The Foundation of Perth 1829 is a 1929 oil-on-canvas painting by George Pitt Morison. It depicts the ceremony by which the town of Perth, Western Australia was founded on 12 August 1829. Morison painted the work as part of Western Australias centenary celebrations. The painting took George Pitt Morison almost eighteen months to research and paint. He studied a number of contemporary accounts of the ceremony, and had access to photographs of the people present. The official ceremony depicted in the image was held on a small hill overlooking the Swan River, in the immediate vicinity of the present Perth Town Hall.As no stones were readily available, it was decided to mark the occasion by felling a tree. The only woman to accompany the party so far up the river from Fremantle, Mrs Helena Dance, was invited to strike the first blow. Mrs Dance was a last minute choice to axe the tree. Stirling would have preferred his own wife perform the task, though she had just given birth to a baby boy. The wife of the second in command, John Septimus Roe, was pregnant. The next in line was Mrs Dance, the wife of the Commander of HMS Sulphur. The Foundation of Perth depicts Mrs Dance holding the axe and about to make the first cut. Immediately to the right of her in the painting is an axe-man, waiting to complete the task. Other people depicted in the work include Lieutenant Governor James Stirling, Captain Charles Fremantle, Commander Mark John Currie, Major Frederick Irwin, Captain William Dance, the Colonial Secretary Peter Broun, Dr William Milligan and the Surveyor-General Lieutenant John Septimus Roe. The Foundation of Perth 1829 has become an enduring and influential image (Gooding 1989) in the history of Western Australia. It was used extensively in both the 1929 centenary celebrations, and the WAY 1979 sesquicentennial celebrations. The painting is often not even acknowledged as a historical reconstruction, and many people have come to accept it as an authentic record of the ceremony. My first impression of our city is the dank forecourt of the R&I building stuck into an area of what was the place to celebrate our great states birthplace where an original building once stood. There was an image of Mrs Dance with an axe and a stone plaque in the footpath adjacent to the Town Hall. Another is a wonderful English tree lined path from West Perth Subway to Oxford Street on a trolley bus similar to that of Mounts Bay Road , the lights of the Old Swan Brewery at night,the ride home on the new Kwinana Freeway down a bump at Como created by the Meckering Earthquake and riding over the oyster shells to fish under Canning Bridge. The unforgettable events we grew up with which our children will never enjoy of Birdman Rallies, Bathtub Regattas, Milk Carton Flotillas hosted by Gary Carvolth, Jeff Newman, Gary Meadows and Peter Dean. From the limestone statues and dancing dolphins of Atlantis to Bob Hope marvelling at our brand new world record breaking Perth Entertainment Centre, Skylab raining down on us, a giant kangaroo with boxing gloves heralding the Auld Mug coming to Perth, Naughty Don Rogers owned the ad breaks if it wasnt some woman always inspecting green chalk, we lived at the beach with surf life savers, Miss Summergirl competitions pulled a large crowd and radio stations gave away futuristic shaggin wagons. We had drive ins and afterwards did bog laps around and around Perth streets visiting burger bars or searching for petrol rosters. We picked up hitch hikers , bought lamingtons at our front door, we climbed trees and played in the street until dark with all the local kids. Perth is what you make it today after 185 years of change, Perth will always be my home.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 00:16:44 +0000