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The Stockade Perth:
A Study of Time
Sales History
1) Ignatius Boladeras
Ignatius Boladeras was the first recorded owner of a Perth land grant bounded by Barrack, Wellington and Murray Streets. He arrived in the colony in 1849 as a Spanish priest, assisting Bishop Rosendo Salvado in establishing the New Norcia Native Mission. After resigning from the priesthood, he opened a “Johnny Allsorts” general store on the Murray–Barrack Street corner. In 1859 he married Irish migrant Mary Flynn and together they raised twelve children. During the late 1860s, Boladeras retired and sold his property to the Perth Co-operative Society for £1,400. He died in 1902 and was laid to rest in East Perth Cemetery. His commercial legacy endures in the Boladeras Buildings at 124 Murray Street, constructed in 1898.
2) John A. Liddlelow
In the 1870s, John A. Liddlelow, a baker and confectioner, purchased the grant from Boladeras for £2,000 (around A$530,000 today). The section occupied by the Perth Co-operative Society was later sold to a butcher named John Liddelow (no relation recorded), who eventually left it to his grandchildren. In the 1890s, they sold the property to Frederick Illingworth, a real estate agent and former State Treasurer, for £6,000 (about A$1.7 million today). Within months, the block was subdivided into 18-foot frontages and put on the market.
3) The Mercantile Agency Co
In June 1891, John A. Liddlelow’s estate, along with several other city properties, was purchased by The Mercantile Agency Co., operated by Frank Hann and John Fiddes, for £20,000 (around A$5.7 million today).
4) Alexander Forrest
The portions of the grant fronting Barrack and Wellington Streets were subdivided and sold. The block that later housed Trouchet’s Pharmacy, with frontage to both thoroughfares, was purchased by Alexander Forrest for £3,000 (about A$855,000 today).
5) John Charles Griffiths Foulkes
On 18 March 1895, solicitor and future Member of Parliament John Charles Griffiths Foulkes purchased the portion of land fronting Barrack and Wellington Streets for £3,000. Foulkes had only arrived in Western Australia in 1890, having been born in England in 1861 and trained as a lawyer in Wales. After setting up practice first in Bunbury and then in Perth, he quickly became involved in public life. By the mid-1890s he was elected to the Legislative Council (1894-1896) and a few years later, he represented Claremont in the Legislative Assembly (1902-1911). Known for his legal skills and his work on the Perth Hospital Board, he was regarded as a capable parliamentarian who helped shape the early politics of the state. Foulkes later retired and returned to England, where he died in 1935.
