Fremantle King’s Warehouse

The Commonwealth of Australia announces, in an advertisement published on 30 January 1904, that the Department of Trade and Custom's King Warehouse will close, as of 1 March 1904. No further elaboration is given, nor any further ads published in support of this. Either the King’s Warehouse only closed for a short period of time or relocated to a different venue on Cliff Street.

Sometime after this published notice, it appears there may have been another warehouse under the name of Fremantle Bond and King’s Warehouse. It could be the case the Fremantle Bond shared their space with the King’s Warehouse, atleast for some time.

 

The King’s Warehouse appears to have been used by the Customs Department for seizing and storing cargo and contraband from ships, as well as a general receival and dispatch warehouse for cargo, particularly if payment such as duties was required before being moved.

 

1901

November 08 – A 21 year old man was charged with unlawfully entering the King’s warehouse, which at the time, was being used by the Department of Agriculture. A railway watchman noticed that someone had forced entry into the premises. He closed the door and placed two guards outside it, before setting off for the police. A short time later, the thief stuck his head out the door and was caught by the two guards. He claimed he was starving and entered the building in search for food.

 

1904

March 16 – A public auction is held to sell unclaimed goods at the King’s Warehouse, as well as sundry seized and smuggled goods, on  behalf of Customs.

 

1906

September 22 – Burgulars entered the King’s Warehouse and made off with a large quantity of plate stored in bond, valued at £1,000.

 

November 06 – P&O’s RMS Mooltan was found to have 60lb of tobacco concealed in a linen press. Despite inquiries made to identify the owner, no person came forward and the tobacco was subsequently seized and stored in the King’s Warehouse.

 

1909

June 03 – Upon visiting an Italian wine saloon on the corner of Wellington and Queen Streets in Perth, Customs officials seized two sacks containing 90 bottles of French brandy, which were discovered on the premises. Around the same time, a visit was made to the storeroom of the Pier Hotel in Fremantle where 11 bottles of the same kind of brandy was discovered. In both cases, the people held responsible were unable to establish a satisfactory reason for possessing the liquor, which would result in charges instigated by Customs.

 

1911

May 25 – The mine sheds located on Fremantle’s wharf are identified with letters ranging from A to I. At the end of Victoria Quay, there are more storage facilities. Located on the northern side of the river is the bond shed, the King’s warehouse and the fruit shed.

            The officer based at ‘C’ shed is required to attend the King’s warehouse, the Bond shed, the fruit shed, A-D sheds and often the E shed as part of his duties, with a total staff count of five. One of the other staff members is responsible for attending the Port parcels office on a daily basis, which tends to take up to four hours of his time. Two staff members are cadets, which limits their duties to luggage and delivery, with the two remaining staff being juniors, who “can only assist the examining officer under direction”. The sheds are burdened with mail, overseas passengers and foreign boats importing thousands of tons of cargo, which taxes the time and resources of the limited staff members.

 

1912

May 8 – Alterations are made to the King’s Warehouse for printing of stamps and Australian notes.

 

1913

The Custom’s Department leases King’s Warehouse to the Royal Australian Navy.

 

1915

February 25 – Alterations to the King’s Warehouse at a cost of £444 is complete.

 

1926

October – The District Naval Officer and his staff vacate King’s Warehouse to move into the newly constructed Drill Hall on Mouat Street, which is officially opened on October 8.