They range from personal stories of Nyungar and migrant residents; to accounts of our coastal vegetation; William Watson and Watsonia; as well as churches, schools and the Cockburn Bowling Club.
The Cockburn Collection, just to the right of the Spearwood Library entrance, has the biggest collection of books and reports. Some of these items are just to read in the library and some can be taken home.
You can also find Local History podcasts, images and videos on our Local History page.
Here are a few of our Cockburn Collection items:
Recollections of the Beeliar Wetlands
Cathy Drake and Shona Kennealy
Great memories of all the wetlands in our area, such as Violet Spencer: “the flowers were absolutely magnificent and you could find a patch of orchids as big as this room.”
Aboriginal Involvement in the Cockburn Area
David Palmer, 2002
Information from a wide range of early accounts and more recent publications.
Only available to read within the library
That Was My Home: Voices from the Noongar Camps in Fremantle and the Western Suburbs
Denise Cook
From the camps just south of South Beach in the 1950s, Mary Kemenade remembered: “Dad built a camp cos people kept kicking us out all the time, so Dad got some tin from the tip and Dad bought a tent and put it up in the Smelters camp, that’s the place, yes, and we lived there for two years.”
From Butter and Bacon to Federal Parliament: the Life and Times of William Watson 1863-1938
Weston’s granddaughter, Patricia Davey
“Opening shops, running a small farm at Spearwood, curing bacon and making butter.”
Woodman Point: a relic of Perth’s coastal vegetation
Robert Powell
Collection of photos and information from 1981 about Perth’s “best remnant of coastal vegetation.”
Nidja Beeliar Boodjar Noonokurt Nyininy: A Nyungar Interpretative History of the use of Boodjar (Country) in the Vicinity of Murdoch University
Includes information shared by Sealin Garlett, Tom Bennell, Dorothy Winmar, Fred Collard, Joe Walley, Margaret Gentle, Richard Walley and Janet Hayden.
A Battler’s Experience
Autobiography of Fred Santich
“Set against the background of the development of Spearwood and environs from the 1920s … the eldest child of a large family, left without a father in the midst of the depression at fourteen years of age.”
Cockburn Bowling and Recreational Club Inc: Celebrating 50 Years
People, photos and stories from 1965-2015, including busy bees on the greens, and photos and lists of champions.
Only available to read within the library
Plants of the Davilak Heritage Trail Manning Park
Information and samples of plants along the limestone ridge of what was the Davilak Heritage Trail in Manning Park. Compiled in 1994 by PhD student BJ Newby.
Volume 1: trees and tall shrubs
Only available to read within the library
Volume 2: climbers, small shurbs, herbs, sedges and grasses
Only available to read within the library
Life of Sime (Sam)
Kornelijo Cukrov, 1920-2001
When Sam arrived in Fremantle in 1935 he said, “I went to the side of the ship and I recognised my father. … This was the first time we had seen each other in ten years.”
Only available to read within the library
Life of Sime (Sam)
Kornelijo Cukrov, 1920-2001
When Sam arrived in Fremantle in 1935 he said, “I went to the side of the ship and I recognised my father. … This was the first time we had seen each other in ten years.”
Only available to read within the library
