The History of Albany
The
first
formal
claim
of
possession
for
Britain
was
made
by
Commander
George
Vancouver
RN
(later
captain)
on
29
September
1791
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.
Lockyer and company arrived in the infamous brig Amity.
The Amity was built in Canada in 1816 beginning it's ocean life as a trader across the Atlantic Ocean for the first seven years and then spent a period also as a trader in the Irish Sea. The brig was purchased by the Ralston family of Scotland in 1823 as transport for the purpose of migrating to Australia. The following year it was sold to the NSW
Government. In June 1845 the Amity failed to navigate an uncharted sandbank in Bass Strait after spending approximately 14 years trading out of Hobart. A replica of the Amity now rests on the foreshore of Princess Royal Harbour only 200 meters from the original landing at Point Frederick.
After
the
formal
declaration
in
1829
of
the
Swan
River
Colony
(some
410km
to
the
North
West),
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.
Albany was a coaling Port, prior to the establishment of the the Fremantle Harbour Port, servicing mail steamers on their United Kingdom route.
Until 1978 Humpback, and other species of whale, were hunted and processed at the whaling station in Frenchman Bay. Fortunately the practice of whale hunting was prohibited throughout Australia by the International Whaling Commission in 1963 and all whaling stations except Frenchman Bay ceased to operate. The old station is now a whale museum
("Whale World") where people can visit to learn about past practices and new understandings of these ocean bearing mammals. Whale watchers come to Albany from the four corners of the earth to view Humpback and Southern Right whales during their migrations.
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