Residency Museum

Child Places

• 00040 Major Lockyer Memorial

Statement of Significance

From the State Heritage Assessment: Residency Museum, an L shaped, single storied, masonry building with a timber framed, timber shingled roof, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: originally associated with the convict establishment, the place was the home of Albany's Resident Magistrates for eighty years; the place reflects the history and development of the town; the place has a high aesthetic value; and, the place is highly valued by the local community. In addition: The place around Residency Point has cultural significance to the Menang Noongar, who call it Kalyenup - a Home or Camp place (Kal + Fire) and possibly as the birthplace of Bessy Flower. The place includes the site of where the original flag was raised by Major Edmund Lockyer (formerly called Point Frederick) to proclaim the establishment of the King George Sound settlement as a military outpost of NSW for the British Government on 21st January 1827. The current flagstaff and Lockyer Memorial marks the approximate location of this site. The place includes the replica of the Brig Amity, the ship captained by Major Edmund Lockyer and which landed in this approximate location December 1826. The place contains the former Police Quarters built in 1924 to house the local police officers further reinforcing the place as the location of law and order particularly in combination with the adjacent Albany Gaol. Along with the recently added Welcome Walls, the place is significant for its association with the arrival of British to establish the first British settlement in Western Australia and subsequent settlers to Albany as well as the requirements for law, order and governance that colonisation requires.

Physical Description

Residency Museum The Residency Museum is a single storied masonry building with a timber framed, timber shingled roof. It is located on the west side of Parade Street (Residency Road), south of the railway line. The museum is an L shaped building, with the entrance located at the north of the building and near the internal corner of the ‘L’. Its brick walls are rendered externally and plastered internally. The verandahs to the internal part of the ‘L’ are now enclosed and an entry vestibule added. The Residency Museum was originally a one room building, probably as the store for the Convict Hiring Depot. This room is now used as an office. Within a few years, an additional room was built to the west of the original room, and a few years after that, it appears that two more rooms were added. All four rooms have a common hipped roof. In 1873, additions and alterations took place to convert the building to a residence for the Government Magistrate. The additions consisted of an ‘L’ shaped extension of seven rooms with a perimeter verandah. Essentially, the internal layout has not changed but the perimeter verandahs were later enclosed. The internal layout of the Residency Museum consists of an entry vestibule with a reception counter on the right. The reception counter is located in a room that serves as the museum bookshop but was probably originally a formal sitting area, judging by the French doors beyond which allow views to Princess Royal harbour. To the west of this room is another display room, which was possibly used as a dining room, being close to the early four roomed building which possibly could have been used as servant's quarters. To the east of the book shop is a similarly proportioned and orientated room, which leads via what appears to be an original double opening to a corner room. This corner room and the three rooms to the north of it are similar in size. The corner room may have been an auxiliary reception room and the three rooms to the north were probably bedrooms. With the exception of the bookshop room, all rooms are now used for museum display purposes. The conversion to a museum has resulted in the fitting of modern lighting and the bricking in of fireplaces Brig Amity The Brig Amity is a full scale reproduction of the original timber vessel. The vessel is ‘dry mounted’ on the purpose built wharf. Modifications to the original design were made in regard to the water supply and fire safety. The cannon may be the original signal/town gun. Major Lockyer Flag Raising Site Refer Historical Notes Lockyer Memorial The memorial is a simple design in rough finished local granite. The area of engraving has been made smooth with the following inscription ‘To Major Edmund Lockyer of the 57th Regt. who landed here from the Brig AMITY on the 26th December 1826 to found the FIRST BRITISH SETTLEMENT on the western side of Australia. Erected March 1936’. Former Police Quarters and Stables The former police quarters are built of brick, stone and a new corrugated iron roof. The kitchen has been altered since its original construction. The building is in good condition and forms part of the Residency Museum group of heritage buildings. The buildings are often used as accommodation for visiting scientists and WA Museum staff on field trips.

