Foundation Day (Western Australia)

Foundation Day, officially June 1, but celebrated on the first Monday in June, is a public holiday in Western Australia (WA), commemorating the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829. Because of the celebration of Foundation Day, Western Australia is the only State or Territory of Australia which does not celebrate the Queen's (or King's) Birthday Holiday in June — it is held in September or October instead.

Background

Prior to 1829, the only European settlement in Western Australia was a British Army outpost at King George Sound (the later site of Albany), established in 1826. Captain James Stirling of the Royal Navy led explorations of the Swan River in 1827. The British Colonial Office in 1828, approved Stirling's recommendation that a colony be established in the area. Stirling was appointed Lieutenant-Governor.

HMS "Challenger", under Captain Charles Fremantle, anchored off Garden Island on April 25, 1829. Fremantle officially claimed the western part of Australia for Britain on 2 May. The merchant vessel "Parmelia", with Stirling, other officials and civilian settlers on board, sighted the coast on June 1. It anchored in Cockburn Sound on June 2. Another warship, HMS "Sulphur", arrived on June 6, carrying the British Army garrison. The Swan River Colony was officially proclaimed by Stirling on June 11.

Ships carrying more civilian settlers began arriving in August, and on August 12, Helen Dance, wife of the captain of "Sulphur", cut down a tree to mark the founding of the colony's capital, Perth.

In 1834, Stirling decided that an annual celebration was needed to unite the colony's inhabitants, including both settlers and Aborigines, and "masters and servants" (the terms used at the time for employers and employees). [ [http://www.175anniversary.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.founding Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC), 2004, "Founding of the Settlement"] Access date: May 1, 2007.] He decided that an annual commemoration would be held on June 1. It appears that the date was chosen by Stirling not only because it represented the sighting of the coast from "Parmelia", but because it was also the date of a significant British naval victory in 1794, the "Glorious First of June". [DPC 2004]

References

External links

* [http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/lr/LabourRelations/Content/Wages%20and%20Conditions/Public%20Holidays/Public_Holidays.html Public Holidays of Western Australia]
* [http://www.175anniversary.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.arrival Arrival of the first settlers]
* [http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/ European discovery and the colonisation of Australia]
* [http://www.encyclopedia.uwapress.uwa.edu.au/home/ Historical Encyclopedia of WA]