University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilities elsewhere. UWA was established in 1911 by an act of the Parliament of Western Australia, began teaching students two years later, it is the sixth-oldest university in Australia, was Western Australia's only university until the establishment of Murdoch University in 1973. Because of its age and reputation, UWA is classed one of the "sandstone universities", an informal designation given to the oldest university in each state; the university belongs to several more formal groupings, including the Group of Eight and the Matariki Network of Universities. In recent years, UWA has been ranked either in the bottom half or just outside the world's top 100 universities, depending on the system used. Alumni of UWA include one Prime Minister of Australia, five Justices of the High Court of Australia, one Governor of the Reserve Bank, various federal cabinet ministers, seven of Western Australia's eight most recent premiers.
In 2018 alumnus mathematician Akshay Venkatesh was a recipient of the Fields Medal. In 2014, the university produced its 100th Rhodes Scholar. Two members of the UWA faculty, Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, won Nobel Prizes as a result of research at the university; the university was established in 1911 following the tabling of proposals by a royal commission in September 1910. The original campus, which received its first students in March 1913, was located on Irwin Street in the centre of Perth, consisted of several buildings situated between Hay Street and St Georges Terrace. Irwin Street was known as "Tin Pan Alley" as many buildings featured corrugated iron roofs; these buildings served as the university campus until 1932, when the campus relocated to its present-day site in Crawley. The founding chancellor, Sir John Winthrop Hackett, died in 1916, bequeathed property which, after being managed for ten years, yielded £425,000 to the university, a far larger sum than expected; this allowed the construction of the main buildings.
Many buildings and landmarks within the university bear his name, including Winthrop Hall and Hackett Hall. In addition, his bequest funded many scholarships, because he did not wish eager students to be deterred from studying because they could not afford to do so. During UWA's first decade there was controversy about whether the policy of free education was compatible with high expenditure on professorial chairs and faculties. An "old student" publicised his concern in 1921 that there were 13 faculties serving only 280 students. A remnant of the original buildings survives to this day in the form of the "Irwin Street Building", so called after its former location. In the 1930s it was transported to the new campus and served a number of uses till its 1987 restoration, after which it was moved across campus to James Oval; the building has served as the Senate meeting room and is in use as a cricket pavilion and office of the university archives. The building has been heritage-listed by both the National Trust and the Australian Heritage Council.
The university introduced the Doctorate of Philosophy degree in 1946 and made its first award in October 1950 to Warwick Bottomley for his research of the chemistry of native plants in Western Australia. UWA is one of the largest landowners in Perth as a result of government and private bequests, is expanding its infrastructure. Recent developments include the $22 million University Club, opened in June 2005, the UWA Watersports Complex, opened in August 2005. In addition, in September 2005 UWA opened its $64 million Molecular and Chemical Sciences building as part of a commitment to nurturing and developing high quality research and development. In May 2008, a $31 million Business School building opened. In August 2014 a $9 million new CO2 research facility was completed, providing modern facilities for carbon research; the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre, a $62 million research facility on campus, was completed in October 2016. The 65-hectare Crawley campus sits on the Swan River, about five kilometres west of the Perth central business district.
Many of the buildings are coastal limestone and Donnybrook sandstone, including the large and iconic Winthrop Hall with its Romanesque Revival architecture. These buildings are dotted amongst expansive lawns and thickets of trees, such as the Sunken Garden and the Tropical Grove; the beauty of the grounds and rich history of the campus make it a popular spot for weddings. The Arts Faculty building encompasses the New Fortune Theatre; this open-air venue is a replica of the original Elizabethan Fortune Theatre and has hosted regular performances of Shakespeare's plays co-produced by the Graduate Dramatic Society and the University Dramatic Society. The venue is home to a family of peafowl donated to the University by the Perth Zoo in 1975 after a gift by Sir Laurence Brodie-Hall; the Berndt Museum of Anthropology, located in the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, contains one of the world's finest collection of Aboriginal art, according to the Collections Australia Network. Its Asian and Melanesian collections are of strong interest.
Established in 1976 by Ronald and Catherine Berndt, it is planned to be incorporated in a purpose-built permanent structure, the Aboriginal Cultures Museum, designed and is awaiting funding. The Cultural Precinct of the University is located in the Northern part of the Crawley campus. University Theatres
Centenary of Western Australia
In 1929, Western Australia celebrated the centenary of the founding of Perth and the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent European settlement in WA. A variety of events were run in Perth, regional areas throughout the state, across Australia such as the Western Australian Centenary Air Race. In 1926, the 25th anniversary of federation passed without much recognition, due in part to the sense of isolation that help to form Western Australia's identity. There was limited acknowledgement from the other states of the unique circumstances of Western Australia's situation, due to what historian Geoffrey Blainey described as "the tyranny of distance", it was this isolation. In 1927, the premier, Phillip Collier, asked Hal Colebatch to write a history of the state, in 1929 A Story of a hundred years: Western Australia, 1829-1929 was published. A celebration committee began preparations in 1928, in 1929 produced a number of publications including calendars of events; as 1929 approached, most towns formed their own committees and organised events, these ranged from special race meetings to regional shows, formal dinners and sporting events.
