Kelmscott

History

Before European settlement, Kelmscott and the wider area was inhabited by the Whadjuk Noongars people, an Aboriginal ethnic group. During this time, Kelmscott was called by the Whadjuks as "Goolamrup". In November 1829, the Governor of the newly established Swan River Colony, James Stirling, led an expedition to choose a site of a new town along the Canning river. Kelmscott was then founded on 6 July 1830, and was named after Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, the birthplace of first Anglican clergyman in the colony Thomas Hobbes Scott. The first land grants given out were to Charles Wright and John Adam, who left in 1933 and 1931 respectively. Two streams in Kelmscott, Wright's Stream and Adam's Stream, were named after them. In addition, a lake was named after Charles Wright. 1830, John Atkinson was appointed to survey Kelmscott and drew up the first plan. On 9 October 2005, Kelmscott celebrated its 175th anniversary. The highlight of the celebrations was the running of the Hotham Valley Railway steam locomotive Pm706 from Perth railway station to Kelmscott station, with stops at Cannington, Gosnells, then Armadale station. This was the first running of steam "under the wires" on the Transperth network for some time. The event was specially arranged by the Public Transport Authority, whose Minister is also the member of parliament for the local electorate. On 6 February 2011, a declared total fire ban day, Robert James Stevens, 56, an ex-policeman, was using an angle grinder at his home and started the fire on his private property adjacent to the Brookton Highway in the Roleystone / Kelmscott area. A total of 72 homes were destroyed and 37 homes damaged. This is the single biggest house loss in Western Australia to a single bushfire event. Remarkably, 28 per cent of…

Most-observed species

• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  11,570
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  10,204
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  9,976
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  9,328
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  9,143
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  8,900
• Brown Honeyeater

  Lichmera indistincta (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) · Aves
  7,899
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  7,745

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2005-05-06
  5 km NW of Bullsbrook, Australia
• M 2.5 — 2005-04-15
  10 km SSW of York, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2005-03-15
  46 km NE of Boddington, Australia