WAFarming
Bassendean
Guildford’s overflow town took the name of a colonial secretary’s farm.
1831West Guildford townsite chosen
WHAT STARTED IT
Fertile alluvial flats along the Swan River were taken up as farms soon after 1829. When Guildford’s town lots ran out in 1831, a government reserve across the river was chosen as a new townsite, West Guildford.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
West Guildford grew quickly in the 1890s gold rush and broke away from Guildford as a separate local authority in 1901. Jobs at the Midland Railway Workshops gave it a working-class character, and in 1922 it took the name of Peter Broun’s homestead.
TURNING POINTS
1831A government reserve across the river from Guildford is selected as the West Guildford townsite.
1832Colonial Secretary Peter Broun takes over Stoke Farm and names the homestead Bassendean.
1901West Guildford becomes a separate local authority.
1922The district is renamed Bassendean, a name suggested by two school children.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A north-eastern riverside suburb of about 10,800 people, with a mix of housing, parks and light industry.