The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en route to colonial Western Australia between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants of land on arrival.[2] Their initial employment lasted for six months, or the duration of the voyage, whichever was the longer time. After this they became "pensioners" and had to serve 12 days per year as well as whenever called upon.[3] They paraded annually in Perth at the Pensioner Barracks. Part of their purpose was to fulfil a promise by the British government to send free settlers to the colony to dilute the convicts, and to maintain law and order in the colony.[4]
Many enlisted in the British Army as boys, around 15–17 years of age, and served in many parts of the world including India, Afghanistan, China, Crimea for about 21 years before being pensioned off. This meant a number of guards were under 40 years of age and had young families when they came to Western Australia. As an incentive they were promised a two-roomed cottage[5][6] and a plot of land sufficient to grow crops, vegetables and keep livestock. It was a chance for a new and better life and a large number of families remained as settlers.[7][8]
In 1858, many of the Enrolled Pensioner Guards in the colony contributed to the Indian Relief Fund that had been set up in England following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.[9] Many of the EPGs had served in India with the British Army before their retirement. The mutiny led to the ending of the East India Company in 1858, and the establishment of the British Raj.[8]
A settlement for the Pensioners was established near Lake Coogee in 1876, and ruins of two stone cottages from this time are extant,[10] along with a well on the shore of the lake. This location was chosen as it lay on the main route from Fremantle to Albany, but was never popular and although a few cottages, gardens, and orchards were established the settlement did not flourish. John Hyland, James Cunningham, and John Gilbride were involved in this settlement.[10] The site lies within the buffer zone of the Woodman Point wastewater treatment plant.
After 1880, they were known as the Enrolled Guards.[1][11]
The strength of the force was estimated at seventy souls.[14] Membership included the following guardsmen when Disbanded March 31, 1887.[15] In 1857, while the 12th Regiment were still present as Garrison, at least 130 pensioner guards paid to support a Crimean war nursing fund.[16]
^Broomhall, F. H. (Frank H.); Hesperian Press (1989), The veterans : a history of the Enrolled Pensioner Force in Western Australia 1850-1880, Hesperian Press, ISBN978-0-85905-103-3
^"Old Perth". The West Australian. Vol. XLVII, no. 9, 082. Western Australia. 4 August 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Early Shipwrights". The West Australian. Vol. XLVIII, no. 9, 241. Western Australia. 6 February 1932. p. 7. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Fruit Export From Albany". Western Mail. Vol. 54, no. 2, 770. Western Australia. 30 March 1939. p. 50. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Old Colonial Days". The West Australian. Vol. XLIX, no. 9, 692. Western Australia. 22 July 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Old Colonist's Funeral". The Daily News. Vol. LV, no. 18, 675. Western Australia. 24 January 1935. p. 7 (Late City). Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"The "Dudbrooke" from England". Inquirer. Vol. XIV, no. 659. Western Australia. 9 February 1853. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"LOCAL". The Express. Vol. 1, no. 42. Western Australia. 19 February 1870. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Old Bunbury Identity". Great Southern Herald. Vol. XXXVIII, no. 1, 962. Western Australia. 18 September 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"In Memoriam". Victorian Express. Vol. V, no. 36. Western Australia. 9 May 1883. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^"York Centenary". The West Australian. Vol. XLVII, no. 9, 118. Western Australia. 15 September 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 30 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
^ abc"The Month". The Herald. Vol. XII, no. 7. Western Australia. 16 March 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
