Editing Fremantle (section)

=== European settlement and convict era ===
{{See also|Swan River Colony|Convict era of Western Australia}}
{{Multiple image
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 | image1    = Fremantle-RoundHouse.jpg
 | caption1  = Completed in 1831, the [[Round House (Western Australia)|Round House]] is the oldest public building in Western Australia. It can be seen atop [[Arthur Head]] in the painting below.
 | image2    = Jane Eliza Currie - Panorama of the Swan River Settlement, 1831.jpg
 | caption2  = Jane Eliza Currie (wife of explorer [[Mark John Currie]]), ''Panorama of the Swan River Settlement'', {{circa|1831}}
}}
The first Europeans to visit the site of modern-day Fremantle were Dutch explorers captained by [[Willem de Vlamingh]], in 1697. They mapped the area and went up the Swan River, and Vlamingh reported that it would be an ideal place for a settlement, although no attempts were made at the time.

The area was considered as a site for possible British settlement in 1827, when [[Captain James Stirling]], in {{HMS|Success|1825|6}}, explored the coastal areas near the Swan River. His favourable report was welcomed by the British Government, who had for some time been suspicious of French colonial intentions towards the western portion of Australia. As a result of Stirling's report, Captain [[Charles Fremantle]] of {{HMS|Challenger|1826|6}}, a 603-ton, 28-gun frigate, was instructed to sail to the west coast of Australia to establish a settlement there.<ref>Jackson, K. (1984). Fremantle, Western Australia, p. 7</ref>

On 2 May 1829, Fremantle hoisted the [[Union Flag]] in a bay near what is now known as Arthur Head, and in accordance with his instructions, took formal possession "of the whole of the West Coast of [[New Holland (Australia)|New Holland]]" in the name of Britain's [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]].<ref>Fremantle-the beginning (1972) In Gateway June 1973, £ol.2, No. 1, p. 12.</ref> [[Western Australia Day]] (formerly Foundation Day) is observed on the first Monday in June, although it was actually on 2 June 1829 that Captain [[James Stirling (Australian governor)|James Stirling]] on {{ship||Parmelia|barque|2}} arrived with Surveyor-General Roe and the first contingent of immigrants to set up the Swan River Colony.<ref>Hitchcock, J.K. (1927). Fremantle, 1829–49, found in Early Days, Vol. 1, Part 1, p. 11</ref> The settlement of [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth]] began on 12 August 1829. Captain Fremantle left the colony on 25 August after providing much assistance to Stirling in setting up the colony. It was then that Stirling decided to name the port settlement "Fremantle".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Appleyard |first1=Reginald Thomas |last2=Manford |first2=Toby |year=1979 |title=The Beginning: European Discovery and Early Settlement of Swan River Western Australia |location=Nedlands |publisher=University of Western Australia Press |isbn=0-85564-146-0 |oclc=6423026 }}</ref> In early September 1829, the merchant vessel ''Anglesea'' grounded at Gage [[Roadstead|Roads]], at the mouth of the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]]. She did not break up, as had been expected, but instead survived to become Western Australia's first [[prison ship|prison hulk]].<ref>Goulding (2007), p.14.</ref> {{ship||Lotus|1826 ship|2}}, which arrived on 10 October 1829, became the second vessel to land immigrants at Fremantle.<ref>Favenc (1908), p.242.</ref>

On 1 June 1850, the first convicts arrived at Fremantle aboard {{ship||Scindian||2}}. The thirty-seventh and last convict ship to dock at Fremantle was {{ship||Hougoumont|ship|2}} on 10 January 1868, signalling the end of [[penal transportation]] to Australia. Among the 280 convicts on board were 62 [[Fenian]] military and political prisoners—members of the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]—six of whom managed to escape the Convict Establishment in the [[Catalpa rescue]] of 1876.<ref>[http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/History/theconvictera/characters/thefenians/Pages/default.aspx The Fenians]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702194517/http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/History/theconvictera/characters/thefenians/Pages/default.aspx |date=2 July 2014 }}, FremantlePrison.com.au. Retrieved 9 December 2011.</ref> During this period, notorious South Sea pirate [[Bully Hayes]] lived in Fremantle with his fiancée Miss Scott, daughter of the Fremantle Harbour Master.<ref>[[Frank Clune|Clune, Frank]]. ''Captain Bully Hayes: Blackbirder and Bigamist''. Perth: [[Hesperian Press]], 1997. {{ISBN|0-85905-239-7}}, p. 11</ref>