Family History
Family History or genealogy, is a fun and fascinating activity, conducted by both children and adults. Is your family associated with the district? Enjoy a list of Frequently Asked Questions About Family History. Download the Memory Makers Form and return it completed to the Local Studies Librarian to ensure your family is represented in the Local Studies Collection.
Access Ancestry.com (Library edition subscription, courtesy of the State Library of WA) within Bassendean Memorial Library and received advice on your search strategy from the Local Studies Librarian. Pick up Free printed and electronic family history charts.
Use the Library Catalogue to search for biographical publications on families and local personalities.
Dr Patricia Giles, AM (1928 - 2017)
Dr Patricia Jessie Giles, AM (nee White) was a Senator in the Hawke and Keating governments and was also an experienced trade unionist and grass roots activist. Dr Giles was the Australian Labor Party Senator for Western Australia and was elected to the Senate for Western Australia in 1980 and re-elected 1983, 1984 and 1987. Dr Giles retired with the expiration of her term in 1993.
Pat Giles was dedicated to improving the lives of the disadvantaged. As an ALP Senator in the Hawke and Keating governments, she entered Parliament, not as a raw recruit, but as an experienced trade unionist, policy maker, feminist campaigner and grassroots activist. This is the story of a woman whose determination never faltered, whose work ethic never faltered, the story of an activist working from within the established order to effect social change. Parliamentary positions she held included Chairman of Committees from 27.11.1985 to 30.6.1993. Dr Giles was a founding member of the Women's Electoral Lobby Western Australia in 1972. Patricia Giles served as Chairperson of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Women's Committee 1978 - 1981. In 1996 she was awarded an Honorary Degree from Murdoch University.
Patricia Jessie White married Keith Emmanuel Giles (Mick) on 23 August 1952. Initially they lived in Greenmount and later raised a family and lived at 25 North Road, Bassendean. Giles children were Elizabeth Anne Giles, Timothy John Giles, Penelope Jane Giles and Fiona Robin Giles and Josephine Mary Giles.
Pat Giles papers (1974-1986) and several oral history interviews with her are held at the State Library of Western Australia.
Read more about Pat Giles at http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0371b.htm
Among the chosen : the life story of Pat Giles / Lekkie Hopkins and Lynn Roarty. 2010.
May Holman MLA (1893-1939)
May Holman, MLA, was born in 1893 and died in 1939. Mary Alice (May) Holman was elected to the Western Australian Parliament in1925. She was only the second woman elected to an Australian Parliament and Australia’s first Labor women parliamentarian. She was elected unopposed to the seat of Forrest left vacant by the death of her father J.B. Holman. Prior to her election she was acting as secretary of the Timber Worker’s Union and by the time of her tragic death in a road accident in April 1939 she had been re-elected five times making her the first women to serve more than ten years in any Parliament in the British Commonwealth.
May lived with her family in Ida Street, Bassendean from 1920-1939 where a plaque commemorates the now demolished family home (now known as Mann Way).
May was involved in local fund raising efforts for the Perth Hospital Appeal and was crowned "Queen of Giving" in the fundraising competition1924.
In 1914 (9 May) May married Joseph Gardiner, however their marriage resulted in divorce in 1920.
Between 1933 and 1939 she was secretary of the Parliamentary Labor Party. A founder and life time driving force behind the Labor Women’s Organisation she was appointed an alternate Australian delegate to the League of Nations in 1930 and she also served on the Board of Management of Perth Hospital. An accomplished musician she was for many years the youngest woman elected to an Australian Parliament. She is commemorated with May Holman Drive, Bassendean.
The State Library holds a rich collection of material relating to May Holman, especially her private archive.
Biography - Mary Alice (May) Holman
May Holman - Podcast
May O’Brien (nee Miller) 1933-2020
Bassendean resident, the late Mrs May Lorna O'Brien (nee Miller) became the first tertiary qualified Aboriginal teacher in Western Australia in 1954 and helped to shape Aboriginal education throughout her life. She grew up at the Mount Margaret Aboriginal Mission and with her husband Jack, later lived in Penzance Street, Bassendean and attended the Bassendean Church of Christ. As an educator over 25 years, May fought for Aboriginal rights, helped to establish Aboriginal committees on education and wrote a report on Aboriginal education, helping to bridge the gap between cultures. 1n 1984 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study programs on indigenous issues in North America, and went on to hold senior positions in the Dept. of Education. May O'Brien was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1977 for work in Aboriginal education. She was state finalist in the WA Senior Australian of the Year 2011. After her retirement from the public service in 1988, May authored many books and supported Aboriginal literacy initiatives in Western Australia. In 2022 she was posthumously inducted in the WA Women’s Hall of Fame.
