Passengers leaving the Silver Star river steamer ferry at Coffee Point (site of the South of Perth Yacht Club), with the old Canning Bridge in the background, c. 1906Canning River and Bull Creek, c. 1932
The first European contact was in 1801[6] when a French exploring party spotted the mouth. The crew subsequently named the mouth Entrée Moreau[6] after Charles Moreau, a midshipman with the party.
The Canning River received its contemporary name in 1827 when Captain James Stirling aboard HMS Success following an examination of the region in March 1827 named the river after George Canning,[6] an eminent British statesman who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the time and whose government facilitated the funds for the expedition.
In November 1829, just five months after the founding of the Swan River Colony, an exploring party led by now Governor James Stirling chose a site for a new town named Kelmscott[7] on the banks of the Canning River.
Part of the Convict Fence in Canning River between Shelley Foreshore Reserve and Salter Point
Convicts partly constructed and maintained the Canning River Convict Fence.[8][9][10][11][12] This structure is still a notable landmark to this day. It was built primarily for the use of barges carrying timber from Mason's Timber Mill in the Darling Ranges.
Algal blooms occur naturally in the Canning River system; they are caused by a buildup of nutrients in the river. Human activities including farming, residential gardens and parklands are the major causes of increases in levels; the blooms are potentially toxic to both mammal and marine life. The Swan River Trust monitors the levels of nutrients and growth of the algae, issuing warnings and closing sections of the river to all activities. The Trust also operates cleanup programs to reduce the amount of nutrients reaching the river, as well phosphorus removal and oxygenation in areas were blooms have been identified.[13]
The Trust is encouraged by the appearance of Azolla carpets on sections of the Canning River as this fern is known to reduce the amount of sunlight available to the algae as well as absorbing large amounts of phosphorus and other nutrients from the water. However, it is possible that Azolla carpets can cause deoxygenation and emit a strong sulphur smell.[14]
Canning River without Azolla in February 2006Same location covered in a carpet of Azolla in March 2007
^Kinsella, John (2017). Polysituatedness: A Poetics of Displacement. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-1526113375.
^Rivers of emotion : an emotional history of Derbarl Yerrigan and Djarlgarro Beelier : the Swan and Canning rivers. Broomhall, Susan., Pickering, Gina., Australian Research Council. Centre of Excellence. History of Emotions., National Trust of Australia (W.A.). [Crawley, W.A.]: ARC Centre of Excellence History of Emotions. 2012. ISBN9781740522601. OCLC820979809.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Carde, F.G. (1991) [1968]. Along the Canning: A History of the City of Canning, Western Australia, Covering its progress from Roads Board to Shire, to Town, to City (2nd ed.). City of Canning.
^McQueen, Jeanette (1963). Pioneers of the Canning District (Thesis). Graylands Teachers' College. p. 13.
^Detail from 'Municipal Heritage Inventory', City of Canning
^LePage, J.S.H. (1986). Building A State: The Story of the Public Works Department of Western Australia 1829-1985. Leederville: Water Authority of Western Australia. p. 211. ISBN978-0-7244-6862-1.
Brearley, Anne (2005). Ernest Hodgkin's Swanland : estuaries and coastal lagoons of South-western Australia. Crawley, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press for the Ernest Hodgkin Trust for Estuary Education and Research and National Trust of Australia (WA). ISBN1-920694-38-2.
Burningham, Nick (2004). Messing About in Earnest. Fremantle Arts Centre Press. ISBN1-920731-25-3.
Richards, Oline. (199). Canning River Regional Park, Western Australia : historical survey. Perth, W.A.: Dept. of Planning and Urban Development. ISBN0-7309-3249-4.
Seddon, George (1970). Swan River Landscapes. Crawley, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN0-85564-043-X.
Carden, F.G. (1991) [1968]. Along the Canning: A History of the City of Canning Western Australia, Covering its progress from Roads Board to Shire, to Town, to City City of Canning (2nd ed.).
