Swan River Mechanics Institute Library Paste down

The Swan River Mechanics' Institute was the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

's first cultural centre, established on 21 January 1851. In time it was to house an extensive and well-used

subscription library A subscription library (also membership library or independent library) is a library that is financed by private funds either from membership fees or endowments. Unlike a public library, access is often restricted to members, but access rights ca ...

and a

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

collection, including botanical,

zoological Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

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 A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

and

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

Streets in

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 him membership of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

. The second president was

Luke Leake Sir Luke Samuel Leake (1828–1886), M.L.C., was a Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Biography Early life Luke Leake was born in 1828. He was the youngest son of Luke Leake, of Stoke Newington, Middlesex. Career He moved ...

, who held the position until his death in 1886. Although ostensibly formed for the educational benefit of the working classes, the

Mechanics' Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...

, like many in the Australian colonies, was mostly dominated and sponsored by men of the middle class and tended to pursue mostly literary goals as well as providing a recreational facility for that group. Hay describes the activities: "the educated gentry 'improved' the workers through the medium of occasional lectures, discussion classes which emerged from literary meetings, the establishment of a reading room and a project to build a scientific museum". Institute rules prevented discussion of current political issues; in 1856 a carpenter by the name of Joseph Chester was expelled from the Institute for criticising government policies. The Swan River Mechanics' Institute was the first such organisation formed in the colony, followed closely by the Fremantle Mechanics Institute on 8 August 1851. Other mechanics' institutes were formed in Albany in 1853, Busselton and York in 1861, Guildford (as a branch of the Swan River Mechanics' Institute) in 1862, Greenough in 1865, Northam and Toodyay in 1866, and Bunbury in 1867. Ex-convicts were not accepted as Mechanics' Institute members and hence a number of alternative working men's associations arose in the 1860s to cater for working classes. Membership was by subscription, and required no qualification other than that the applicant be a respectable member of the community.

Premises

Early meetings took place at the

Court House A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...

and at a temporary reading room at the

Boys' School Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

in Murray Street. A site for a Mechanics Institute building in Howick Street (later Hay Street) was gifted by the government and surveyed in August 1851. The land was vested in trustees, and managed by a committee appointed by its members. The corner stone for the new building was laid by Governor Fitzgerald on 25 May 1852. Moves to establish a permanent museum in the city during the 1880s saw the institute's specimen collections move to premises at the recently closed

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 unt ...

in 1892. These collections laid the foundations of what became the

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory body, statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located i ...

. In 1899 the original building was replaced by spacious two storey premises on the same site, which included a concert hall with seating for 400 people and a lodge room with accommodation for another 200. The building's architect was William G. Wolf, who also designed His Majesty's Theatre and Hotel in Hay Street. The foundation stone for the new building was laid by the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Sir 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 ...

on 20 June 1898. The premier was a former Institute president. ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' described the building: At the time of its opening in 1899, the library contained 6,000 volumes and membership was 389. The cost of the building was £10,721, equivalent to in .

Perth Literary Institute

Its name was changed to ''Perth Literary Institute'' in December 1909, and at about the same time its inventory showed the library to contain 564 books related to history; biography, 359; essays, 382; travel and geography, 421; general science, 275; social science, philosophy, and theology, 238; poetry and the drama, 199; serial and miscellaneous, 333; statistical and works of reference, 398; and fiction, 6,274, and a grand total of 9,443 volumes. In 1951 it celebrated its centenary.

City of Perth Library

In 1957 the institute was taken over by the

Perth City Council The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government is commonly known as Perth City Council. The City covers the Perth city centre and sur ...

and became the City of Perth Library. Soon after, its subscription library was replaced by a free lending library. The City of Perth Library was established in the

Council House A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

in 1963 and remained there until 1995. The Perth Literary Institute building was demolished sometime in the 1970s and the site now includes the Perth Law Chambers.

Notes

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