Swan River Mechanics' Institute
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Swan River Mechanics' Institute
The Swan River Mechanics' Institute was the Swan River Colony's first cultural centre, established on 21 January 1851. In time it was to house an extensive and well-used subscription library and a natural history collection, including botanical, zoological and mineral specimens. A new building replaced the old in 1899, and in 1909 the institute was renamed Perth Literary Institute. In 1957 the institute became the City of Perth Library, which moved to another building in 1963. The original building, which was located on the south-west corner of Pier and Hay Streets in Perth, was demolished sometime in the 1970s. Foundation The Swan River Mechanics' Institute was established on 21 January 1851. Its founding president was Surveyor-General John Septimus Roe, who held the position until his death in 1878. Other officers included Joseph Hamblin (chairman), Bernard Smith (treasurer) and Harry Hughes (secretary). Roe's botanical collection, which was kept at the institute, won hi ...
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Swan River Mechanics Institute Library Paste Down
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology), tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, although "divorce" sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of bird egg, eggs in each :wikt:clutch, clutch ranges from three to eight. Etymology and terminology The English word ''swan'', akin to the German language, German , Dutch language, Dutch and Swedish language, Swedish , is derived from Indo-European root ' ('to sound, to sing'). Young swans are kn ...
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Toodyay Public Library
Toodyay Public Library is located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia. Early stages One of the forerunners to the library was the Newcastle Mechanics' Institute, which formed in 1866. Charles Harper was elected president. By 1869, however, the Institute had begun to decline from lack of public support. The Toodyay Young Men's Reading Club was founded on 30 August 1871 and operated from the government schoolroom into the early 1870s. This club presented lectures; its first lecture was given by Rev. J. M. Innes on Charles Dickens, and another was given Rev. Charles Harper father of Charles Harper, pastoralist, newspaper proprietor and politician in colonial Western Australia on "Phenomena connected with Sound". On 3 September 1873 a "tea-meeting" (replete with singing and comestibles) was held to discuss the merging of the Mechanics' Institute and the Toodyay Young Men's Reading Club, with a view to the construction of a new building for the resultant orga ...
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Bank Of New South Wales
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway, New South Wales, Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania in the 20th century. It merged with many other financial institutions, finally merging with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 and being renamed to the Westpac, Westpac Banking Corporation on 4 May that year under the ''Bank of New South Wales (Change of Name) Act 1982''. History Established in 1817 in Macquarie Place, Sydney premises leased from Mary Reibey, the Bank of New South Wales (BNSW) was the first bank in Australia. It was established under the economic regime of Governor of New South Wales, Governor Lachlan Macquarie (responsible for transitioning the penal settlement of Sydney into a capitalist economy). At the time, the colony of Sydney had not been supplied ...
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Council House, Perth
Council House is a 13-storey office building on St Georges Terrace in Perth, Western Australia. Located beside Stirling Gardens and Government House in the city's central business district, the building was designed by Howlett and Bailey Architects and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963, after Perth hosted the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. For most of its history, it has served as the headquarters for the City of Perth. Built in a modernist style, the building has been the subject of vigorous public debate about its heritage value. Some parties, such as the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, consider the building to be an important example of modernist architecture in the city, whilst others consider it ugly. These conflicting views led to animosity in the 1990s, when the State Government refused to heritage list the property, and instead recommended its demolition. Despite this, the City of Perth opted to renovate the tower and keep it as its headquarter ...
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Perth City Council
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of the metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which the city's central business district and port of Fremantle are situated. Perth is located on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years. Captain James Stirling founded Perth in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. It was named after the city of Perth in Scotland, due to the influence of Stirling's patron Sir George Murray, who had connections with the area. It gained city s ...
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John Forrest
Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in federal politics. Forrest was born in Bunbury, Western Australia, to Scottish immigrant parents. He was the colony's first locally born surveyor, coming to public notice in 1869 when he led an expedition into the interior in search of Ludwig Leichhardt. The following year, Forrest accomplished the first land crossing from Perth to Adelaide across the Nullarbor Plain. His third expedition in 1874 travelled from Geraldton to Adelaide through the centre of Australia. Forrest's expeditions were characterised by a cautious, well-planned approach and diligent record-keeping. He received the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1876. Forrest became involved in politics through his promotion to surveyor-general, a powerful posi ...
