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Fremantle Town Trust

Daniel Scott, Town Trust Chairman >

Hitchcock:
The first record of a body being entrusted with the control of civic affairs in Fremantle is to be found in the Perth Gazette of April 22, 1848, wherein there was a notification of the appointment of a Town Trust ... 
The Town Trust, the first local government body in Fremantle, was gazetted in April 1848. It was made up of a chairman and five members. The chairman was Captain Daniel Scott and the members Alexander Francisco, William Pearse, Alfred [Alexander] Davies, John Bateman and E. [Henry] Yelverton. C.A. Manning was honorary rate collector. The town lots were numbered from 1 to 589, and the assessment for all lots in 1855 was £1 per annum, payable in two moieties of 10/-. Hitchcock: 88.

Ewers' membership of the 1848 Town Trust is different from Hitchcock's:

Ewers:
It was not until 1848 that a Town Trust came into being in Fremantle, and then in the most unostentatious manner. The first indication of its existence is contained in a letter from Daniel Scott to the Colonial Secretary, dated 6 April 1848. It apologizes to His Excellencey the Governor for having omitted in terms of the act of Council to report the office-bearers of the Town Trust of Fremantle 'elected in January last'. The office-bearers were: D. Scott (Chairman), A. Francisco (Treasurer). W. Pearse, H. Davis, J. Bateman, H. Yelverton. Ewers: 39.

Ewers has a Davis, but no Davies, and his Yelverton has the initial H, not E. Note that 'Davis' does not appear in Ewers' list later in the book, reproduced below. However, Alfred Davies appears in that, so 'H. Davis' must be a typo for A. Davies. As for Yelverton, it seems likely this would be timber merchant Henry Yelverton (1821-1880) the licensee of the Race Horse Inn, so Hitchcock's E is a typo for H.

John K. Ewers, 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. [1st ed. 1948] Appendix 5: 213.

References and Links

Battye, JS 1924, Western Australia: A History from its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Ewers, John K. 1971, The Western Gateway: A History of Fremantle, Fremantle City Council, with UWAP, rev. ed. [1st ed. 1948].

Hitchcock, JK 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Fremantle Stuff Chronology

Wikipedia List of Governors of Western Australia

Wikipedia List of Mayors of Fremantle

Wikipedia List of Mayors of East Fremantle


Garry Gillard | New: 7 October, 2015 | Now: 18 April, 2022