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The Names of Perth: Swan River

Where the date of naming and the person who named a feature is known, entries are presented in the following format: Date named; Person who named it; reason for giving names. The names are listed from north to south, commencing at Cape Leschenault.

There are many gaps in this list, indicating that the origins of many names were unable to be verified when this list was being compiled. The authors welcome any contributions by readers that will help fill in the gaps.



Swan River: North Bank

Swan River: 10.1.1698. Willem De Vlamingh. Originally names Black Swan River as it was the site of the first recording of black swans by Europeans. The name was changed to Swan River by James Stirling in March 1827. Governor Stirling's intention was that the name 'Swan River' refer only to the watercourse upstream of the Heirisson Islands. All of the rest, including Perth Water, he considered estuarine and referred to it as 'Melville Water'. The Government notice dated 27 July 1829 stated ... "the first stone will be laid of a new town to be called 'Perth', near the entrance to the estuary of the Swan River."


North Quay

North Quay: Named because of its position in relation to the rest of the inner harbour of the Port of Fremantle. The river here originally reached a depth of 5 to 7 metres, howver dredging of a channel has increased it to 11 metres. The construction of North Quay in the 1890s required the reclamation of 50 hectares. North Quay has ten berths and the riverscape is dominated by the container holdings and cranes used to load container ships.

Point Direction: A direction marker was placed here on early maps to give directions for river traffic.


Rocky Bay

Rocky Bay: Descriptive. Rocky Bay was once considered the most beautiful bay on the Swan River, but quarrying destroyed much of the high cliffs that were overhung with peppermint trees, cypress pine and shrubs. Stone from this site was used to build the Perth Boys School, part of Government House and the courthouse at the rear of the Museum in Beaufort Street. Capstone from the quarry was used as the base for St Georges Terrace and was also supplied to ships as ballast.


Minim Cove

Minim Cove: A century ago, Minim Cove was the site of Billy Goat farm. Here rocks emerge from a small sandy beach and the shape of the beach appears to be quite natural compared to the surrounding areas. Behind Minim Cove is a small wetland area which is seasonally inundated.

Archaeological discoveries in the 1960s indicate that Minim Cove was an Aboriginal tool-making site dating back ten thousand years. During early settlement, travellers disembarked by ship in Fremantle. They then rode to Preston Point and crossed the river by horse ferry to Minim Cove before following a sandy bush track to Perth. The former site of the State Engineering Works, Minim Cove has been redeveloped as a prestige residential suburb.

Point Roe: Recalls WA's first Surveyor-General, John Septumus Roe. He had a 5 hectare grant here.


Chidley Point

Chidley Point: Recalls Capt Frederick Chidley Irwin, the major in command of a detachment of the 63rd Regiment of Foot, whose mission was to protect and help establish the colony. He arrived with his men on board HMS Sulphur in June 1829, six days after the arrival of the first settlers and Stirling on the Parmelia. From September 1832 until September 1833, Irwin was temporarily appointed to act as administrator of the colony while Stirling was absent. Irwin was acting Governor of Western Australia from 1847 to 1848.


Mosman Bay

Mosman Bay: Takes its name from the nearby suburb of Mosman Bay, which was adopted by the Buckland Hill Road Board in October 1907. The area was previously known as Buckland Hill. It is named after Mosman in Sydney, the birthplace of one of the Road Board's members, RJ Yeldon. The area name was changed to Mosman Park in 1937 to avoid confusion with the Sydney suburb, the name of which honours Scots-born ship owner and pastoralist Archibald Mosman (1799-1863).

The bay has also been known as Samson Bay, and as Quarryman's Bay between the 1850s and 1900 when convicts and other workers cut the sheer 30 metre cliffs for building material. The spoil was dumped into the river and large clumps are still evident today.

Confusion still exists between between the river beach on Mosman Bay and the ocean beach of Mosman Beach, the common belief being that the name 'Mosman Beach' refers to the river beach.


Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Keanes Point

Butler Hump / Keanes Point: A point that separates Freshwater Bay from Mosman Bay, the name recalls John Butler, an innkeeper. He was given a grant of 250 acres on Freshwater Bay in 1830, after unsuccessfully attempting to secure land at Claremont. From this location, he operated "The Bush Inn", a stone house he had built and rigged out with native mahogany, commonly known as jarrah. early landowner. Butler Hump has more recently been known as Keanes Point, after Mrs Lilli Keane purchased an area of land at the point in 1891. The family homestead later became the clubhouse of the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.


Freshwater Bay

Freshwater Bay: Named because of the numerous freshwater springs at the base of the cliffs of the bay and not because it is a bay of freshwater (the bay is part of the Swan River estuary and is permanently saline. These springs are less apparent today due to the extensive use of groundwater. One spring occurred at Keanes Point, Peppermint Grove; another was adjacent to the present day Wilson Street, Claremont. Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh found and used a freshwater spring near the intersection of Lilla and Keane Streets, on 5 January 1697 during his visit to the Swan River and it is probably this spring that led to Vlamingh giving the bay its name.


Point Resolution

Point Resolution: The point is said to be named after HMS Resolution, the vessel used by James Cook in his Pacific voyages of 1772 and 1776. Who named it and why they chose this spot to honour Cook and his vessel is not known. The site had convict built buildings at its base which were later demolished. They housed convicts who quarried the limestone foreshore here in the 1860s. Olive and aloe plants on the level ground are surviving reminders of the convict encampment.

Armstrong Spit: Recalls colonial landowner, Adam Armstrong. The eastern portion of the present suburb of Dalkeith was originally Swan Location 85 of 320 acres, assigned to Armstrong in 1831. Armstrong, a widower, who arrived in the Colony aboard the Gilmore with his six children in 1829. Prior to coming, he was the manager of the Earl of Dalkeith's estate in Scotland and when he erected a cottage in 1833 on his land, he named it Dalkeith Cottage and raised goats and horses on the property.

Point Currie (Pelican Point): Recalls Capt Mark John Currie, Fremantle's colonial harbour master. Currie was among the original colonists of the Swan River colony, sailing on the Parmelia. Currie, who became the Swan River Colony's first Auditor, led three expeditions south of the Swan during 1829. Currie was allotted a 32-acre grant of land 4.8 km south-west of the present centre of Perth, alongside a wide point in the Swan River known then as Eliza Bay (now known as Matilda Bay), extending to and including Point Currie. The point is also known as Pelican Point.


Matilda Bay

Matilda Bay: Named after Matilda Roe, wife of WA's first surveyor-general, John Septumus Roe. It was originally known as Eliza Bay after his wife, Jane Eliza Currie, the wife of the area's first landowner, Capt Mark John Currie. After Currie left the colony he sold this grant to Henry Sutherland, the Assistant Surveyor, who changed the name to Crawley Bay after his mother's maiden name. in 1910 the property was acquired by the state and vested in the University of Western Australia in 1922. It was around that time that the bay's name was changed again, to Matilda Bay.

Quarry Point: Location of an early colonial limestone quarry.


Point Lewis

Point Lewis: Point Lewis is the northern abutment of the Narrows Bridge. Possibly named in 1831, it recalls John Lewis, Commissioner-General and Colonial Treasurer. In 1827 Gov. James Stirling had named the promontory Garden Point, as his expedition planted a small experimental garden at this location. There are no surviving colonial records that indicate the success or failure of this garden. It has also been referred to as One Tree Point as there was a solitary tree growing there for many years.


Mount Eliza

Mount Eliza: Named in 1827 by James Stirling, after Eliza Darling, the wife of the Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling. It is known as Kaarta gar-up and Mooro Katta in the local Noongar dialect. The hill has been an important ceremonial and cultural place for the Whadjuk tribe who had campsites and hunting grounds in the area. Mt Eliza is the site of Kings Park.

Mounts Bay: The bay at the foot of Mount Eliza. At the base of the southern face of Mt Eliza on Mounts Bay is a freshwater spring, known as Kennedy spring (Goonininup), which provided year-round water for the native inhabitants. The spring was noted by the first European visitors to the area, Willem de Vlamingh's party, on 11 January 1697. The Lieutenant Governor, James Stirling, chose the townsite of Perth because of its close proximity to the spring.

