Sunday Seminar - A Hazardous Port: Fremantle 1600-1900

Join Ian Forsyth as he launches his new book A Hazardous Port: Fremantle 1600–1900.

This Fremantle maritime story explores how an isolated and hazardous port transformed into a safe and efficient harbour. The early Colony of Western Australia faced challenges in establishing itself, as it struggled to maintain a reputation beyond an isolated maritime outpost, derided by critics as a land of 'sand-gropers'.

The colonial Port of Fremantle witnessed at least 168 serious maritime incidents, including 88 wrecks. Ships that were essential to supplies had to contend with pitiful man-made harbours and dock conditions. This exposed any ships and crew engaged in supplying the Colony to great difficulty and hazard when loading and unloading cargo, creating heightened risk to their entire shipping enterprise. 

As time went on, Fremantle's port conditions and reputation internationally had been deemed a major impediment to the Colony's growth. Leaders within the Colony fought haplessly over a dozen sets of controversial official reports on the proposed development of a safe harbour. In the Colony's final years before Federation, the quest to develop a safe harbour was realised just as Western Australia became a state in the new nation of Australia.

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from author Ian Forsyth as he relates the tale of Fremantle's origins as a port, and the reputational woes that led to the development of the harbour project led by CY O'Connor. Ian's new book A Hazardous Port: Fremantle 1600 - 1900 (2025) will be available for purchase at this event.

About the presenter

Ian Forsyth was born in Perth and held a forty-year career in international relations and economic policy before retiring from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2008. He served overseas as Australia’s Ambassador to the OECD in Paris; Ambassador to Turkey, Poland and the Czech Republic; Commercial Counsellor, Washington DC; and as an official in the OECD Secretariat (Paris). 

On retirement he spent four years writing with his brother, Ron Forsyth, a biography of their great grandfather, Harbour Master/Captain George Forsyth, titled 'Captain George Forsyth mariner and first harbour master for the Colony of Western Australia', which was published in 2019 by the Maritime Heritage Association. He then expanded that research to write this broader history of the Port of Fremantle, as well publishing several articles in professional journals on related issues. Ian learned late in life that his family has some deep connections with Fremantle, including: a former convict, later a member of the Fremantle Town Trust; a mayor; a port pilot, harbour master, inaugural head of the Department of Harbour and Light, founding commanding officer of the Fremantle Naval Volunteers, and amateur artist; a master boat-builder; a hereditory knight of the realm; an engineer on SS Sultan; and another head of the Department of Harbour and Light – and, of course, their pioneering spouses.