Matilda Bay or Crawley Bay (known originally as Currie's Bay, then Sutherland's Bay) is a natural
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
in the
Swan River in
Western Australia, adjacent to the
Perth suburb of
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
. It extends from
Pelican Point to
Mounts Bay Road below
Kings Park.
The
University of Western Australia is immediately opposite. Other landmarks on Matilda Bay include Matilda Bay Restaurant, Pelican Point Sea Scouts,
Royal Perth Yacht Club, UWA Rowing Club and Mounts Bay Sailing Club.
A well-known bronze sculpture that is located at the site of the former
Crawley Baths
Crawley Baths was a public swimming facility, in Matilda Bay, near Crawley, Western Australia along Mounts Bay Road. The timber structure was opened on 7 February 1914. The opening ceremony was conducted by Premier John Scaddan and included ...
–
''Eliza'' is displayed just offshore from Mounts Bay Road and depicts a woman preparing to dive.
Matilda Bay Reserve is a recreational parkland between Hackett Drive and the river. It includes Pelican Point, which is an important breeding sanctuary for migratory birds.
Matilda Bay is believed to have been named after the wife of
John Septimus Roe, Matilda (née Bennett).
History
Captain Currie was the first colonial owner of the estate surrounding the bay, at that time known as Currie's Bay. Pelican Point was then known as Point Currie. The estate was sold in 1832 to the Assistant Surveyor and Colonial Treasurer, Henry Charles Sutherland for £100. Sutherland named the property Crawley Park after his mother's maiden name and the bay became known as Sutherland's Bay. In 1876 Crawley Park was sold to Sir
George Shenton, and the bay was known generally as Crawley Bay. After Shenton's death in 1909, the estate was acquired by the Government in 1910 and vested in the University of Western Australia in 1912.
Some of the present foreshore, west of Crawley Baths, was created by land reclamation to allow
Mounts Bay Road to be widened.
The
US Navy had a fleet of 60
Catalina flying boats based at Matilda Bay during World War II, part of
Naval Base Perth.
In 1943,
Qantas operated five Catalina flying boats between Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) and Matilda Bay in what was known as
the Double Sunrise
The Double Sunrise service was formed in 1943 to re-establish the Australia–England air link that had been cut due to the fall of Singapore in 1942. The service initially operated from its base in Nedlands, Western Australia near Perth, to ...
service.
Image gallery
File:Ducks fly over the water at Matilda Bay.jpg, Ducks fly over the water at Matilda Bay during sunset
File:Sunset at Matilda Bay.jpg, Sunset at Matilda Bay
See also
*
Matilda Bay Brewing Company
References
External links
*Recent aerial photos by
Richard Woldendorpbr>
*Earlier photographs of the Supermarina Southampton II flying boats by Reg Lamber
and Izzy Orloff of the same planes in 192
{{coord, 31, 58, 50, S, 115, 49, 26, E, region:AU_type:waterbody, display=title
Swan River (Western Australia)
Bays of Western Australia
Crawley, Western Australia