Mounts Bay during reclamation work in 1960

The shoreline of Mounts Bay originally hugged the steep slopes of Mount Eliza. A modest reclamation was done between 1921 and 1935. In the late 1950s works involving the Narrows Bridge started and the bay was considerably reduced in size. In 1967 the bay all but disappeared due to works related to the Mitchell Interchange and the northern approaches to the Narrows. An elderly Bessie Rischbieth famously protested against the project by standing in the shallows in front of the bulldozers for a whole day in 1967. She succeeded in halting progress - for that one day.

Point Fraser: Early maps showed this as a major promontory on the northern side of the river west of the Causeway. It disappeared between 1921 and 1935 when land fill was added on both sides and effectively straightening the irregular foreshore and forming the rectangular 'The Esplanade'. James Stirling named Point Fraser in 1827 after Charles Fraser, the expedition's botanist. Fraser was the Colonial Botanist of New South Wales.


Claisebrook Cove

Claise Brook: Named in 1827 by James Stirling after Dr Frederick Rushbrook Clause (1791-1852), surgeon of HMS Success. The name was later mis-spelt as Claise, and the name of the watercourse was gazetted as Claise Brook. It is now an underground drain for most of its original length, which empties into the Swan River at Claisebrook Cove at East Perth.

Claise Brook flowed east roughly along the line of the Mitchell Freeway and railway corridor to the north of the city centre, being fed by a string of lakes including Lake Monger, Lake Irwiin (site of Mitchell Freeway's Vincent Street overpass), Lake Sutherland (site of the Mitchell Freeway-Graham Farmer Freeway interchage between Sutherland and Old Aberdeen Streets) and Lake Kingsford (immediately to the east of Perth Railway Station) and string of swamps to its east. In 1833, water from Lakes Kingsford, Irwin, Sutherland and Henderson was re-channeled to drive a water-driven mill located in Mill Street.

36-year old Dr Clause joined Capt. James Stirling's ship HMS Success in February 1826, serving with it until August 1828. Consequently he was on board the Success in March 1827 when it arrived at the Swan River, on an exploring expedition for the purpose of assessing the area's suitability for establishing a British colony there. After exploring the coastal waters off the Swan River, Stirling selected a party of eighteen men, including Clause, to explore up the river. About a mile north of the present-day location of The Causeway, a fresh water brook and lagoon was discovered which Stirling named "Clause's Brook" and "Clause's Lagoon" respectively. The party camped at Clause's Lagoon on their first night.

The party eventually travelled up the Swan as far as the junction with Ellen Brook. Before turning back, Stirling divided the party into three groups, sending them in different directions. Stirling and Clause explored to the west, where they found a fresh water brook, probably Bennett Brook. At the end of the expedition, Clause wrote a letter on the healthiness of the climate, in support of Stirling's observations on the territory, and Charles Frazer's comments on the soil.


Walter's Brook, Banks Reserve

Walter's Brook: Named by Capt. James Stirling in 1827 after his elder brother, Walter Stirling. The brook still enters the Swan River at Banks Reserve, East Perth. The brook was once a substantial watercourse, being fed by a string of swamps to its east. These included Stone's Lake (Perth Oval), Lake Poullet (First Swamp, part of what is now Birdwood Square); Second Swamp (Bulwer Street, east of Lake Street); Third Swamp (Hyde Park Lake); Lake Thomson (Mews Swamp, between Lake, Brisbane and Beaufort streets); Lake Henderson (parts of what is now Robertson Park and Dorrien Gardens); Three Island Lake and Smith's Lake (now Charles Veryard Reserve).

Whatley Cove: Recalls Dr J Whatley, who was granted land here in 1830. The small inlet offered good landing facilities for goods transported from Fremantle. Whatley Cove has since been reclaimed and is now Claughton Reserve at the end of Kattaning Street, Bayswater.


Ron Courtney Island

Ron Courtney Island: Recalls Ron Courtney, the first chairman of the Swan River Conservation Board, formed in 1959. One of only three islands in the lower Swan River, Ron Courtney Island is actually the inner side of one of the river's meanders, rendered an island by the construction of a second river channel on its south side in 1968.

Bennett Brook: Matilda Roe, wife of WA's first surveyor-general, John Septumus Roe, whose maiden name was Bennett.

