INSPIRE Writer in Residence initiative 2022-23

Located on the banks of the Swan River off Johnson Road, Maylands, Peninsula Farm at Wu-rut Woorat is the site of one of the first farms in the colony and one of the earliest residences still standing in the metropolitan area. Peninsula Farm offers a unique opportunity to explore the first years of European settlement in Western Australia. Constructed by Joseph Hardey with his wife Ann in 1839, it was the third house he had built at this location, a property originally granted to him in 1830. Over the years the house was added to, expanded outwards and upwards. At the same time, the farm became smaller and smaller.

Peninsula Farm remained in the Hardey family until 1913. Joseph Hardey and his son Richard, who took over management of the property in the late 1860s, were highly influential in the religious, business and political activities of the colony. Peninsula Farm, however, tells more than just their stories. It also tells of their wives and daughters, the women and servants who ran the house and the workers who ran the farm. It tells of farming, and how families and the young colony sustained themselves. And it tells the stories of dispossession and dislocation of the Whadjuk Noongar people, as the Swan River Colony grew and more of their land was carved up for new owners.

Please note: Peninsula Farm is a very popular property for school groups and visitors, which can interrupt quiet contemplation. A schedule of excursions can be provided for the resident writer to consider.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space, Wi‐Fi and basic kitchen facilities. There is a standard toilet available but no disability access toilet on site. Overnight accommodation is not available. Access to cycle paths but limited public transport. On-site café opening November 2022.

Woodbridge sits on the banks of the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River), one of the most culturally significant places in Whadjuk Noongar Country. It has sustained the Whadjuk people for tens of thousands of years and is known as Mandoon, or Munda’s Country.

Captain James Stirling took up land here in 1829. He named his property ‘Woodbridge’ as it reminded him of the area around the home of his wife’s family in Surrey, England. Stirling had a small cottage built but spent little time there. At the end of his term as Governor in 1839, Stirling left the colony and leased the property to various tenants.

Charles Harper married Fanny de Burgh in 1879 and the following year took up a lease at Woodbridge. In 1883 land was purchased and the Harpers began the construction of a large family home. Two years later, Charles, Fanny, their three sons and one daughter moved into the completed house. Over the following decade three more boys and three girls were born. The family was supported by live in staff and others who came in for specific tasks.

Woodbridge supported extensive orchards of apples, pears, peaches and table grapes and there was a commercial nursery mainly stocking fruit trees and vines. Charles worked on the development of various wheat varieties, pioneered the use of artesian water for agricultural purposes, developed an inexpensive fencing system and improved pastures through the use of clover and superphosphate. Additionally, he served as a parliamentarian, was part owner of The West Australian newspaper and started The Western Mail.

In 1895 Charles established a school in the house for his children and those of neighbours. A small single storied school building was erected in 1900. It was purchased a decade later by the Church of England and went on to become what is now Guildford Grammar School. For twenty years from 1921 the house operated as Woodbridge House School. During World War II it was used as the Old Women’s Home before its conversion in 1964 to an annexe for Governor Stirling Senior High School. Woodbridge was vested in the National Trust in 1968.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space, Wi‐Fi, basic kitchen facilities and toilet access. The writer’s space is upstairs, without lift facilities. Overnight accommodation is not available. There is a café on site and it is close to public transport and cycle paths.

No 1 Pump Station sits at the foot of Mundaring Weir, which dams the Helena River, 39 kms east of Perth. The river was a traditional east-west travel route for corroborees in what is now called the suburb of Guildford. The damming of the river has changed the cultural landscape of the area dramatically and forever.

No 1 Pump Station was the first of eight steam pump stations constructed as part of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, designed by CY O’Connor to transfer water over a distance of 560 km from the Perth hills to the WA Goldfields to bring precious water to this notoriously dry part of the state.

In sweltering heat on 22 January 1903, Lady Margaret Forrest, wife of Sir John Forrest, started the engines at No 1 Pump Station to open the scheme. Sir John Forrest, then a Federal politician, had obtained a loan and parliamentary approval to build the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme under his premiership of WA. While there was considerable derision from some about the scheme from many in politics, he remained a supporter of the vision.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space and basic kitchen facilities. There is a standard toilet available, but no disability access toilet available on site. Overnight accommodation is not available. There is no access to public transport, requires own car.

John Curtin, wartime Prime Minister of Australia, and his wife Elsie built this house in 1923. Over the next seventy-five years, four generations of the Curtin family lived here.

The house underwent major conservation and interpretation works  in 2010 including restoration of the garden. Inside you will find fascinating information on the day to day lives of John, Elsie, their children and even their dog, Kip! If you want to know more, read the Curtin Family Home booklet or let ‘Elsie’ tell her story through an audio tour of the house.

This National Trust project provided an exciting opportunity to focus on what is an often neglected part of John Curtin – the importance of his home life. The unassuming nature of the Jarrad Street House reflects the nature of the man and his family and helps explain his political convictions and directions for the nation during the Second World War.

The property has been in the care of the National Trust since 2002 and is one of only four former prime ministers’ homes that are in public ownership.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space, Wi‐Fi, kitchen facilities and toilet access. Overnight accommodation is available subject to availability: two bedrooms, (one double bed and two singles), one standard bathroom. Length of stay is negotiable (2–3 weeks), with the costs of rent and services covered by the INSPIRE initiative. Access is fair but non-wheelchair toilet and bathroom. Curtin Family Home is close to public transport and walking distance to the Cottesloe township.

East Perth Cemeteries sits on Whadjuk Noongar Country in an area known as Martellup, on a sandy hill overlooking Western Australia’s capital city.

In 1829 this was the site of the first colonial burial ground in Perth when a general cemetery was established. This was followed by 6 more of different denominations, plus one for felons, until the closure of the eight cemeteries in 1899. More than 10,000 people who died in colonial Perth are buried here, from the wealthy and prominent to the poor and unknown.

In the middle of the Church of England Cemetery stands a simple Gothic church, designed by colonial architect Richard Roach Jewell. Despite a period of neglect, St Bartholomew’s is still a consecrated church and is used for church services, weddings, and other religious events.

Since the closure of the Cemeteries, the majority of the grave headstones and markers have been lost through decay, neglect, vandalism, and well-intentioned ‘cleanups’. The remaining 800, now cared for by the National Trust, offer a unique opportunity to tell and explore stories of bravery, tragedy, illness and accident, of success, suffering and loved ones lost.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space with limited disability access, Wi‐Fi and limited kitchen facilities (running water only at toilet block). There is a universal access toilet on site. Overnight accommodation is not available. It is close to public transport and walking distance from East Perth and the CBD.

ANZAC Cottage was the earliest First World War memorial to be built in Western Australia, and was initiated by the Mount Hawthorn Progress Association in December 1915, to honour those who fought in the Gallipoli campaign.

Made possible by donations of money and building materials from the community, and generous commitment of skills by tradesmen and labourers, ANZAC Cottage was constructed in one day: Saturday 12 February 1916.

ANZAC Cottage was deemed to be a ‘practical memorial’, and served as a place of commemoration for those who lost their lives at Gallipoli. It was also a home for a returned wounded soldier and his family. Private John Porter was the first returned soldier to live in Mount Hawthorn, a member of the famous 11th Battalion C Company which took part in the historic landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Private Porter and his family lived in ANZAC Cottage until the 1960s and descendants still maintain a close connection with the cottage.

Onsite facilities

Residency includes access to a writing space and basic kitchen facilities. There is a standard toilet available with no disability access toilet available on site. Overnight accommodation is not available. There is easy access to public transport from ANZAC Cottage.