KARRINYUP / GWELUP Local Area Plan - City of Stirling

Historical Overview
The City of Stirling acknowledges that the indigenous community
are the traditional landowners and had complete stewardship of the
land within the City’s bounds prior to European occupation and
settlement. Oral and written histories clarify this and identify
numerous sites of cultural significance in the Karrinyup-Gwelup
Local Area which have led to many registered heritage sites across
the City. Lake Gwelup is a registered site with the Department of
Indigenous Affairs as Aboriginal artefacts have been discovered
there, in addition to Lake Gwelup being recognised as a place of
great ceremonial significance.
The name “Karrinyup” was derived from “Careniup” swamp which is
located in the northeast of the Local Area. “Careniup” is an
Aboriginal word purportedly meaning “the place where bush
kangaroos graze”. Surveyor P. Chauncey gave the lake this name
during his survey of the area in 1844. The name was modified to its
present form in 1929 when Lake Karrinyup Country Club was
developed, “Karrinyup” being an Aboriginal word meaning “the
place where kangaroos graze”. Gwelup similarly takes its name
from local Aboriginal connections with the place, having derived
from Lake Gwelup, which took its name from the Aboriginal word
“Gwelgannow” meaning “to shift position”. Hence, Lake Gwelup
was referred to as “the lake that shifts position”.
Settlement of the Gwelup area dates from 1831 and the early 1840s
in Karrinyup when the first land grants were made. Land around
Lake Karrinyup and Careniup Swamp was initially granted to
Thomas Mews in 1831 and gazetted as Swan Location 92. The
land was then purchased by Samuel Moore in 1840 and used for
grazing. In 1891, the then owner Henry Bull went on to subdivide
land in Gwelup. Development was relatively slow and the land was
mainly used for market gardening.
By 1904 the Karrinyup area had been subdivided into sixth of an
acre blocks. Many of the lots were never sold however, as roads
serviced little of the area and so few homes were built. The delayed
settlement of Karrinyup could also be accounted for by Stoneman’s
subdivision which took no account of the land’s topography (Cooper
& McDonald, 1999). Karrinyup remained mostly bushland well into
the 20th Century. Lake Karrinyup Country Club was the only major
development in the Karrinyup-Gwelup Local Area until the 1950s,
this having been established in 1929.
In 1923 the Lake Gwelup and District Progress Association was
established in order to promote the general welfare of residents and
support the provision of facilities to the local agricultural community.
This was symbolic of the strong community ties in the area that
were beginning to grow and develop.
Suburbanisation of the area ensued after World War II (particularly
in Karrinyup). The subdivision was re-drawn and newly surveyed
land for residential development was released around the Lake
Karrinyup Country Club. By the late 1950s, the layout north of
Newborough Street was re-designed which led to the settling of the
southern part of Karrinyup. New streets were built on higher ground
and were named after former prominent Education Department
School inspectors namely Harold Jeanes, Thomas Edmondson and
Gordon Worner.
CITY OF STIRLING 21
KARRINYUP-GWELUP LOCAL AREA PLAN
February 2010