# Matilda Bay

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{{Short description|Bay in the Swan River, Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English |date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=August 2024}}
thumb|right|Matilda bay towards the city
'''Matilda Bay''' or '''Crawley Bay''' (known originally as '''Currie's Bay''',<ref>{{cite news|title=To be let|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/642327|accessdate=20 November 2017|work=The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA|date=8 August 1840|page=1}}</ref> then '''Sutherland's Bay'''<ref>{{cite news|title=To be Sold or Let, on Easy Terms|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2932853|accessdate=20 November 2017|work=The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News|date=4 January 1861|page=1}}</ref>) is a natural [bay](/source/bay) in the [Swan River](/source/Swan_River_(Western_Australia)) in [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia), adjacent to the [Perth](/source/Perth) suburb of [Crawley](/source/Crawley%2C_Western_Australia).  It extends from [Pelican Point](/source/Pelican_Point_(Swan_River)) to [Mounts Bay Road](/source/Mounts_Bay_Road) below [Kings Park](/source/Kings_Park%2C_Western_Australia).

The [University of Western Australia](/source/University_of_Western_Australia) is immediately opposite. Other landmarks on the bay include [Crawley Edge Boatshed](/source/Crawley_Edge_Boatshed),<ref name="wa.com ceb">{{cite web |author1=<!-- not stated --> |title=Crawley Edge Boatshed |url=https://www.westernaustralia.com/au/attraction/crawley-edge-boatshed/5e73085f21a71f594d72bc02 |website=westernaustralia.com |publisher=[Tourism Western Australia](/source/Tourism_Western_Australia) |access-date=8 November 2025}}</ref> the UWA Boat Club,<ref name="rwa history book">{{cite web |author1=<!-- not stated --> |title=UWA Boat Club History Book |url=https://www.rowingwa.asn.au/news/uwa-boat-club-history-book |website=Rowing WA |access-date=8 November 2025 |language=en |date=27 January 2023}}</ref> Matilda Bay Restaurant,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.matildabayrestaurant.com.au |title = Wedding & Function Venue - Matilda Bay Restaurant}}</ref> [Royal Perth Yacht Club](/source/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](/source/Crawley_Baths) – [''Eliza''](/source/Eliza_(sculpture)) 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](/source/Bird_migration).

Matilda Bay is believed to have been named after the wife of [John Septimus Roe](/source/John_Septimus_Roe), Matilda (née Bennett).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37843359 |title=By Stream and Surf. |newspaper=[Western Mail](/source/Western_Mail_(Western_Australia)) |location=Perth |date=25 November 1937 |accessdate=13 January 2011 |page=15 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==History==
thumb|right|250px|Crawley Bay in the 1890s
[Captain Currie](/source/Mark_John_Currie) was the first colonial owner of the {{convert|32|acre|ha|adj=on|order=flip}} 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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.uwa.edu.au/information_about/university_archives2/fact_sheet_index/shenton_house|work=UWA|title=Shenton House|accessdate=13 January 2011|archive-date=14 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514124344/http://www.archives.uwa.edu.au/information_about/university_archives2/fact_sheet_index/shenton_house|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Brain, Alison V.(2001) ''Crawley Park and its occupants, 1829-1910''.  Early days, Vol.12, pt.1 (2001), p.39-46</ref> and the bay became known as Sutherland's Bay. In 1876 Crawley Park was sold to Sir [George Shenton](/source/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<ref>{{cite news|title=The Crawley Park Resumption|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26288939|accessdate=20 November 2017|work=The West Australian|date=22 August 1910|location=Perth, WA|page=6}}</ref> and vested in the University of Western Australia in 1912.<ref>{{cite news|title=The University Site|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/37956447|accessdate=20 November 2017|work=Western Mail|date=7 September 1912|location=Perth, WA|page=31}}</ref>

Some of the present foreshore, west of Crawley Baths, was created by land reclamation to allow [Mounts Bay Road](/source/Mounts_Bay_Road) to be widened.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33007435 |title=Crawley Foreshore. |newspaper=[The West Australian](/source/The_West_Australian) |volume=50 |issue=9,941 |location=Western Australia |date=11 May 1934 |accessdate=27 February 2021 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The [US Navy](/source/US_Navy) had a fleet of 60 [Catalina](/source/Consolidated_PBY_Catalina) flying boats based at Matilda Bay during [World War II](/source/World_War_II), part of [Naval Base Perth](/source/Naval_Base_Perth).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.uwa.edu.au/information_about/university_archives2/fact_sheet_index/the_catalina_base|title=The Catalina Base|publisher=The University of Western Australia, Archives and Records Management Services|accessdate=25 August 2013|archive-date=26 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926194409/http://www.archives.uwa.edu.au/information_about/university_archives2/fact_sheet_index/the_catalina_base|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1943, [Qantas](/source/Qantas) operated five Catalina flying boats between Ceylon (now [Sri Lanka](/source/Sri_Lanka)) and Matilda Bay in what was known as [the Double Sunrise](/source/the_Double_Sunrise) service.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11355425 |title=World's Longest Air Hop to Be "Kangaroo Service". |newspaper=[The Argus](/source/The_Argus_(Melbourne)) |location=Melbourne |date=7 August 1944 |accessdate=29 December 2010 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Image gallery==
{{gallery |width=200
|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
}}

==See also==
* [Matilda Bay Brewing Company](/source/Matilda_Bay_Brewing_Company)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*Recent aerial photos by [Richard Woldendorp](/source/Richard_Woldendorp) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211011058/http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2440436~S2]
*Earlier photographs of the Supermarina Southampton II flying boats by Reg Lambert [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211011306/http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b1976765~S2] and Izzy Orloff of the same planes in 1928 [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211012104/http://henrietta.liswa.wa.gov.au/record=b2215657~S2]

{{coord|31|58|50|S|115|49|26|E|region:AU_type:waterbody|display=title}}

Category:Swan River (Western Australia)
Category:Bays of Western Australia
Category:Crawley, Western Australia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matilda Bay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Bay) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Bay?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.