Additionally some towns and community organisations renamed existing local features like parks and buildings, while others set aside an area for a monument, unveiled in the presents of dignitaries including the Governor and descendants of the early settlers. In April 1929 there was a demonstration held in Perth of fire brigades from around the country. In June 1929 there was the Australian national general Methodist conference. In July 1929 there were interstate football games held in Perth. Many locations in Western Australia had buildings or locations that became known as Centenary memorials. Avenues of trees were planted in Kings Park in commemoration of the event as well as honouring people involved in the celebrations; the Perth Branch of the Royal Mint produced a commemorative medal. Most of the 85,000 medals struck were bronze, the majority were given to Western Australian school children. 900 silver medals were made, as were 3 gold medals. The Governor Sir William Campion presided at the placement of a plaque in the wall of the Perth Town Hall on Barrack Street that recorded the centenary celebrations in August.
The Centenary Celebration Period was designated as 28 September 1929 – 12 October 1929. Despite a range of events involving various national bodies in the year, the specific main event was the 1929 Centenary Parade, held on Wednesday 2 October and known as the Historic and Industrial Procession, passing through Perth. Wednesday 2 October 1929 was a public holiday in Perth; the main Centenary procession involved considerable preparation of floats representing commercial and regional attributes of the state. It passed through the streets of Perth; the Centenary Ball and celebrations at the Perth Oval were held. The afternoon at Perth Oval on the same day was the site of a Military Tournament. In September, 1929, a choir of 1,000 voices sang at a Children's Thanksgiving Mass in Victoria Square, in a Centenary concert in His Majesty's Theatre. On 24 November 1929, the Kings Park War Memorial Cenotaph was unveiled by the Governor William Campion to commemorate the fallen of World War I. One of the events organised was a re-enactment of the 1829 arrival of settlers at Fremantle, attended by Campion.
In October, the Premier, Phillip Collier announced that prisoner sentences of more than one month would be reduced at the rate of two days for each month of sentence remaining, after allowing for good conduct. Prisoners serving sentences during His Majesty's pleasure were excluded from the remissions. Western Australian historian Geoffrey Bolton ties in the events and the subsequent difficult times due to the economic depression in his book A Fine Country to Starve in. While more Annette Davis looked at the popular entertainment values of the era. A significant amount of the organisation of the celebrations was attributed to the librarian James Sykes Battye, whose efforts in organising committees were noted in the celebration year; the Royal Western Australian Historical Society commissioned plaques that were ceremonially placed upon locations of significance to Western Australia. Locations included: The Round House, the oldest building still standing in WA All Saints Church, Henley Brook, at the camp site of Captain James Stirling's furthest up-stream exploration in 1827 Chippers Leap Colebatch, Hal Sir, 1872–1953, A Story of a hundred years: Western Australia, 1829–1929, Fred.
Wm. Simpson, Government PrinterCS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list Kirwan, John Sir, The centenary of Western Australia, s.n. Western Australian Centenary Celebrations. Executive Committee, Souvenir programme: Western Australia's centenary, 1829–1929, Issued by the Centenary Celebrations Executive Committee Wilson, J. Graham, Western Australia's centenary 1829–1929: first century's progress with antecedent records, 1527–1828, Historic Press Centenary of Albany, Western Australia The Foundation of Perth 1829, a painting depicting the founding of Perth in 1829 Silver Centenary, a plane built in 1929–1930 and named in honour of the centenary. WAY 79, the 1979 celebration of the 150th anniversary Australian Bicentenary, the national event held in 1988 Western Australian 175th Anniversary, in 2004 Battye, J. S; the centenary of Western Australia. Mutual Provident Messenger, No. 381, Vol. XXXVIII, No
Esplanade Reserve
The Esplanade Reserve in Perth, Western Australia was a heritage listed public space between Perth Water and the Perth central business district. It formed part of and was, on occasions incorrectly referred to as the Perth foreshore, or the Perth waterfront; the public space was resumed by the Western Australian state government in April 2012 as part of the Elizabeth Quay redevelopment of the Perth waterfront area. The road along the northern boundary of that space is called The Esplanade; the reserve was established in 1880 on land reclaimed from the Perth Water northern shore between the William Street and Barrack Street jetties. Adjacent hotels, railway stations and other features have used the term Esplanade to show their link to the space; the Perth Water northern edge from Mount Eliza in Kings Park to The Causeway has been extensively modified by landfill along the original pre-European river shore. Many projects and constructions on the Esplanade area and adjacent areas have reflected the changing identity of Perth.
