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The Swan River Colony’s First British Settlement: Early Results of Surveys of Garden Island (Meeandip), Western Australia

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Abstract

This paper describes the on-going research at Cliff Head, Garden Island (Indigenous name Meeandip) in Western Australia, the first British settlement on the west coast of Australia dating to 1829. The research has recorded features of local limestone and introduced materials such as low-fired brick, a well, and other artifacts brought from Britain. Early results suggest that areas at the camp existed for domestic purposes, storage of equipment and food supplies, the running of stock, and intra and inter-island communication, but other hypotheses are proposed.

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Data Availability

The field notes and images supporting the findings of this research are available from the authors on reasonable request. Artefacts were not collected and remain in-situ as per DoD request.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to staff at the Australian Federal Department of Defence and particularly Joanne Wann, Jarrad Scott, and Ted Challisthianagara. We also appreciated the assistance provided by Tom Coffey, Whitney Darlaston-Jones, Peter Dimarco of the State Records Office of Western Australia, Kalon Ford, Daniel Gerson, Trevor Hamersley, Simon Meath, Lauren Tomlinson of the University of Notre Dame Australia, Eliza Thompson, and Leilani Wheeler.

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  1. Rio Tinto, Perth, WA, Australia

    Trent Hamersley

  2. Arts and Sciences, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA, Australia

    Shane Burke

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Hamersley, T., Burke, S. The Swan River Colony’s First British Settlement: Early Results of Surveys of Garden Island (Meeandip), Western Australia. Int J Histor Archaeol 27, 1161–1184 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-023-00704-8

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