Bayswater is a suburb north-east of the central business district (CBD) of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is just north of the Swan River, within the City of Bayswater local government area. It is predominantly a low-density residential suburb consisting of single-family detached homes. However, there are several clusters of commercial buildings, most notably in the suburb's town centre, around the intersection of Whatley Crescent and King William Street and a light industrial area in the suburb's east.
Prior to European settlement, the Mooro group of the Whadjuk Noongar people inhabited the area. In 1830, the year after the European settlement of the Swan River Colony, land along the river was divided between the colonists, who moved in soon after. Most either died or left in the months following, leaving the area undeveloped for most of the 19th century. In 1881, the Fremantle–Guildford railway line was built, triggering the founding of the Bayswater Estate, the first development in the area, and in 1897, the Bayswater Road Board was founded, giving Bayswater its own local government. At first, development consisted of nurseries, market gardens and dairies, but as time went on, Bayswater became more and more suburban. Today, Bayswater is fully suburbanised, with the subdividing of older lots being commonplace. Plans for apartments around Bayswater and Meltham railway stations are a contentious issue.
Parks and wetlands in Bayswater include the Baigup Wetlands, the Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary and Riverside Gardens. There are other parks throughout the suburb, including Bert Wright Park, Halliday Park (which includes a war memorial), Hillcrest Reserve and Houghton Park line Bayswater's Swan River foreshore. Major roads through the suburb include Guildford Road, which connects to the Perth CBD and Tonkin Highway.
History
Before European colonisation
Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Mooro group of the Whadjuk Noongar people. They were led by Yellagonga and inhabited the area north of the Swan River, as far east as Ellen Brook and north to Moore River. The Swan River provided fresh water and food, as well as being a place for trade. A camping ground, at least 4,500 years old, existed just north of the present-day junction of Tonkin Highway and Guildford Road. Another camping ground likely existed in the area now known as the Baigup Wetlands.
European colonisation
When Europeans founded the Swan River Colony in 1829, they did not recognise the indigenous ownership of the land. John Septimus Roe, the colony's Surveyor General, surveyed the land along the Swan River. His survey resulted in the land being divided into long, narrow rectangular strips extending from the river. As the river was the only method of transportation in the colony's early years, each piece of land had to have river frontage. The long, narrow strips were called "ribbon grants". In 1830, the colonists travelled up the river to the land allotted to them. That year, the Swan River flooded several times, washing away crops and inundating shelters. The colonists were unlucky, as floods were not an annual occurrence. Most of these colonists either died or left the area soon after.
After it was abandoned, several other people bought the land, including Peter Broun (Location S) and William Henry Drake (Location U). With numerous other land holdings around the colony, however, they never lived on or improved the land. The last colonists, the Drummond family, left the area in 1836. By 1833, a track was cleared connecting Perth to Guildford. The track was useable by carriages, but the sandy soil made it difficult. When The Causeway opened in 1836, a route south of the river became the main route from Perth to Guildford, making the track north of the river a minor route. Because of this, the track deteriorated to the point that some people "refused to allow their horses to go for hire on this track". That track is a precursor to what is now Guildford Road.
Between 1830 and 1880, only two houses are known to have been built in the area: one owned by Frederick Sherwood, the other by John Scrivener. Neither house is still standing. The oldest remaining piece of physical evidence of European settlement in the area is an olive tree on Slade Street, supposedly planted in the 1840s and used as a place for religious services. That olive tree is now represented on the City of Bayswater's logo. A mulberry tree cut down in the 1970s had 130 growth rings.