Dalkeith is an affluent suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia within the

City of Nedlands The City of Nedlands is a local government area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth's central business district. The city is situated within the western suburbs of the metropolit ...

. It is also the richest suburb in

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. This suburb has a median house price of $3,187,500.

History

The suburb takes its name from a cottage built in 1833 by Captain Adam Armstrong and his sons, early settlers of the area who arrived aboard '' Gilmore''. Armstrong, previously the manager of the

Earl of Dalkeith Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

's estate in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, named the house "Dalkeith Cottage". The cottage was on a farm bought by James Gallop, who built a two-storey house c. 1872, now known as Gallop House. In 1897 the farm was sold off in lots for residential use. The house was bought by the state government in 1911, and was neglected for several decades before being restored in 1963-4. It is the oldest extant private residence in Dalkeith and the City of Nedlands. The suburb is also surrounded on three sides by the Swan River. As at 2021, Dalkeith was the most expensive suburb for houses in Western Australia, with a median price of $2.9 million. Jutland Parade is the most expensive street in Dalkeith and considered one of the most expensive streets in Perth. At the riverside lies Sunset Hospital, built in 1904 and closed in 1995. Several of the buildings are heritage listed. In 2005 the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

entered into an agreement with the state government to redevelop the site, including a museum, aged care and residential apartments. In September 2007 UWA withdrew from the agreement, citing delays and restrictions caused by the heritage status of the site.

Secession

In early 2009, residents of Dalkeith formed a movement to

secede Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the c ...

from the

and form their own local government area, ostensibly the Shire of Dalkeith. The residents suggested secession as economically viable - the

Shire of Peppermint Grove The Shire of Peppermint Grove is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia, southwest of the Perth central business district. At , it is the smallest local government area in Australia; it contains only the eponymous suburb, Peppe ...

, the smallest

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

in Australia, was established in 1895 and currently has about 1,600 residents, whereas Dalkeith currently has over 4,000.

References

{{Authority control Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs in the City of Nedlands