You are here: Home > About Australia > Iconic Towns > Toodyay, WA
Destinations

Toodyay, WA



Toodyay Gaol


Avon River near Toodyay


Freemason's Hotel

The charming and historic town of Toodyay is located 85 km from Perth. Situated on the Avon River Toodyay is a quiet place with just a hint of alternative lifestyle. It is a place which is ideal for day trippers from the city and which offers enough historic buildings and old world charm to satisfy any urban dweller.

The first European into the area was Ensign Dale who led a party from the Swan River into the upper reaches of the Avon Valley in October 1831. It is said that the name Toodyay is a corruption of the local Aboriginal word 'duigee' which supposedly meant 'place of plenty'. This name related to the richness and fertility of the area and the reliability of the Avon River.
The area was opened up for European settlement in 1836 when a group of early settlers including James Drummond Snr. (whose work collecting native flora did much to increase and understanding of Western Australia's extraordinarily rich wildflowers), Captain Francis Whitfield and Alexander Anderson blazed a trail from the Swan River to the present site of Toodyay. Prior to the establishment of this new route Europeans had been entering the Upper Avon Valley via the settlements at York and Northam. The trail established by Drummond, Whitfield and Anderson was far from satisfactory. They had reached the valley by climbing over the Darling Range at Red Hill and descending into the Avon Valley at Jimperding where the hills were steep and difficult to traverse. The route remained for nearly 20 years until convicts built a better road which reduced the journey from Perth by 12 hours.
In the 1850s the original town was abandoned because of continuous flooding of the Avon River. The local Aborigines knew of the dangers of the original site. It has been claimed that they used to joke about even the kangaroos getting bogged in the mud left after the floods. A new town was built 2 km further upstream and named Newcastle in 1861. The inevitable
Confusion with Newcastle in New South Wales resulted in it being renamed Toodyay in 1911. One rather quirky moment in the town's history occurred in 1876 when the explorer Ernest Giles reached the town after crossing the Great Victoria Desert. In his memoirs he recounted the reception he received upon arriving in Toodyay (Newcastle). "We were received under a triumphal arch, and the chairman presented us with an address. We were then conducted to a sumptuous banquet. Near the conclusion, the chairman rose to propose our health, etc.; he then gratified us by speaking disparagingly of us and our journey; he said he didn't see what we wanted to come over here for, that they had plenty of explorers of their own etc. This was something like getting a hostile native's spear stuck into one's body".

Buildings of note

Connors Mill
Connors Mill, which is also known as the Moondyne Gallery & Toodyay Tourist Centre, was built in 1870 to grind the locally grown wheat. The mill has been converted into a three level tourist centre and gallery. The most interesting part of the building is undoubtedly the top level where there is a very detailed presentation of the life of the local 'hero' Moondyne Joe.
Moondyne Joe's major claim to fame is that he was Western Australia's most famous bushranger. His real name was Joseph Bolitho Johns. He was the son of a Welsh blacksmith who was transported for ten years for stealing three loaves of bread, some cheese and a piece of mutton. Joe arrived in Perth in 1853 and became a ticket of leave man working at the tiny settlement of Moondyne. It was here that he branded an unmarked horse and was gaoled in Toodyay for the 'felony'. He managed to escape but in the process (and this is where the romance of Moondyne Joe really starts) he stole the Resident Magistrate's horse and bridle. This was the beginning of a cat and mouse game which 'Joe' and the law played for the next forty years.
He was recaptured and charged with branding the original horse, escaping from gaol and stealing the second horse and bridle. His sentence was three years. He served the three years but soon after his release was convicted of shooting a steer (he protested his innocence) and sentenced to ten years. It was this conviction, which he regarded as unfair and which prompted his escape soon after. He was recaptured and placed in irons but managed to escape again.
He was captured on 29th September and sent back to Fremantle where he was chained by the neck to a post. A special cell be built for Joe in Fremantle Gaol and when it was completed the Governor proudly declared that if Joe escaped from such a strong cell he would be given him his freedom. Joe remained in the cell for only four months.
Joe finally became a free man in 1873. He subsequently married a widow, Louisa Hearn, and became something of a celebrated dandy living in the southwest of the state where, amongst other achievements, he discovered the cave near Margaret River which bears his name. In 1887 he returned to Toodyay and from there he travelled to the goldfields where, although he was now 60 years old, he prospected for some years. After the death of his wife he returned to the coast and lived in Kelmscott where he gained a reputation for insanity being known as Old Mad Moondyne Joe. He died in the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum on 13th August 1900.

Newcastle Gaol
The Old Gaol in Toodyay's Clinton Street is an interesting stone building completed in 1862. It consists of cells, a kitchen, constable's quarters, storeroom and exercise yard.   It was originally used as a prison and later it became a hiring depot for convicts. It was eventually the local police station until it was rented as a private house. The museum at the jail houses a collection of unique colonial artefacts giving an insight into the lifestyle of the district's early inhabitants. It is a fine example of convict built architecture and demonstrates the type of legal administration and law enforcement that took place in the 19th century.  Designer Richard Roach Jewell was the Colonial Clerk of Works and designed several government buildings between 1853 and 1884, including Government House, the Cloisters, the Deanery and the Perth Courthouse and Gaol. Today, visitors can experience the hard lifestyle of convicts such as the infamous Moondyne Joe, as well as take part in a mock trial in the courtroom set up at the Old Gaol.

The Old Victoria Hotel (1899)
A building typical of the charm of the town. The upstairs verandah looks more like a wave than a verandah. It seems to be twisting and collapsing in a myriad of different directions. The Freemason?s Hotel (1861) started life as a simple single storey building but with the riches from the goldfields flowing back to the west it upgraded and became an important watering hole for wealthy miners. Further up the main street is the Municipal Hall and the Toodyay Public Library building (1874) which are notable for the charming old style lamp posts outside.


View Larger Map

Translate this Web Page


Toodyay Visitor Centre
Toodyay information

Where Is It?: Western Australia: Central Agricultural