The Esplanade was developed in the 1870s to provide a site of active recreation for the inhabitants of the city. The idea of a site closer to the administrative and residential heart of the city had been a matter of concern since at least 1864, when a fund for the establishment of a new recreation ground was established.. Stones were placed in the river to mark out the edge of the reclamation, around 1867 -1868, but little other work was undertaken until 1870. Between 1870 and 1878 reclamation was undertaken using mud dredged up from the river bottom and street sweepings, it was handed to the City of Perth in 1880 as a Crown Grant in Trust "for the inhabitants of Perth for recreation purposes forever". Since its handover to the City of Perth, it has been the site of many celebrations and national commemorations; the first major event held on the Esplanade was the 1881 Intercolonial Exhibition, organised by Richard Twopenny and Jules Joubert. Joubert, who spent several months in the city to develop and oversee the exhibition, recommended a city baths, in 1885 the first Perth City Baths were established at the end of the Esplanade Reserve.
The Perth Bowling Club green was established directly across from the Esplanade Hotel in 1895, the green and players appear in the images created to promote the hotel in years. At various stages in its history, the Esplanade was a suggested site of various ideas a new town hall
Horrie Miller (aviator)
Horace Clive "Horrie" Miller OBE was a pioneering Australian aviator and co-founder of MacRobertson Miller Airlines. He flew in the 1929 Western Australian Centenary Air Race; the main road to the Perth International Airport Terminal 1 is named Horrie Miller Drive in honour of the aviator. West Australian Airways Access road to new International Airport to be named "Horrie Miller Drive" in honour of WA pioneer aviator The West Australian, 1 Dec. 1984, p. 40 Dunn, Speck in the sky: a history of Airlines of Western Australia Perth, W. A: Airlines of W. A ISBN 0-9590823-0-1 Lewis, Julie Interview with Dunbar Hooper, Horrie Miller Battye Library Oral History transcript Miller, Horace Clive Early birds: magnificent men of Australian aviation between the wars Adelaide: Rigby, Series Seal books ISBN 0-7270-0135-3 Court, Sir, Horace Clive Miller, 1893-1980: from barnstorming joyrides to boardrooms / an address by Sir Charles Court in presenting the 1995 Sir Norman Brearley oration at W. A. Club, Perth, W.
A. on 23 August 1995. Perth, W. A.: Civil Aviation Historical Society, 1995. National Archives of Australia World War I service records search, accessed 7 July 2007. Mervyn W. Prime, 2011, "Horrie Miller", Aviation Australia, accessed 16 June 2011
History of Western Australia
The human history of Western Australia commenced between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago with the arrival of Indigenous Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded the range of their settlement to the south of the continent; the first recorded European contact was in 1616, when Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog landed on the west coast. Although many expeditions visited the coast during the next 200 years, there was no lasting attempt at establishment of a permanent settlement until December 1826 when an expedition on behalf of the New South Wales colonial government, led by Major Edmund Lockyer, landed at King George Sound. On 21 January 1827 Lockyer formally took possession of the western third of the continent of Australia for the British Crown; this was followed by the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, including the site of the present-day capital, Perth. The harsh conditions faced by the settlers resulted in population growth being minimal until the discovery of gold in the 1880s.
Since the gold rush, the population of the state has risen with substantial growth in the period since World War II. Western Australia gained the right of self-government in 1890, joined with the five other states to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901; the desire of Western Australians to revert to complete self-governance, separate from the Commonwealth, culminated in 1933 with a successful referendum for secession supported by 68% of electors. In 1935 the British parliament declined to act since secession would require the assent of the Australian parliament, the movement lapsed with an improving economy and generous federal grants; when Australia's first inhabitants arrived on the northwest coast 40,000 to 60,000 years ago the sea levels were much lower. The Kimberley coast at one time was only about 90 km from Timor, which itself was the last in a line of spaced islands for humans to travel across. Therefore, this was a possible location for which Australia's first immigrants could arrive via some primitive boat.
