The Adelaide Steamship House is located at 10-12

Mouat Street Mouat Street is a street in Fremantle, Western Australia. Historically, the name was often spelled as Mouatt Street. It is a one-way street, running from Phillimore Street in the north to Marine Terrace in the south. It runs parallel to and ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. Built in 1900, the building was designed by Fremantle-based architectural firm Charles Oldham and Herbert Eales and was constructed by C. Coghill. The building takes its name from the original owners of the building, the Adelaide Steamship Company, who provided sea passenger and freight services around Australia.

Adelaide Steamship Company

The Adelaide Steamship Company (ASC) was formed in September 1875 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

by a group of pastoralists and businessmen. In 1883 the ASC purchased two

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

s, the ''Otway'' and the ''Rob Roy'' from Anderson & Marshall and Lillie & Company securing the provision of services from Melbourne to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

. Following the discovery of gold in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

in 1885, Pilbara in 1888, and Coolgardie-

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

in 1892, the ASC further expanded its trading routes in Western Australia. In 1883 the ASC established an office in Fremantle, initially with an agent and then with its own staff. The company originally leased offices in Fremantle at the corner of Cliff and Phillimore Streets. In 1900 the company purchased two properties in

to construct their offices close to the Fremantle wharf. The ASC engaged a local architectural firm, Oldham and Eales to design the building. Construction was undertaken by Mr C. Coghill, a local North Fremantle builder, in the latter half of 1900. The building was completed by the end of November 1900 and the manager of Adelaide Steamship, William Ernest Moxon, and his staff took possession of the building. Moxon was appointed as the Western Australian manager of ASC in 1896 and continued in that role for over twenty years, until 1918, when he took the position of manager of the ASC's Queensland operations. During his tenure Moxon was the chairman of the Steamship Owners of Australasia, Fremantle Branch for fifteen years and for two years the president of the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce.

Architectural style

The building is a two-storey stone structure built in the Federation Free Classical style. The upper floor has a balustrade parapet, elaborate central pediment and stuccoed ionic pilasters. The upper floor rectangular windows have false balustrading and shell decorations above them. The ground floor has a granite plinth, horizontal shadow lines, broad

doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

pilasters and large arched openings. The building was damaged by fire in January 1946 with a second fire in April 1947 resulting in extensive restorations to its original design occurring during 1947–48, under the supervision of architect F. Hawkins. The Adelaide Steamship Company operated the Western Australian operations of their company from the premises until 1978, when the building was sold. In 1991 the building was restored and converted into a residence, office, store and warehouse. In 2012 the state Heritage Council granted the owners $20,000 "to stabilise the building ��and to repaint the front facade".

Heritage value

The building was placed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

on 21 March 1978 and was classified by the National Trust of Australia (WA) on 5 November 2012. The building was formally listed on the State Register of Heritage Places by the

Heritage Council of Western Australia The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state. Prior to its creation, considerable variance in policy and ...

on 1 July 1994. It is also listed on the City of Fremantle's Municipal Heritage List.

Adelaide Steamship Company

Architectural style

Heritage value

References

Further reading