History

The Residency The Residency was established in 1854. It was situated in Port Road, on Lot B41, Reserve 4156. (Subsequent redesign has changed the street address to Residency Road.) In December 1826, Major Edmund Lockyer and 24 convicts arrived at King Georges Sound in the brig Amity. Lockyer was instructed to establish a military outpost of the colony of New South Wales. It was at Residency Point (formerly Point Frederick) that the flag was officially raised by Lockyer on 21st January 1827 to proclaim the settlement for the British crown. In 1831, following the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the former military outpost, named Fredericks Town, was placed under the control of Governor Stirling and renamed Albany. Free settlement was granted and a Government Resident, Sir Richard Spencer was appointed. Spencer lived at the former Government Farm, which is today named Strawberry Hill Farm. Albany in common with the rest of the colony was slow to develop and readily agreed to take convicts when the decision was made to bring convicts to the Swan River colony. In 1851, a convict depot was erected on the landing site of Major Lockyer and the Amity. Between 1854 and 1856, the depot comprised of convict cells, barracks, commissariat store, an administration block and the superintendent’s residence . In 1872, the convict depot was closed and the buildings were transferred to the Western Australian Government. The barracks and store were converted, at a cost of £332, into a home for Albany’s Government Magistrate. Following Federation in 1901, the post of Government Magistrate ended and the position became that of Resident Magistrate. Until 1953, the building was home to all Government Magistrates and Resident Magistrates in Albany. It was the centre for many civic and social functions, including balls, weddings and tea parties. With the closure of the building as a home in 1953 it become in turn a school hostel, a naval depot and training facility and sea scout headquarters operated from the building under the name TS Vancouver. In 1970, Major Lockyer Park was developed which included the Residency Museum. The park includes buildings and features significant to the town of Albany (refer below). After renovations in 1975, the Residency Museum was opened as the first branch of the Western Australian Museum outside the metropolitan area. As part of the tenth anniversary celebrations, renovations were carried out on the building. Most significantly the asbestos roof was replaced with shingles. The building continues to operate as a branch of the Western Australian Museum. Brig Amity The full-scale reproduction of the brig ‘Amity’ was built as a focal point for the celebrations of the sesquicentenary of white settlement in Albany. The original ‘Amity’ brought Major Lockyer and his party from Sydney in 1826 to establish a military outpost of the colony of New South Wales. The ‘dry mounted’ reproduction recreates the 142 gross commercial vessel built in 1815 in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada. Major Lockyer Flag Raising Site After having arrived in King Georges Sound in December 1826, by January 1827 sufficient progress had been made in establishing the settlement for Lockyer to prepare for the formal ceremony to proclaim the establishment of the King George Sound settlement as per his instructions from the Governor Darling of NSW. A flagstaff had been installed by Lockyer on Point Frederick - using a spar brought with them from Hobart - along with two 18 pounder guns (or cannonades) and the event was recorded by Lockyer in his journal: Sunday 21st January – This day at sunrise the colors were displayed on the Flagstaff; at twelve o’clock a Royal salute was fired from the Battery and a Feu-Du-Joie by the Troops, and an extra allowance of Flour with Raisins and suet was ordered for the occasion to be issued to the Troops and Convicts; a number of the natives having come to the settlement in the morning the seine was Hauled on purpose to give them a feast; about Three hundred weight was taken of Capital Fish. The day proved fine and the whole went off well. Lockyer also painted a water colour of the young settlement at King Georges Sound which also shows the flagstaff on the point. The name Point Frederick was changed to Residency Point during the time G. E. C. Hare was Resident Magistrate of Albany from 1871-1881. Lockyer Memorial In 1936 the Albany Council, with assistance from the WA Historical Society, arranged for a memorial to commemorate Major Edmund Lockyer’s landing to be placed at Residency Point as close as possible to the site of the historic ceremony of the raising of the flag in 1827. The raising of the flag by Lockyer established the military outpost of the colony of New South Wales which led to the annexation of the Western half of the Australia to the British crown and the founding of Albany. The granite for the memorial was quarried from Mt Melville and made by local monumental masons, Hartman & Son. The unveiling ceremony occurred on 12 March 1936, officiated by Lieutenant-Governor Sir James Mitchell. The memorial has been re-sited since its original construction. Former Police Quarters and Stables The quarters were built in 1924 to house the local police officers. The building now forms part of the Residency Group of heritage places. The former stables were removed to make way for an annexe to the Residency Museum, the ‘Optic’ building. Welcome Walls In 2008, a Welcome Walls installation was constructed in the southern grounds of the Residency (near the lake) to commemorate the arrival of migrants and acknowledge the contribution they made to Albany and WA.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Authenticity: Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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