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Premier Of Western Australia
The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive branch of the Government of Western Australia and is accountable to the Parliament of Western Australia. The premier is appointed by the governor of Western Australia. By convention, the governor appoints as premier whoever has the support of the majority of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. In practice, this means that the premier is the leader of the political party or group of parties with a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house). Since Western Australia achieved self-governance in 1890, there have been 31 premiers. Mark McGowan is the current premier, having been appointed to the position on 17 March 2017. History The position of premier is not mentioned in the constitution of Western Australia. From 1890 ...
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Western Mail (Western Australia)
''The Western Mail'', or ''Western Mail'', was the name of two weekly newspapers published in Perth, Western Australia. Published 1885–1955 The first ''Western Mail'' was published on 19 December 1885 by Charles Harper and John Winthrop Hackett, co-owners of ''The West Australian'', the state's major daily paper. It was printed by James Gibney at the paper's office in St Georges Terrace. In 1901, in the publication ''Twentieth century impressions of Western Australia'', a history of the early days of the ''West Australian'' and the ''Western Mail'' was published. In the 1920s ''The West Australian'' employed its first permanent photographer Fred Flood, many of whose photographs were featured in the ''Western Mail''. In 1933 it celebrated its first use of photographs in 1897 in a ''West Australian'' article. The Western Mail featured early work from a large number of prominent West Australian authors and artists, including; Mary Durack, Elizabeth Durack, May Gibbs, ...
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His Majesty's Theatre, Perth
His Majesty's Theatre is an Edwardian Baroque theatre in Perth, Western Australia. Constructed from 1902 to 1904 during a period of great growth for the town, the theatre is located on the corner of Hay Street and King Street in Perth's central business district. At the time the theatre was opened, it was the largest theatre in Australia, and had seating for over 2,500 people. It is also thought to be the first reinforced concrete building constructed in Perth. Over its life, the theatre has hosted large-scale musicals, ballet, opera, Shakespearean plays and many other events. It has been renovated numerous times, most notably in the late 1970s when the State Government purchased it and performed an ornamental restoration whilst modernising the facilities provided. Since that time, it has been the home of the West Australian Ballet and West Australian Opera companies, both of which perform regularly. The importance of His Majesty's Theatre to the cultural fabric of Western ...
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Western Australian Museum
The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially re-opened on 21 November 2020 in the Perth Cultural Centre. The other sites are: the WA Maritime Museum and WA Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle, the Museum of the Great Southern in Albany, the Museum of Geraldton in Geraldton, and the Museum of the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. History Established in 1891 in the Old Perth Gaol, it was known as the Geological Museum and consisted of geological collections. In 1892, ethnological and biological exhibits were added, and in 1897, the museum officially became the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery. The museum employed collectors to obtain series of specimens; Tunney ventured across the state from 1895 to 1909 obtaining animals and, later, the tools and artefacts of the indigenous inhabi ...
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Perth Gaol
The Perth Gaol (often referred to as the Old Perth Gaol) was a gaol built in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, between 1854 and 1856 to house convicts and other prisoners. It is located just west of Beaufort Street. It operated until March 1888 when the last prisoner was transferred to Fremantle Prison. The main gaol building, minus the yards, stands today adjacent to the Western Australian Museum in Perth. In addition to a number of displays of colonial and prison related artefacts, the building houses the museum's retail shop and coffee shop. History Prior to the construction of the Perth Gaol, the Swan River Colony had only the Round House in Fremantle, the partially completed Fremantle Prison (construction began in 1851 and completed in 1859) and a six-cell lock-up which had been built in about 1830 opposite Government House in Perth. With the growth of the city it was deemed that the latter was an inappropriate location for a gaol and it was demolished in 18 ...
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Charles Fitzgerald
Charles Fitzgerald ( – 29 December 1887) was an Irish officer in the Royal Navy and Governor of The Gambia from 1844 until 1847, then Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. Son of William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, Fitzgerald joined the Royal Navy in March 1809, passed his examination in 1815, and was commissioned in March 1826. Soon after his arrival in Western Australia in 1848, Fitzgerald accompanied Augustus Gregory on an expedition in the Northampton region where Gregory and his brother had discovered lead the year before. An encounter with Aboriginal people resulted in Fitzgerald being speared in the leg and at least three Aborigines shot dead. The town of Geraldton, Western Australia Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ..., wa ...
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