker. It was named Tranby House in 1929, the state's centenary year, in recognition of its historical significance. In 1951 the property changed hands again and in 1967 was bought by Bond Corporation who demolished the barn and some small cottages with a view to a redevelopment on the site. Following a public debate opposing the plans, the property was acquired by the National Trust of Australia

National Trust of Australia

The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....

in 1972, and after an extensive restoration, was opened to the public by Lady Kyle, wife of the Governor

Governor of Western Australia

The Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...

, Sir Wallace Kyle

Wallace Kyle

Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Hart Kyle GCB, KCVO, CBE, DSO, DFC, RAF was a senior Royal Air Force commander and the Governor of Western Australia from 1975 to 1980.-Career:...

on 27 November 1977. It continues today as a popular tourist attraction and tearooms.

Several oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

and mulberry

Mulberry

Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....

trees believed to have been planted by the Hardey family remain and surround the house. Two of the oak trees were listed on the National Trust's Register of Significant Trees in 1984.

The house is furnished in the style of the first half of the 19th Century; all furniture is authentic, but has come from various sources. The only furniture known to have belonged to the Hardeys is a regency style

Regency architecture

The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...

brass four poster bed, which is on permanent loan from 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...

; a polished wooden medicine chest; and the timber lid of a packing case.

Further reading