Early Swan River Colony by Mary E Calder

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Ex library copy with no external stickers. Partial date due slip and borrower card on inside page. Pages 17 and 33 have some foxing marks. Otherwise, the interior is still in very good condition. Dust jacket has only light creasing at edges and is now enclosed in protector.

The settlement of the western third of Australia is a fascinating story of hasty and haphazard preparation by the British Government and tremendous courage amid much privation by the settlers. Captain Stirling's report of a 'rich and romantic land' coincided with rumours of French interests on the western coast and caused the Colonial Office to give the Swan River Colony its blessing and very little else.

In this book, Mary Calder describes the events from the European discovery of the Swan River through the first two decades of British settlement until the arrival of the first convict ship in 1850. Historical facts are interspersed with many accounts of human endeavour, making this book a fascinating reading and a fitting tribute to the British settlers of Western Australia. (book flap)