Founding of Perth, Western Australia
- When
- 1829
- Where
- Perth
- Episodes
- 2
Perth was founded in 1829 as the administrative center of the Swan River Colony. The town was named in honor of Sir George Murray, with its founding commemorated on 12 August 1829 when Helen Dance, wife of the captain of HMS Sulphur, felled a tree.
Episodes
- Ceremonial Tree Cutting
Helen Dance felled a tree on 12 August 1829 to commemorate the founding of Perth.
- Naming of Perth
Perth was named in honor of Sir George Murray, as recorded in Charles Fremantle's diary.
Background and detail
Founding. The founding of Perth was marked on 12 August 1829, when Helen Dance, wife of the captain of HMS Sulphur, felled a tree to commemorate the town's founding. The initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it became the capital city of Western Australia.
Naming. The town was named Perth according to the wishes of Sir George Murray, as recorded in Charles Fremantle's diary entry for 12 August 1829. This naming reflected the political and administrative influences shaping the colony's early development.
People involved
- Helen Dance · Ceremonial figure
- Captain Dance · Captain of HMS Sulphur
- Sir George Murray · Influencer of town naming
Sources
- Perth Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-14
- Swan River Colony Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-09
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.