Wando Creek: Named because of the abundance of wando trees growing here.

Minchin Creek: Recalls James Minchin, who in November 1829 was given a grant of 1,211 acres on the Upper Swan River and acquired a farming, grazing and wine growing property, the purchase of which was completed by his third son Alfred. This property remained in the family until 1946.

Henley Brook: In March 1827, Captain Stirling was exploring the Swan River and when he reached the extremity of navigable water for their long boat, he made a close inspection of the country. Stirling named an area near Upper Swan "Henley Park" and this name was used as a property name in 1830 by W H Mackie and F C Irwin when they settled here. The brook flowing though the property was recorded as Henley Brook in 1842 and this name was approved as the suburb name in 1972. Between 1818 and 1822 Stirling's father, Andrew, was a tenant at Henley Park, a country house and estate in Surrey, England.

Ellen Brook: Recalls Ellen Stirling, wife of WA's first governor, James Stirling.

Swan River: South Bank

Willis Point: The first geographical feature upstream from the mouth of the Swan River is a sand bat that no longer exists. The original southern shoreline was a thin white sandy beach from Athur Head to Market Street. From Market Street a sandbar called Willis Point, covered in small bushes and rushes, extended about half a kilometre into the river, leaving only a narrow but deep channel near where C Shed stands today. The slowing of the river waters by a rocky bar across the entrance resulted in the formation of a sand bank or promontory known as Willis Point and greatly restricted water access to the channel. In most places the bar was less than 2 metres below the surface. Willis Point and the rocky bar had to be removed before the inner harbour could be built. The river channel is now 500 metres across and bounded by limestone moles.


C Shed, Victoria Quay

Victoria Quay: Recalls Queen Victoria, as the inner harbour of the Port of Fremantle was built during Queen Victoria's reign. due to irs closeness to the centre of Fremantle, Victoria Quay has always been used for the berthing of passenger ships. The Fremantle Passenger Terminal, built in 1961 to handle the increased passenger traffic generated by the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, of which Perth was the host city, is the largest and most recent structure on Victoria Quay. Soon after its completion, there was a shift in international passenger movements away from sea travel and towards air travel. These days, the terminal sees limited passenger ship traffic - only cruise liners - and is used primarily as a function centre.


Preston Point

Preston Point: Recalls William Preston, 2nd lieutenant, HMS Success. Named by James Stirling in 1827 when he explored the Swan River prior to settlement two years later.


Blackwall Reach

Blackwall Reach: It had a similar appearance to a place of that name on the River Thames, England.Blackwall Reach has a long cliff face which rises to an average height of 10 metres. The cliff area on the Bicton side was known to the local Aborigines as Jenalup. This was where women and children learnt life skills, catching fish in the shallow waters and obtaining fresh water from the limestone caves. A gap in the rocks, locally known as the Never Never, is a popular location for jumping into the river, though it is quite dangerous and numerous people have been injured or killed here. Another very popular sport near the cliffs is Scuba Diving. At 30 metres, the Swan River is at its deepest here. The bed is littered with old cars, motorbikes, shopping trolleys and many other items that have been driven or pushed off the cliffs over the years.


Point Walter

Point Walter: Named by James Stirling, after his grandfather, Admiral Sir Walter Stirling. the Point Walter sandbar was known to the local Beeliar and Whadjug aboriginal family groups as Dyundalup. It was a connecting point for trails in the area and a favourite tribal ground.


Lucky Bay

Lucky Bay: Originally known as White Beach, it is not known why the name was changed or why it was considered so lucky that a name change was deemed necessary.

Alfred Cove: Recalls an early settler, Alfred Waylen, the original grantee of Swan Location 74 which took in most of the present day localities of Myaree and Alfred Cove.


Melville Water

Melville Water: Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, 1st Lord of the Admiralty. It was named by Capt James Stirling during explorations in March 1827, two years prior to settlement at the Swan River. Stirling's expedition had been authorised by Viscount Melville.

Waylen Bay / Point Waylen: Recalls Alfred Waylen, a pioneer settler in the area who was granted Swan Location 74, covering most of present-day Alfred Cove and Myaree.


