Geneff Park

Statement of Significance

The site of the Whaling Station, acknowledged by a plaque in Geneff Park, has historic significance for its association with Patrick Marmion and the Marmion family and for its connection to the establishment of the whaling industry in the area and in the State. Geneff Park has social significance for its association with local identity George Geneff who made a significant contribution to the development of Sorrento. The place has aesthetic significance to the community for its setting and location.

Physical Description

Geneff Park comprises a well maintained public open space, populated with numerous large trees, both endemic and introduced. A limestone staircase provides a panoramic view of the area and access to a boardwalk which culminates in a children’s play area. The boardwalk is dominated by a limestone rock in a circular pause point that includes interpretive signage detailing the history of the area and the whaling station.

History

On 4 July 1849, Irish-born Patrick Marmion wrote a letter to Governor Fitzgerald requesting a piece of land twenty miles north of Fremantle for the purpose of erecting a whaling establishment. My present intention (if I obtain permission) is to erect a house for the whalers and ‘to set a proper sort of tryworks with English bricks etc. to make this affair a not merely temporary concern. Marmion asked for and received a quick response, with a letter the following day advising him that ‘His Excellency is of the opinion it would be desirous for you to purchase 10 acres of land in the locality you allude to...’. The letter went on to articulate the price per acre at One Pound, and if Marmion was inclined to purchase the grant, ‘...the Governor will grant you a free depasturing license for the surrounding unoccupied Crown Land for 12 months.’ The whaling operation began; The Perth Gazette of 13 July 1849 reported that: Mr. Marmion has hired the schooner Pelsart for the purpose of carrying on a whale fishery on the north coast opposite the Wannerroo [sic] district, and His Excellency has granted him permission to occupy a small tract of land on the coast during the season. Three boats and crew eventually operated from the whaling station, but it lasted for little more than three years. According to contemporary reports, the whaling industry suffered from the diversion to gold digging. Patrick Marmion died in 1856, aged forty. The rendering works’ chimney was a remnant of the whaling operation, and became a beacon for passing ships. It remained until the late-1970s as a reminder of Marmion’s enterprise. Historical maps show that the actual site of the chimney was closer to the beach, approximately south of the Sorrento Surf Lifesaving Club and near Lot 25 (No. 1) Padbury Circle. The suburb of Marmion and the adjacent Marmion Marine Park were both named after Patrick Marmion. In 1946, the Wanneroo Roads Board purchased the land from the estate of William Padbury, descendant of the fi rst land grant recipient Walter Padbury, for £5,000 for the purposes of recreation. Geneff Park and the Sorrento Community Hall was built in 1966. A plaque was placed on a large limestone rock in what was then called Padbury Reserve by the Royal Western Australian Historical Society to commemorate Marmion’s Waling Station. It was one of a series of sites that the Society had recognised along the South West coast as whaling stations, other being King George Sound, Augusta, Castle Bay, Bunbury and Fremantle.

Condition

Good - assessed from street view only

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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