Cyril Jackson, KBE, 1863-1924
Cyril Jackson was the first Chairman of the West Guildford Road Board from 1901-1903. He lived at Daylesford House at 7 Daylesford Road, a state heritage site and private residence. Early West Guildford Road Board meetings were held there prior to the Road Board Offices being built. Jackson was the first Inspector General of Schools in Western Australia and returned to England with promotions based on his success with education reforms in Western Australia. A bachelor, Anglican, keen musician and sports man he was knighted in 1917 and died in 1924 and is buried at St Peter’s Church in Limpsfield, Surrey, England. Local places, the Cyril Jackson Senior Campus and the Cyril Jackson Recreation Centre are named for him.
- Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
- New Inspector General of Schools The West Australian 15 October 1896, page 5
- Mr Cyril Jackson His Eastern Tour The Inquirer & Commercial News 1 October 1897, page 1
- Education Department Picnic Western Mail 18 November 1899, page 47
- Efficient Schools Statement by Mr Cyril Jackson The Inquirer & Commercial News 18 May 1900, page 3
- Interview with Mr Cyril Jackson Western Mail 22 December 1900, page 25
- West Guildford Road Board (Election result) Swan Express 13 July 1901, page 2
- West Guildford Road Board The Swan Express 26 July 1902, page 4
- West Guildford Roads Board Mr Cyril Jackson’s Resignation The West Australian 20 February 1903
- The Secretary to the Agent General The West Australian Wednesday 28 December 1910, page 2
- Cyril Jackson His Work for WA The West Australian 13 September 1924, page 13
- A Large Estate The Brisbane Courier 23 October 1924, page 10
Daylesford House State Heritage Registration inHerit - State Heritage Office
Hon. Peter Broun 1797- 1846 and Bassendean Homestead
Peter Nicholas Broun (Brown) was born on 17 August 1797 at Guernsey and was the second son of William Broun and Nancy Maingu. The Broun family arrived in Western Australia on the Parmelia in June 1829. Peter Broun had married Caroline Simpson in 1824. She was born in 1801. Hon. Peter Broun served for eighteen years as Colonial Secretary. Broun’s additional duties included Secretary and Clerk of the Legislative Council, the Registrar and the Colonial Treasurer made him second in importance next to the Governor, James Stirling.
Peter Broun had been granted 9626 acres of land at the Swan River Colony and he selected land at 'Coulston' (Upper Swan) and later bought a property which he called 'Bassendean' at West Guildford after the family’s ancestral estate at Berwickshire in Scotland. When the suburb’s name changed in 1922 from West Guildford the name chosen was Bassendean.
Caroline Broun had eight surviving children and she and some children returned to England to visit family in 1844 and returned in 1846 just before Peter's death on 5 November 1846. He was buried at East Perth Cemetery.
Peter Broun was only paid an annual salary of £500, and there was no provision for a pension or a donation for his family. The family were in dire financial straights and had to sell 'Bassendean' to cover their commitments. Caroline Broun left the colony and sailed for England on the Hindoo on September 14, 1848. The family's misfortunes continued to plague her as the ship caught fire during the voyage and was burnt to the waterline. The diaries and papers which Mrs Broun had planned to publish were totally destroyed. Mrs Caroline Broun died on 22 March 1881 in the United Kingdom.
Bassendean Homestead
James and Stephen Hentys' Stoke Farm, built in the 1830’s at Location S on the west side of the Swan River, was sold to Peter Broun and was named Bassendean after the Broun ancestral estate. The name "Bassendean" was chosen for the renaming of West Guildford in 1922 because of this early homestead and well known local landmark associated with the Broun family. The property later had various owners and tenants including the Clunes, Malachi Meagher and the Hams. Bassendean Homestead was demolished between 1940- 1946.
For most of his life, Hon. Peter Broun spelled his surname Brown, despite the fact that the family name had been spelled Broun for most of the family's history. It has been said the family had changed the spelling of their surname to Brown in an attempt to avoid the consequences of an involvement in the Jacobite rising of 1745. The entire family, including Peter Broun, changed back to Broun in 1843. Although Broun lived for only a further three years, most current sources adopt the Broun spelling.