Waylen Bay

Point Dundas: Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville, 1st Lord of the Admiralty. It was named by Capt James Stirling during explorations in March 1827, two years prior to settlement at the Swan River. Stirling's expedition had been authorised by Viscount Melville.


Point Heathcote

Point Heathcote: Recalls Midshipman G.C. Heathcote of HMS Success, who is said to have been the first European to land there. It was one of the landing and camp sites of Captain James Stirling during his exploration of the Swan River in 1827. Point Heathcote was considered as a site for the capital city by James Stirling, before electing on its current position.


The Narrows

The Narrows: Descriptive name of this narrow stretch of water between the large expanses of Perth Water and Melville Water. Point Lewis is on its north shore; Point Belches and Mill Point are on its southern shore.

Point Belches: Recalls Peter Belches, 3rd lieutnant, HMS Success. Point Belches originally was a sandy promontory surrounding a deep semi-circular bay. Called Miller's Pool, the bay was a popular boating spot. It was filled in amid much opposition in 1940, in an effort to stop foreshore erosion and river flooding, improve transport and remove the algae collecting bays between Richardson and Mends Streets.


Mill Point

Mill Point: The point, on the western side of Point Belches, all but disappeared with the reclamation works for the construction of the Narrows Bridge and Kwinana Freeway in the early 1960s. The point marks the location of a mill which still stands here, that was built by one of Western Australia's most notable 19th century citizens, Sir George Shenton. Shenton was from a prominent colonial family, and was an astute businessman and politician.


Perth Water

Perth Water: A lake-sized stretch of water on the Swan River that is alongside the centre of the city of Perth.

Heirisson Island: Named by Nicolas Baudin after Francois Antoine Boniface Heirisson, midshipman of the French vessel Naturaliste, who led an expedition up the Swan River as far as the island (then a maze of lowlands and swamps) in 1803.


Burswood Island

Burswood Island: The locality now known as Burswood was originally a chain of swamps, of which Heirisson Island was part. In the 1830s, a canal was cut through the Burswood isthmus, bypassing what is today the loop to the east of Maylands, creating an island. It quickly silted up and a new canal following the river's line of flow today was cut near Trinity College. Western Australia's first golf course was built on Burswood Island in 1895. The Burswood Racecourse was established adjacent to the golf course in 1899.

The land south of the golf course and race course was used as sewerage treatment ponds between 1906 and 1934. Swan portland Cement operated a factory after the Great War, using shells dredged from the river. A sand company dredged sand from the same stretch of river, making the loop to the north of Burswood Island the river's permanent channel. The results of the dredging activity can be seen today in the width and depth of the river around Burswood. After World War II, it became a rubbish dump site until 1972. The Burswood Island Resort and Casino which occupies the site today was opened in 1985.


Black Swan Island (foreground)

Black Swan Island: Long an undeveloped area of land alongside the Swan River at Ascot, this island has no offical name and is referred to as Tidewater Island here as a means of identiication, and because it is accessed via Tidewater Way. When the Swan River was first explored by Gov Stirling in 1827, it was one of many low lying marshlands Stirling recorded on the eastern shores of the Swan River upstream from Perth Water. Most, including Burswood Island, have been reclaimed and developed.


Helena River joins the Swan River opposite Point Reserve in Bassendean

Helena River: Recalls Helena Dale, the sister of ensign Robert Dale, who was involved in numerous exploratory expeditions in the 1830s in the outlying areas around Perth and the Avon Valley to the east.

Hosking Brook (Darlington): A tributary of the Helena River, it is named after a pioneer family who settled in the area.

Mills Creek (Darlington): A tributary of the Helena River, it was named for a mill built beside it.

Darlington Creek (Darlington): A tributary of the Helena River, it takes its name from the Darling Range through which it flows. In 1827, Charles Fraser Government Botanist with Capt James Stirling, named the hills behind Perth the Governor Darling Range, after General Sir Ralph Darling, Governor of the parent colony of New South Wales. The Hills district of Darlington is named from a vineyard established there in 1834 by Dr Alfred Waylen called Darlington Vineyard.


Nyaania Creek

Nyaania Creek (Darlington): The name is of Aboriginal origin. It is believed to be the Aboriginal name for this creek.

