Matilda Bay

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Bay in the Swan River, Western Australia

title: "Matilda Bay" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["swan-river-(western-australia)", "bays-of-western-australia", "crawley,-western-australia"] description: "Bay in the Swan River, Western Australia" topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Bay" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Bay in the Swan River, Western Australia ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Matilda_Bay,Western_Australia-_crop.jpg" caption="Matilda bay towards the city"] ::

Matilda Bay or Crawley Bay (known originally as Currie's Bay, then Sutherland's Bay) is a natural bay in the Swan River in Western Australia, adjacent to the Perth suburb of Crawley. It extends from Pelican Point to Mounts Bay Road below Kings Park.

The University of Western Australia is immediately opposite. Other landmarks on the bay include Crawley Edge Boatshed, the UWA Boat Club, Matilda Bay Restaurant, Royal Perth Yacht Club, Mounts Bay Sailing Club, and Pelican Point Sea Scouts.

A well-known bronze sculpture that is located at the site of the former Crawley Baths – 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

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Crawley_Bay_1890s.jpg" caption="Crawley Bay in the 1890s"] ::

Captain Currie was the first colonial owner of the 32 acre 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) and Matilda Bay in what was known as the Double Sunrise 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

References

References

  1. (8 August 1840). "To be let". The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA.
  2. (4 January 1861). "To be Sold or Let, on Easy Terms". The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News.
  3. "Crawley Edge Boatshed". [[Tourism Western Australia]].
  4. (27 January 2023). "UWA Boat Club History Book".
  5. "Wedding & Function Venue - Matilda Bay Restaurant".
  6. (25 November 1937). "By Stream and Surf.". National Library of Australia.
  7. "Shenton House". UWA.
  8. Brain, Alison V.(2001) ''Crawley Park and its occupants, 1829-1910''. Early days, Vol.12, pt.1 (2001), p.39-46
  9. (22 August 1910). "The Crawley Park Resumption". The West Australian.
  10. (7 September 1912). "The University Site". Western Mail.
  11. (11 May 1934). "Crawley Foreshore.". [[The West Australian]].
  12. "The Catalina Base". The University of Western Australia, Archives and Records Management Services.
  13. (7 August 1944). "World's Longest Air Hop to Be "Kangaroo Service".". National Library of Australia.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

swan-river-(western-australia)bays-of-western-australiacrawley,-western-australia