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Guide to Fremantle
Fremantle (32°03'15?S, 115°44'53?E)
is a city located within the Perth metropolitan area on
Australia's western coast, at the mouth of the Swan River,
19 kilometres southwest of Perth's Central Business District.
It was established by British settlers as part of the
Swan River Colony in 1829. It was declared a city in 1929,
and has a population of approximately 25,000.
The city is named after Charles Howe
Fremantle, and the name is almost universally pronounced
as "FREE-mantle", not "Fre-MAN-tel"
as one might erroneously assume. There are some consistent
exceptions to this, however; notably the suburbs and football
clubs South Fremantle and East Fremantle. The Western
Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is "Freo"
(FREE-oh).
On 25 April 1829, the ship HMS Challenger
under the guidance of Captain Fremantle had arrived in
the waters off the Fremantle coast to make preparations
for the Swan River Colony.
On 2 May 1829, Captain Fremantle formally
took possession on behalf of King George IV the entire
west coast of New Holland just near the south head of
the Swan River. A few days later a camp was set up in
a bay just south of the head, and Fremantle has been occupied
ever since.
A month later, on 1 June Captain James
Stirling on the Parmelia arrived to officially set up
the Swan River Colony. Perth itself was not settled until
12 August that year.
Captain Fremantle left the colony on
25 August after providing much assistance to Stirling
in setting up the colony. It is then when Stirling decided
that the port settlement would be called 'Fremantle'.
[1]
In 1897, Irish-born engineer C. Y. O'Connor
deepened Fremantle harbour and removed the limestone bar
and sand shoals across the entrance to the Swan River,
thus rendering Fremantle a serviceable port for commercial
shipping. Fremantle still serves as the chief seaport
of Western Australia.
During World War II, Fremantle was the
2nd largest base for Allied submarines operating in the
Pacific Theater. There were up to 125 US, 31 British and
11 Free Dutch Submarines operating out of Fremantle, until
the Americans moved forward to the Philippines. The movements
and presence of USS Sturgeon (SS-187) is a good example
of such activity.
Fremantle has produced two significant
Australian political figures, John Curtin and Dr Carmen
Lawrence. Dr Lawrence served as Premier of the State of
Western Australia and is now the member for Fremantle
in the House of Representatives.
John Curtin served as Prime Minister
of Australia during World War II, is one of the more noted
Prime Ministers in Australian History and a particular
source of pride for both Fremantle and WA. The state's
largest university, Curtin is named after him, as is a
large Secondary College in Fremantle, and his statue stands
in the city's King's Square.
Both figures belong to the Australian
Labor Party. Fremantle has been a safe seat for the ALP
since the 1930s.
Fremantle has convict-built colonial
era buildings, the old jetty and port, the maritime museum,
and many other historical buildings.
The Round HouseOne of these is the Round House, the oldest
remaining building in Western Australia, built as a gaol
in 1830 - 1831[2]. The Round House had eight cells and
a gaolers residence which all opened up into a central
courtyard. In the 1800s, bay whaling was carried out from
Bathers Beach below the Round House. As part of the whaling
operations a tunnel was constructed under the Round House
to provide whalers with access to the town from the jetty
and Bathers Beach. When the first 75 convicts arrived
from Britain in 1850 to support the colony's dwindling
population, it became apparent that the Round House was
inadequately small to house them. The convicts built a
new gaol which was completed in the 1850s and continued
to be used as Fremantle's prison through until 1991.
Fremantle Prison at nightFremantle Prison was once one
of the most notorious prisons in the British Empire.[citation
needed] It housed British convicts, local prisoners, military
prisoners, enemy aliens and prisoners of war. It is now
one of the state's heritage sites. Fremantle Prison was
featured on an episode of The Amazing Race.
The Round House is located in what is
now known as Fremantle's West End: a collection of streets
containing colonial buildings at the tip of the southern
end of the port, which is vaguely reminiscent of Stockholm.
A process of gentrification in the early 1990s was accelerated
by the establishment of the University of Notre Dame Australia,
which has restored and occupies many of the buildings
in the West End.
Fremantle from Monument HillThe majestic Fremantle History
Museum is another building constructed in the 1860s by
convicts from indigenous limestone: it is a former asylum
building on Ord Street and is one of Fremantle's most
significant landmarks. This building was the land base
of the Us Navy during WWII. It now also houses the Fremantle
Arts Centre and the Immigration Museum which aims to preserve
the history and stories of all immigrants who arrived
in Western Australia.
The Fremantle Markets are a tourist
attraction, located in the centre of Fremantle on its
"Cappuccino Strip" (so named because of the
abundance of restaurants and cafes). The Premier of Western
Australia, Sir John Forrest, laid the foundation stone
for the markets on Saturday 6 November 1897. Over 150
stalls are housed in its old Victorian-era building, which
was listed by the National Trust and Heritage Council
in 1980.
Fremantle was the host city for the
America's Cup yachting race in 1987. The unsuccessful
cup defense was conducted on the waters in Gage Roads,
off Fremantle.
Fremantle has Italian, Portuguese, and
Croatian ethnic communities. Fremantle also has a role
in Nyoongar Aboriginal mythology.
Fremantle is the home to an AFL team,
the Fremantle Football Club (colloquially known as The
Dockers). It has a fierce yet lighthearted rivalry with
the West Coast Eagles, the only other West Australian
AFL team. This rivalry is put on display twice a year
when the two teams play each other in a match known as
the Western Derby. The city also has two teams in the
state football league (WAFL), East Fremantle and South
Fremantle.
The city is popular with diners, catering
for all tastes and budgets. Italian and Asian cuisine
is abundant as well as a vast variety of seafood restaurants.
There are numerous cafes and coffee shops situated around
Fremantle, particularly on its famous 'Cappuccino Strip,'(a
small section of South Terrace, down towards Market St.)
Locals and tourists travel to Fremantle Harbour for Fish
and Chips.Fremantle is a popular place for its nightlife,
second only to Northbridge in Perth's CBD. It attracts
people from all over the metropolitan region for it pubs,
bars and nightclubs.
Fremantle is home to Bathers Beach,
South Beach and Leighton Beach with several of Western
Australia's other beautiful beaches nearby on Transperth's
Fremantle Train Line, most notably Cottesloe, less than
ten minutes away by rail.
The cooling breeze blowing from
Fremantle to Perth during the hot summer is colloquially
known as the "Fremantle Doctor".
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