Williams is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, south-southeast of the state capital,

Perth 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 i ...

along

Albany Highway Albany Highway links Western Australia's capital city Perth with its oldest settlement, Albany, on the state's south coast. The highway travels through the southern Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions, and is designated State Route ...

and 32 kilometres (20 mi) west of Narrogin. The Williams River passes through the town. At the 2016 census, Williams had a population of 411.

History

Williams is named after the Williams River that flows nearby. The river was sighted by Captain Thomas Bannister in 1831 while leading the first overland expedition from the Swan River Colony to

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

(now Albany), and was first shown on an 1833 map. More than likely, the name honours King

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, who reigned in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from June 1830 until June 1837. The first British claims on land in the area occurred in 1832. In 1835 a party led by Governor James Stirling and

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

surveyed a route joining King George Sound with

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

via Williams to encourage inland settlement. No settlement occurred until after Lieutenant Henry Bunbury explored the region in 1836, despite his assessment that "on the Williams the land is generally very bad and the water brackish". After the building of Albany Highway by

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

in the 1850s, Williams became an important stopover point for passengers and changing of horses, and became the main centre in the district. The bridge over the Williams River was completed in 1855. The Williams Hotel was erected in 1871, and a Road Board (predecessor to the current Shire Council) first convened in 1877. In early 1898 the population of the town was 55, 30 males and 25 females. Later the same year the local Agricultural Hall was opened by Frederick Piesse, it was built at a cost of £250 granted by Parliament. The original town had been built on the Albany side of the river, but was subject to increasing floods due to the clearing of the land for

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ...

; therefore the town was relocated to the Perth side of the bridge. The town site was surveyed in 1905 and most of the buildings in the present town site were constructed after that time. The Williams District Club was constructed in 1959; the

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was set in December 1958. The Williams Shire offices were constructed the same year.

Present day

Today the town is a centre for the wool, cattle and coarse grains industry, and serves as a stopping point on

. A heritage trail takes visitors past some of Williams's historic buildings, and nearby

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the ...

stands and dryandra forests are also attractions. One unusual feature is the Jesse Martin museum, a historic village and memorabilia collection constructed by a local farmer on his own property from old shops and post offices on the verge of being demolished in country towns, as well as barns full of old cars and farm machinery. The roadhouse is a stop on the

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport to the major regional ...

bus services to Albany (GS1) and Esperance (GE1).GS1 timetable (PDF)
(8 May 2018) an
GE1 timetable (PDF)
(20 November 2017). Retrieved 14 June 2018. Williams has three service stations, one of which is open 24 hours a day.

References

External links

Shire of Williams
{{authority control Grain receival points of Western Australia Towns in Western Australia Wheatbelt (Western Australia)