Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia. Captain James Stirling, who had explored the river two years earlier, persuaded the British government to found a free settlement rather than a convict colony, and the first ships arrived in June 1829. The initial camp was soon moved upstream and named Perth, which became the capital. The colony struggled in its early years: the land grants attracted settlers but the soil and climate were poorly understood, food was scarce and the settlement depended on imports. In 1831 the military outpost at Frederick Town, renamed Albany, was transferred from New South Wales, and on 6 February 1832 the settlement was formally renamed the Colony of Western Australia when Stirling at last received his commission as governor. The older name remained in informal use for decades, and Perth grew into the capital of the eventual state.