Other possible immigration routes were via islands further north and through New Guinea. Over the next tens of thousands of years these Indigenous Australians moved southward and eastward across the landmass; the Aborigines were well established throughout Western Australia by the time European ships started accidentally arriving en route to Batavia in the early 17th century. The first European to sight Western Australia was the Dutch explorer, Dirk Hartog, the first European to suggest to have found a continent there, who on 26 October 1616 landed at what is now known as Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island. Before departing, Hartog left behind an inscribed pewter plate affixed to a post. In 1696 the plate was discovered and replaced by Willem de Vlamingh and repatriated to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. A multitude of Dutch visits followed during that century, charting the whole of the west coast, the West Australian south coast and Australia's northern coast; the first English vessel to visit, when attempting to sail the Dutch established "Brouwer Route" to the Indies, was Tryall, an East India Company-owned East Indiaman under the command of John Brookes who in 1622 sighted Point Cloates before on 25 May wrecking on Tryal Rocks, off the northwest coast of Australia.
Some of the 143 crew remained on the Monte Bello Islands for 7 days, during that time sighting Barrow Island, before sailing to Batavia in a longboat. A second boat brought some more crew to Batavia, so just over 40 people survived, including Brookes. One hundred crew perished in the wreck. Tryall became Australia's oldest known shipwreck. A English visitor was William Dampier, who in 1699 sailed down some of the western coast of Australia, he noted the lack of water and in his description of Shark Bay in his account "A Voyage to New Holland", he expressed his frustration: as the 7th of August when we came into Shark's Bay. During which time we searched about, as I said, to no purpose. A number of sections of the Western Australian coastline were given names which did not last past the exploratory era in names of features – such as Eendrachtsland; however some names, such as't Landt van de Leeuwin, materialised at a date as Cape Leeuwin. Below is a timeline of significant events from the 1616 landfall of Dirk Hartog until the eventual settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829: 1616 – Dirk Hartog in Eendracht arrived at Cape Inscription and left a pewter plate.
Coastal region in the vicinity is shown on Hartog's maps as Eendrachtsland. Believed to be first landfall on Western Australian soil by Europeans. 1618 – Dutch East India Company supercargo Willem Janszoon on Mauritius landed on North West Cape – although sighting footprints, they did not meet the natives. 1618 – Zeewulf made landfall north of Eendrachtsland. 1619 – Frederick de Houtman in two ships bound for Batavia encountered dangerous shoals which were subsequently named Houtman Abrolhos. Following successful navigation of the Abrolhos, Houtman made landfall in the region Hartog had encountered. 1622 – Leeuwin landed south of Abrolhos. 1622 – English ship Tryall was wrecked on Tryal Rocks off the northwest coast. 1626 to 1627 – Gulden Zeepaert skippered by François Thijssen sailed along south coast towards Great Australian Bight. 1629 – Batavia struck a reef of the Ab
John Winter (athlete)
John Arthur "Jack" Winter was an Australian high jumper who won that event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London with a jump of 1.98 metres. A 23-year-old bank teller, Winter is Australia's only Olympic high jump gold medalist. Winter's potential was first seen as a 15-year-old in the 1940 Interschool Carnival for Scotch College, Perth, he cleared 1.79 m. to win 1.85 m. to win the open event. He served in the RAAF in Britain during World War II and was about to join a Wellington Bomber squadron when the hostilities ended. After the war he won the 1947 and 1948 Australian championships; the next year he joined the Australian team in London for the Olympic Games where he was considered an outside medal chance only against the strong American jumpers. Of the 26 competitors, only Winter and Georges Damitio used the unfashionable so-called eastern cut-off style of jumping; the rest used the western roll. The competition took several hours, with cold rain falling for much of the time; when the bar reached 1.95 m five jumpers, including Winter, remained.
At 1.98 m the other four failed with their first attempt. Winter, the last to jump cleared the bar; the others, by very cold and wet, failed with their other attempts. The irony was. After the London Games, he stayed on in England, he returned the following year and won the 1950 title in the lead up to the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland. The Auckland Games gave him another gold medal, clearing 1.98 m. - the same height he'd achieved two years earlier. At the age of 26, Winter retired from competition soon after. Winter's lifetime personal best was 2 m. when he won the 1948 Australian championship, although in training he is reported to have jumped 2.01 m.. Most of his successes were achieved with leaps between 1.96 m. and 1.98 m. He was awarded the Helms Award as the Outstanding Australian Athlete of 1947, he was inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 1985. 2008 Olympics Games
Wallace Kyle
Air Chief Marshal Sir Wallace Hart Kyle, was an Australian who served in the Royal Air Force as a senior commander and as the Governor of Western Australia. Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Kyle was commissioned into the RAF in 1929, having seen service in the Second World War and the Malayan Emergency, held a number of senior positions, including Vice-Chief of the Air Staff and commander-in-chief of the RAF's Bomber Command and Strike Command, he was made governor of Western Australia in 1975, a position in which he served until 1980 returning to England, where he died in 1988. Kyle was born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, on 22 January 1910 to Alfred Kyle, a builder, Christina Ellen, he was educated at Kalgoorlie State School and Guildford Grammar School, where he was a boarder and proved a capable sportsman and athlete. Kyle entered the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in 1928 and was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in December 1929. While at Cranwell, he represented the college at cricket and tennis and he attained the rank of Flight Cadet Corporal.
