MAN OF ENERGY AND COMPASSION: The life, letters and times of Henry Trigg, Swan River pioneer and Church founder

Henry Trigg’s construction work in the early days of the Swan River settlement included: Commissariat store, goals, bridges, (including the first Canning Bridge and Causeway across the Swan River), Rottnest Island lighthouse and facilitation of waterways.

First Edition. vii, 125 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. #231021

Henry Trigg was the Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the Congregational Church in Perth.

At the age of 38, he emigrated to Western Australia, arriving on the Lotus in October 1829.^[3] His personal wealth (£200) allowed him to take up a land grant of 1,208 ha (2,990 acres) in the colony. Trigg’s grant encompasses what is now the suburb of Churchlands.

In 1831, Amelia and their seven children emigrated, arriving in the colony in December that year. They had a further two children, Stephen (b. 1832) and Susannah (b. 1833). A further child, a son, was stillborn in 1837.

Appointed Head Constable for Perth in December 1829, he then also became one of the first two constables appointed to the newly established Mounted Police Force in 1834 under the command of Captain T T Ellis which operated independently of the town constables.^[4] Then in 1838 he was appointed Clerk of Public Works,^[5]following which in December 1839 he was made Superintendent of Public Works,^[6] following the retirement of Henry Willey Reveley, a position in which he remained until his resignation in April 1851 to become a full-time Minister.^[1] In his role he supervised the construction of a number of jetties, bridges (including the Perth Causeway^[7] and Canning Bridge^[8]) a number of buildings on Rottnest Island (including the Rottnest Island Light Station), a number of gaols and lock ups in the newly developing towns of Guildford^[9] and Bunbury^[10] and the building of St George’s Anglican church (the precursor to St George’s Cathedral).

Trigg, Henry, 1791-1882.  |  Trigg, Henry, 1791-1882 — Correspondence.  |  Pioneers — Western Australia — Swan River Region — Biography.  |  Frontier and pioneer life — Western Australia — Swan River Region.