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The human history of Western Australia started when Australia's first inhabitants arrived on the northwest coast about 55,000 years ago. Over the next 20,000 years they slowly moved southward and eastward across the landmass. Aborigines were well established throughout Western Australia by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en-route to Batavia in the early seventeenth century.
On 26 October 1616 a Dutch explorer, Dirk Hartog landed at Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island. Hartog left a pewter plate inscribed (in Dutch):
In 1697 another Dutch sailor Willem de Vlamingh also reached the island and finding Hartog's pewter plate still in its original position he removed it and replaced it with another plate. The original was returned to Holland where it still is kept in the Amsterdam Museum. de Vlamingh's plate listed all the important sailors on the voyage and concluded with
In 1699, William Dampier sailed down the coast of Western Australia. He noted the lack of water. The description of Shark Bay in his account "A Voyage to New Holland", he expresses his frustration:
In 1818 the French explorer Louis de Freycinet, while exploring the coast, came across de Vlamingh's plate and removed it to France. The plate was eventually returned to Australia in 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na and is currently housed in the Maritime Museum in FremantleFremantle is a city located on Australia's western coast, at the mouth of the Swan River, 19 kilometres south from Perth. It was established by British settlers as part of the Swan River Colony in 1829. It was declared a city in 1929, and has a population.
The first formal claim of possession for BritainThe word Britain is used to refer to the United Kingdom (UK): i. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (from 1927), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ( 1801- 1927) or the United Kingdom of Great Britain ( 1707- 1801). was made by Commander George VancouverGeorge Vancouver ( June 22, 1757 May 12, 1798) was an officer of the Royal Navy, and an explorer best known for his exploration of North America and the Pacific coast along Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. He was born in King's Lynn, England. RN (later captain) on 29 September 1791Events January 25 The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791, splitting the old province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada March 3 The United States Congress passes a resolution calling for the establishment of the United States Mint on the spot he named Possession Point, at the tip of the peninsula between the waters he also named -- King George III Sound and Princess Royal Harbour at Albany. The "third" (III) was dropped later.
In the early 1800s the British became concerned about the possibility of a French colony being established on the coast of Western Australia and thus, in 1826, the New South Wales governor Ralph Darling established a settlement at King George Sound. A penal settlement in the area was considered but rejected. Instead, a small detachment headed by Edmund Lockyer with 18 soldiers, one captain, one doctor, one storekeeper and 23 convicts were sent as a labour force.
After the formal declaration in 1829 of the Swan River Colony (some 410 km to the North West) (see below), control of King George Sound was transferred from New South Wales to Western Australia and continued under a Government Resident. Captain James Stirling decreed that the settlement would be named " Albany" from 1832.