As a pilot officer, he was posted to No 17 Squadron as a pilot and subsequently, on 2 July 1931, to No 442 Flight Fleet Air Arm as a flying officer. He spent time at the RAF Depot from 12 August 1932 until his next operational posting to No 820 Squadron Fleet Air Arm on 2 May 1933. From 23 July, Kyle attended the Flying Instructor's Course at the Central Flying School, returning to Cranwell as an instructor on 20 October 1934, his promotion to flight lieutenant came on 14 June 1935. He went to Australia on an exchange posting with the Royal Australian Air Force in April 1936, returning to Britain in 1938, he was appointed as Squadron Commander at No 3 Flying Training School at RAF South Cerney on 25 June 1938. From 17 July 1939, he was appointed to the Air Staff, HQ Training Command and HQ Flying Training Command, he served in World War II and in 1940, after various posts in Bomber Command, he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 139 Squadron and received the temporary rank of wing commander on 1 December 1940.
Kyle was appointed as Station Commander at RAF Marham in 1942 and another temporary promotion, to group captain, on 1 July 1943. He was appointed as Station Commander at RAF Downham Market on 7 March 1944 and transferred to the Air Staff, HQ Bomber Command on 9 October 1944. After the war, in 1945, he joined the Directing Staff at Bracknell; the temporary promotions received during the war were subsequently made substantive with permanent promotions to wing commander on 1 October 1946 and to group captain on 1 July 1947. Kyle joined the Air Plans team at Headquarters RAF Mediterranean & Middle East in October 1948. On 26 April 1949, he was appointed Air Aide de Camp to the King and continued as Air Aide de Camp to the Queen until 31 July 1956, he was appointed Assistant Commandant at Cranwell in 1951 and Director of Operational Requirements at the Air Ministry on 30 June 1952, with promotion to air commodore on 1 July. He became a temporary air vice-marshal and Air Officer Commanding at Air Headquarters Malaya on 14 January 1955 during the Malayan Emergency, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff on 1 September 1957 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Technical Training Command on 29 September 1959.
The last appointment came with a temporary promotion to air marshal, made permanent on 1 January 1961. He became Vice-Chief of the Air Staff on 2 March 1962 and Air Officer Commander-in-Chief Bomber Command on 19 February 1965. Bomber Command merged with Fighter Command to form Strike Command, Kyle became Strike Command's first Air Officer Commander-in-Chief on 30 April 1968. On 12 August 1966, Kyle was again appointed to be Air ADC to The Queen, which he remained until his retirement from the RAF on 9 November 1968, he served as Governor of Western Australia from 1975 until 1980 and caused excitement when he spoke out in favour of developing a uranium processing plant at Kalgoorlie in 1978. Sir Wallace Kyle died on 31 January 1988 at Lymington. In 1995, Lady Kyle renamed the South Wing of the RAF Benevolent Fund's Princess Marina House in Sussex, the "Kyle Wing" in Sir Wallace's honour. Sir Wallace Kyle had been the first chairman of the home. Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath – 1 Jan 1966 Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order – 5 August 1977 Commander of the Order of the British Empire – 1 January 1946 Distinguished Service Order – 26 October 1945 Distinguished Flying Cross – 2 May 1941Citation for the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross: “Wing Commander Wallace Hart KYLE, No.139 Squadron.
In April, 1941, this officer led an attack against Steel Works. In spite of intense anti-aircraft fire and interference from a patrol of Messerschmitt l09's, he dropped his bombs on the target from a height of 50 feet; the enemy fighters followed Wing Commander Kyle out to sea, but, by his skilful flying, he forced them to break off the attack. The operation was an outstanding success, he has now completed a number of successful operational missions and his resolute determination and leadership have been responsible for the high standard of efficiency in his squadron.” Knight of St John – 26 February 1976 Air Aide de Camp to the King – 26 April 1949 Air Aide de Camp to the Queen – 10 June 1952 to 31 July 1956 Mentioned in Despatches four times – 11 June 1942, 14 January 1944, 1 January 19
