Part of a series of posts by Neil Cownie on The Future of Swanbourne Village

The railway was laid in 1881 through land in the locality that is now Swanbourne as owned by Patrick Quinn, a Military Pensioner (Hillbrick, LN1977 IN pas Region – Overview – Claremont, Claremont Museum). The land adjacent to the railway changed hands several times before Henry Atwell purchased the land in 1890 and subdivided them into 40 residential lots and created two new streets, namely Saladin and Australind. The smaller lots were more affordable and therefore more appealing to people other than professional middle class for which Claremont had become renowned.

When in 1904 Swanbourne Station (originally Congdon Station) opened the western end of Claremont Crescent became more appealing for land purchasers. Shops opened nearby to the station to take advantage of the passing trade. As was the case in the day, many shop keepers lived either behind or above their shops which instantly created a combined residential and commercial area.

A newspaper advertisement from the time with the title ‘Motor Car Service with the Beach’ promoted the land sales adjacent to the Congdon Street Bridge; ‘A new era in the history of Claremont will be initiated with the erection of the long-promised Congdon Street Station which we learn has been commenced. Already negotiations are in progress for linking the station with the beach, by a short service of motor cars running by way of Servetus and North Streets to the sea front, and if carried out properly this should certainly result in this spot becoming one of the principal holiday recreation grounds for both Perth and Fremantle, as besides the attraction of the open sea the place abounds in pleasant resorts for picnickers.

Others of the time had opinions about the new station as was the case in this letter to the editor of 1903 titled ‘The New Railway Station’; ‘Is it not time we began to hunt for a name for our new railway station, otherwise if left to the old parson who named the others we will get a nice short name, such as South Claremont, Cottesloe number three, or Lockjaw Congdon Street. Sea View would have been a nice name, but as they are digging a hole to put the station in, perhaps ‘dug-out’ would be more appropriate’.

By 1911 there were many dairies in the district, one such dairy was set up by George Birkbeck who travelled to Australia on board the SS Australind (after which Australind Street was named), arriving in Fremantle in 1911. Birkbeck set up his own dairy in the vicinity of Balfour Street (at the western end of Claremont Crescent) where it began running a milk delivery service, which continued with the same family until the 1950’s. Anyone standing outside the Swanbourne shops would have seen Mr Birkbeck’s sons, aged six and nine, collecting milk that had arrived by train from Gosnells.

A taxi service was available at the Swanbourne Station for commuters from the period of 1915. The taxis would transport amateur rifle shooters to the rifle range and other travellers to North Cottesloe Beach, both being too far to walk.

(‘A History of Claremont Crescent’ by Liz Belt & Liz Walker – Claremont Museum).

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