Perth’s lost suburb of Wexcombe
Tucked away in a corner of Stratton is the remains of Wexcombe - the suburb that came before. Before the 90s subdivision, the area was inhabited by railway employees, mostly immigrants. They were housed by the Western Australian Government Railways (the WAGR) and most worked at the Midland Junction Railway Workshops.
Majority of the dwellings were Nissen huts, a peculiar structure mostly consisting of a bent sheet or corrugated iron. This acted as the roof and the side walls.
Wexcombe estate consisted of about 90 Nissen huts but also 14 Thermobau Houses. These were kits homes from Austria and were common in railway settlements and government housing. Wexcombe also included a town hall and a shop.
The settlement lasted from the early 50s to the mid-70s. Eventually, the land was subdivided for the public when the WAGR changed their policy about housing employees in the metropolitan area. All the structures were sold off, with only concrete foundations and the road layout present throughout the 1980s.
But somehow, a small portion of that survived redevelopment. In this video, I'll delve into what remains but also what it was like living in such a settlement. I'll also go into the history of Nissen huts and various other examples that remain in Western Australia.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratton,_Western_Australia
https://realestateplus.com.au/blog/i-remember-when-with-matthew-pavlinovich-2
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/280f3e5b-ce09-4611-ae45-473301d9eab0
https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3401517147/view?searchTerm=wexcombe&partId=nla.obj-3401922516
https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/259378044?keyword=wexcombe
https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/1515688?c=people
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/admin/api/file/5bd548c0-0d67-499e-8e41-f688bb120b4c
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/stratton-john-peter-11788
https://racingwa.com.au/news/2012/06/01/inductee-2012-jp-stratton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissen_hut
https://book.roommanager.com.au/darkan-caravan-park/accommodation/141174
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/35286b9f-f3f0-4f54-a034-c63d31de3f41
https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/public/inventory/details/4573aefd-d30b-43a0-9861-26e6ba49fae4
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18uH6tRy9h/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/195WydHM5m/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Evehsy5Rr/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1H2AkRwPGz/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18w1GGoqQ2/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18w9sQaYXy/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Er4Lvy7yF/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AiJ4jpqCW/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AyaecweiL/
Photos:
Road map
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=523078774454723&set=a.206191471756848
Jean Bond with horse, 1952
https://collectionswa.net.au/items/d31d065f-4b9b-4a5d-a2fa-c99f800117d7
The Westland 1954
Soccer team 1956
https://collectionswa.net.au/items/7d2fbaf4-106b-4678-ad76-3093b5d161d7
Display homes in Stratton 1990
Midland Railway Workshops 1980
https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b2460642_2
Ray O’Connor
Midland and Districts Historical Society Inc.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1EFHbRMVYV/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Ecr4uSQkn/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Evehsy5Rr/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EERivqBb1/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17huqsviWA/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DDNiAGKZX/
https://www.facebook.com/share/1F5BdBzuZk/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1H2AkRwPGz/
https://www.facebook.com/share/1BXwmXt6Lg/
https://www.facebook.com/share/1FeqzpuffZ/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DDSaYHYiz/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19HepBVg4J/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19HkdQGQFh/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EPotmdVsY/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KmoseqFKA/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17mMCHgjdy/
https://www.facebook.com/share/182xBWL5kS/
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EF6X6uLRH/
Video:
Middle Swan & Wexcombe 1974-75: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-CvKa19bQY
Library:
State Records:
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-housing-20253-v1
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-lands-1950-0299
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-establishment-1952-1042
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-2-houses-1953-5478
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-departmental-houses-r5779-1
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-school-site-1952-0816
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/wexcombe-details-of-nissen-houses-1952-25281
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/red-hill-hall-on-railway-housing-estate-wexcombe-plans-0796
https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/metro-road-guide-revision-1972-sheet-5040-1972-5040
Trove:
16th April 1915
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204768432
Notice from S H Viveash that trespassers will be prosecuted
13th August 1926
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206626454
Death of Viveash. Pioneer of the north west as a pioneer
30th June 1950
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/84456751?searchTerm=thermobau
Austria bids to help house Australia
28th June 1951
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/22741836
Government approval has been sought to purchase 400 Nissen huts for Red Hill
29th November 1951
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49002584
Timber from Austria in pre-cut houses
11th February 1952
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49014931
Settlement approved and named Wexcombe by the Railways Commission
24th July 1952
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/208094714
Discussion about possible school
27th April 1953
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266133011
Live shell discovered
November 23, 1953
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52942554?searchTerm=wexcombe
Great headline and map to show
Talks about suburbs expansion. The population of Perth had increased from 245,000 in 1943 to 346,000 in 1953. It goes on to say that this includes suburbs you might not have even heard of such as Cloverdale, Brentwood, Ardross and of Wexcombe
14th December 1953
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/49605453
Was part of Dr S. Viveash’s estate originally. Then an army camp during WW2. The land was transferred to the railway department after the war and originally called the Red Hill WAGR Migration Housing Centre. The Swan Road Board suggested it should retain the name of Wexcombe
By late 1953, 400 railway workers and their families lived there – most employed at the railway workshops in midland. The Nissen huts were being slowly replaced with prefabricated homes.
While geographically close to the city, it was isolated from the rest of suburbia and didn’t receive mains power until 1950, and at that time didn’t have mains water
25th February 1954
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206656223
Known as the Wexcombe Railway Estate. 80 families. Includes a post office and store. Nationalities of the residents at the time included English, Scottish, Irish, welsh, polish, Hungarian, Latvian, German and Australian
Soccer was a big deal considering how many newspaper articles mention it.
There was a social club and weekly dances every Friday night
There were several bush fires that reached the settlements boundaries before being extinguished early 1954
May 29th 1954
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266242300?searchTerm=wexcombe
Complaints that Perth was getting too big in 1954. A story of a someone from Wexcombe trying to buy motorcycle parts over a noisy phone line, the clerk frantically trying to find a place called Waxtomb
