Published on Tuesday, 27 August 2024 at 5:43:27 PM
On this #TimeWarpTuesday we go back to the days when electricity was a very new feature of life and how a family story might further illuminate the moments when electricity was turned on in Victoria Park.
When Electricity Came to Victoria Park
There are two significant dates in the history of electricity in Victoria Park:
- Friday, 2 September 1898 and
- Thursday, 29 November 1906.
The Causeway Is Lit With Electric Light
The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Victoria Park Municipal Council held on Tuesday, 9 August 1898, resolved that extra safety precautions should be made on the Causeway Bridge:
“Causeway Bridge.
The Commissioner of Police having pointed out the danger to pedestrians owing to the spaces between the rails on the Causeway, it was decided to have three wires erected as an additional protection. It was decided to have the electric lighting plant installed immediately in accordance with the specifications prepared, providing for 16 lamps of each 16-candle power.”
On a rainy Friday evening in early September 1898, the Colonial Secretary (of Western Australia) “switched the electric light on to the Causeway” (2).
Here is how the newspapers reported the event the following day:
“Victoria Park - Turning on the Electric Light
Another step has been made in the progress of the municipality of Victoria Park. Last night, under a pelting shower of rain, the Colonial Secretary (Mr. Geo. Randell) switched the electric light on to the Causeway, amidst the plaudits of a numerous gathering. As stated in the West Australian of yesterday morning, the installation numbers 16 lights, each of 16-candle power. Messrs. Splatt, Wall, and Co. were the engineers who performed the work, to the satisfaction of the council and, it may be said, to the satisfaction of everyone else who happens to pass that way at night, for the Causeway will here-after be well lighted. The supply is from the Perth Gas Company. In consequence of the wet weather, Mr. Randell did not make any lengthy remarks.
“An adjournment was made to the Broken Hill Hotel, where an excellent dinner had been provided. The Mayor of the municipality (Mr. McMasters [sic]) presided. The Colonial Secretary sat on his right. Over 80 persons were present, including Councillor Hurst, who apologised for the absence of the Mayor of Perth.
“After the toast of ‘The Queen’ had been honoured,
“Mr. H. W. Bevilaqua proposed ‘The Parliament’, and, during his short speech, referred in congratulatory terms to the fact that the balance of the million lean had been subscribed.
“The Colonial Secretary, responding on behalf of the Legislative Council, referred to the criticisms which both Houses had to bear, and said that his desire had ever been to promote harmony between the two branches of the Legislature, so that all would work for the benefit of the colony.
“Mr. Frank Wilson, M.L.A., also responded, and spoke of the duties of the Opposition. In reference to the recent Ivanhoe Venture trouble, he expressed the opinion that the Government should take possession of the lease immediately and retain it until the matter was settled by law. (Cheers.) The Government had done a wise thing in entrusting the care of the Causeway to the Victoria Park Council, but other councils should assist, with the Government, to defray the expense of lighting the Causeway and maintaining such an advantage. It was not fair that the local council should bear all the expense, for the light was a benefit to all, being the main avenue from the metropolis. (Cheers.)
“The Colonial Secretary then proposed the ‘Municipality of Victoria Park’. He spoke shortly of the advantages of electricity in the many channels to which it was applied, and congratulated the Victoria Park Council upon lighting what had been well described in the Press as a ‘gloomy highway.” The boon would be appreciated by the travelling public generally. With reference to the depression, which had been alluded to, he trusted it would be but a passing episode in the history of the colony. (Cheers.) He referred to the successful floating of the loan, and to the large gold return of the past month. He expressed the hope that the municipality would prosper continuously, and that a better state of things would prevail in regard to public works.
“The toast was cordially honoured.
“Mr McMaster (Mayor of Victoria Park), in responding, spoke of the urgent necessity that existed for the establishment of a post office at Victoria Park, regretting that the item had been struck off the Estimates. There were also other requirements which the Government should attend to.
“Mr Lane proposed ‘Perth and Kindred Municipalities.’
“The toast was duly honoured.
“Councillor Hurst, in the absence of the Mayor of Perth, responded, and in doing so expressed the opinion that the calibre of the councillors of the capital was improving, as a result of a deeper interest being manifested in municipal affairs. As far as the new municipal loan was concerned, he thought councils should not be prevented from borrowing up to the utmost limit of their power, and young municipalities should have the privilege of borrowing when 12 months old.
