King George Sound - History

History

The first reported sighting of King George Sound by a European was in 1791 by the English explorer George Vancouver, Vancouver named it after the reigning monarch, King George III.

The next Europeans to visit the Sound were whalers Capt. Dennis of The Kingston, and Captain Dickson aboard The Elligood who caught three whales in August 1800. This expedition left an inscribed piece of metal behind to be found by Flinders crew in the following year.

Matthew Flinders anchored in the Sound for about a month in 1801, during this time Brown (ship's botanist) and Good (ship's gardener) collected samples of over 500 plant species.

Nicolas Baudin arrived in the sound in February 1803 aboard Le Geographe to rendezvous with Louis de Freycinet aboard the Casuarina before doing further exploration of the West Australian coastline. During the course of their stay the ship's naturalist, Francois Peron, collected 1060 new species of shellfish and a large number of starfish from the sound.

Phillip Parker King visited the Sound in 1818 aboard the cutter Mermaid while en route to conduct a nautical survey of the North West Cape, and Frenchman Dumont d'Urville visited it in 1826 aboard the Astrolabe.

On 25 December 1826, the British ship Amity, under the command of Major Edmund Lockyer, arrived at King George Sound to establish a military outpost. Lockyer named his settlement "Fredrickstown", but this name never gained wide acceptance. Instead the settlement and surrounding locality were usually referred to as King George Sound. In 1832, Governor of Western Australia Captain (later Admiral) Sir James Stirling declared the settlement a town and renamed it Albany, but the broader locality continued to be referred to as King George Sound for many years.

A panorama print of the view from Mount Clarence was published in England in 1834, accompanied by a pamphlet describing the sound and the geography, geology, flora, fauna and native inhabitants of the immediate region.

Until the construction of Fremantle Harbour in 1897, King George Sound contained the only deepwater port in Western Australia, and so was the favoured location for delivery of mail and supplies from abroad to Western Australia. These were then transported to Perth and Fremantle by road or coastal shipping until the early 1890s, when the completion of the Great Southern Railway provided a quicker service.

Albany Port is located on the north shore of Princess Royal Harbour adjacent to the city of Albany. The port was first established in 1826 has been expanded regularly since. The port now has five berths able to cater to panamax class vessels. The port typically caters for loading of about 120 vessels per annum.

In 1914, King George Sound was the last Australian anchorage for the fleet taking the first Australian and New Zealand soldiers, later to become known as ANZACs, to Europe. A memorial to the ANZACs of the Desert Mounted Corps has been established on top of Mount Clarence. Albany was where the first commemorative dawn service was held on ANZAC Day, 25 April 1923. The contribution of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, president of Turkey from 1923 until 1938 is recognised by naming the entrance into Princess Royal Harbour as Atatürk Entrance.

The Cheynes Beach Whaling Company began operating out of Frenchman Bay that is located within the Sound in 1952 with a small quota of 50 humpback whales that was eventually increased to 175. At the peak of the whaling activity in the Sound the company was taking between 900 to 1100 Sperm and Humpback whales in a year. Humpback whaling was banned in 1963 which in turn decreased the viability of the operation.

In 1978 the Cheynes Beach Whaling Company closed down after increasing environmental lobby group pressure, it was the last whaling station in Australia.