Bee Eater Creek (Maida Vale): A tributary of the Helena River.

Kadina Brook (Maida Vale): A tributary of the Helena River, the name is beliewved to be of Aboriginal origin.

Quenda Creek (Maida Vale): A tributary of the Helena River, the name is of Aboriginal origin. It is believed to be the Aboriginal name for this creek.

Blackadder Creek:

Woodbridge Creek (Midvale): Presumably named by James Stirling as it shares its name with his 4000 acre property between the Swan and Helena Rivers adjoining the town site that he named Guildford. It was probably the choice of his wife, Ellen Stirling, as she came from Woodbridge in Surrey, England.


Jane Brook

Jane Brook: Jane Brook was named by the surveyor-general John Septimus Roe in 1829, after Jane Currie, the wife of the first harbour master, Capt Mark John Currie. The suburb of the same name takes its name from the brook.

Christmas Brook (Swan View): A tributary of Jane Brook.

Dowies Creek (Swan View): A tributary of Jane Brook.

Priest Creek (Swan View): A tributary of Jane Brook.

Glen Brook (Glen Forrest): Thus named because it flows through the locality of Glen Forrest.

Bugle Tree Creek (Parkerville): A tributary of Jane Brook.

Jarrah Creek: A tributary of Jane Brook, Jarrah Creek takes its name from the towering forest of jasrrah trees through which it flowed.

Mahogany Creek: Mahogany Creek is a picturesque tributary of Jane Brook which flows through the area. The creek was known by this name as early as 1830, and takes its name from the towering forest through which it flowed (mahogany was the early colonial name for Jarrah). This place is well known from "The Old Mahogany Inn" located here, an early colonial wayside inn, formerly known as the "Prince of Wales" Inn.

Susannah Brook: As early as 1827 Captain James Stirling and the New South Wales colonial botanist Charles Fraser explored the lower reaches of this river near to its confluence with the Swan River. Susannah Brook first appeared as the Susannah River in an eye sketch map by JS Roe (Surveyor-general) in 1829 when the Swan River Colony was first founded. Owing to the fact that the Susannah River was located mostly on Colonel Latour's property (Swan Location 6), its alternative name in the 1830s was Latour's Brook. It is believed the brook was named after Susannah Stirling, James Stirling's grandmother.

Clutterbuck Creek: Believed to be named after Katherine Mary Clutterbuck, an Anglican nun who pioneered a cottage home system for looking after orphan babies and children in Western Australia. Sisters Kate (Ms Clutterbuck) and Sarah set out to establish a home for orphaned babies at Parkerville in the Darling Range. Sister Kate took up residence in 1903 with eight children in an old hut and bark roofed barn which she named The League of Charity Homes for Waifs and Stray Babies and which was later expanded to became Parkerville Children's Home.

Davies Creek (Mt Helena):

Lion Mill Creek (Mt Helena): Takes its name from the Lion Timber Yards beside which it flowed. A mill on the site was purchased in 1880 by timber merchant James Port for Honey & Co., an Adelaide timber milling company. Port managed the re-named Lion Mill for almost three years and when Honey died in 1892 he purchased most of the company assets in WA. Port managed the re-named Lion Mill for almost three years and when Richard Honey died in 1892 he purchased most of the company assets in WA. The property is today a vineyard.

Charlotte Creek (Mt Helena):

Marionvale Creek (Mt Helena):


Convict Creek

Convict Creek (Boya): A tributary of the Helena River, it was named because of a convict depot on the slopes of Boya hill. Built in 1854, its construction was supervised by Edward Du Cane was the supervisor of the building of a convict depotDuring the convict era, in 1854 Edward Du Cane was the supervisor of the building of a convict depot on the slopes of the hill. . In 1870s a government bluestone quarry was developed on the western slope of the hill.

Gugeri Creek: The name is of Aboriginal origin. It is believed to be the Aboriginal name for this creek.

Poison Gully:

Toorrnart Creek (Boya): The name is of Aboriginal origin. It is believed to be the Aboriginal name for this creek.

Piesse Brook: Recalls an early farmer and settler, William Roper Piesse, a prominent citizen with a large family who were at one point based in Guildford. The brook ran through his property. Crumpet Creek

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