“The remaining toasts we ‘The Contractors’, proposed by Mr. E. Hutchinson and responded to by Messrs. Broadbent (engineer for the Perth Gas Co.) and Wall ; ‘The Press’, proposed by Dr. Cuthbert and responded to by the representatives present ; and ‘The Chairman’, proposed by Mr. J. F. Conigrave and responded to by the Mayor of Victoria Park.
“During the evening songs were rendered by Cr. Hurst, Messrs. Norman Malcolm, Launder, F. Mendoza, and Saunders. Mr. Letcher presided at the piano.
“The proceedings came to a close at about 11 o’clock.” (2)
A Family Story
Earlier we mentioned that there was a family story to illuminate the telling of how electricity came to Victoria Park. This story involves Councillor Edelbert Hutchinson. The same E Hutchinson that proposed the thank you toast to the ‘The Contractors’ on the evening that the Causeway was lit with electric light.
The story is recounted to us in an obituary in 1952 for Mr Edelbert Hutchinson, former Councillor of the Municipality of Victoria Park… “The late Mr. Hutchinson came to this State in 1896 to open a soap and candle factory at Victoria Park.
“He had the distinction of throwing the first switch connecting Victoria Park with Perth’s electricity supply to that area.
“This involved a race with the then Town Clerk (Mr. Cohen [sic]) from the Broken Hill Hotel in Victoria Park to the Causeway to throw the switch. Mr. Hutchinson narrowly beat Mr. Cohen [sic] for the honour.” (3)
Official reports of the occasion at the time, that is in 1898, reported that the switch was turned on by the Colonial Secretary, and the race was to the Causeway Bridge. So, it seems that perhaps the report of ‘Hutchinson and Cohn’s race’, might be just a family story. But it is fun to picture the scene, nonetheless.
Electric Light For Victoria Park Itself
The second date of importance in the history of electricity in Victoria Park is that of Thursday, 29 November 1906. The Victoria Park Recreation Reserve [most likely referring to modern day Raphael Park], was “artistically illuminated with designs and festoons of electric light” (6). An open-air concert was planned with a performance by Highland dancers and vocal and instrumental music, to which the whole community was invited. The Mayor’s wife, then termed “the Mayoress”, Mrs. Milligan was given the official role of flicking the switch to turn on the electricity at 8 p.m. An additional function beginning at 9 pm, was held in the Town Hall for “Ministers and members of the Parliament and other invited guests” with entertainment provided (5).
Those who connected to the service paid 8d per unit per month with a discount of 1d if they paid their account by the 15th of the month (7).
Thus, the world of electric lighting began to illuminate the lives of our ancestors in Victoria Park. One can’t help but wonder how exciting it must have been to witness what would have seemed like a miracle to those who had been all their lives used to lighting candles and using paraffin wax and various oils to light their lives at night.
#LoveVicPark
References:
(1) 1898 'VICTORIA PARK MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 11 August, p. 7. , viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3203784
(2) 1898 ‘Victoria Park’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879-1954), 3 September, p. 2., viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3221317
(3) 1952 ‘Friend of Sir James Dies at 95’, The West Australian, (Perth, WA : 1879 -1954), 24 September, p. 18., viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49054335
(4) 1994 ‘Past may hold key to crest’, The Southern Gazette , 22 November, p. 7
(5) 1906 ‘News and Notes’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 – 1954), 28 November, p. 6., viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25646258
(6) 1906 ‘News and Notes’, The West Australian, (Perth, WA : 1879-1954), 29 November, p. 6., viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25646258
(7) 1906 'MUNICIPAL COUNCILS.', The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), 8 November, p. 3. , viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25644710
(8) 1907, [Photo of Mr W. J. Cohn, Town Clerk of the Municipality of Victoria Park], The Western Mail, 7 December 1907, p. 28
View along the Causeway, Perth towards Victoria Park, 1905-1906
Courtesy of the State Library of Western Australia b2173575/3.
Photo of Mr W. J. Cohn, former Town Clerk of the Municipality of Victoria Park.
The Western Mail, 7 December 1907, p. 28.
Mr Edelbert Hutchinson (1857?-1952)
Southern Gazette, 22 November 1994, p. 7.
VICTORIA PARK - Turning on the Electric Light
Source: 1898 ‘Victoria Park’, The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879-1954), 3 September, p. 2., viewed 27 Aug 2024, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3221317
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