Hidden history

Noongar camps of  the  western suburbs was the topic of a talk for Coastcare from Denise Cook and Lynette Coomer and it was a full house at The Grove. Denise and Helen’s talk on the camps provided some fascinating insights into a recent but little known piece of local history.

Camps were at Lake Claremont , Shenton Park and Lake Monger and lasted until they were closed down in the 1950’s. Lynette grew up in the Shenton Park camp and her memories of living in the bush as a child were vivid.  Denise researched the history of the camps for her thesis at Murdoch University and oral histories and the recollections of people who lived in or knew the people in the camps, were a big part of her research. Our thanks to Denise and Lynette for bringing to life a richer and more complex history of the western suburbs.