Golden Bay history: Peelhurst, the Paterson sheep run and a 1960s subdivision

Golden Bay was called Peelhurst until 1985. The ruined cottage that gave the area its old name still stands on Dampier Drive, and its owners tell most of the suburb’s story.

How Golden Bay got its name

Landgate records that the area was previously called Peelhurst and that Golden Bay was approved as the suburb name in 1985. It describes Golden Bay as a developer’s promotional name, taken from the golden sand of the beach. The City of Rockingham gives the same account.

Peelhurst was the name of Tom Peel’s landholding, established in the early 1860s. The name Golden Bay itself had been in use since the 1960s, when the land was subdivided and sold under that name.

Before the suburb

The City of Rockingham acknowledges that its district lies within the traditional lands of the Whadjuk and Binjareb Nyoongar peoples, whose connection to Country goes back thousands of years.

In the early 1860s Thomas Peel Junior, known as Tom Peel, established his landholding here and built a single-storey limestone rubble cottage as his house. The heritage record says ticket-of-leave labour was probably used. He lived there with his housekeeper, Mrs Spencer, until about 1882, and the cottage was never finished.

How it grew

Around 1882 the brothers William and George Paterson bought Peelhurst to use as a coastal sheep run for their Pinjarra property, Creaton. The family rarely used the cottage, although a caretaker stayed there at times, and the Patersons later subdivided the estate.

In 1949 an engineer, Cyril Robbins, bought the lot with the ruins. In the 1960s the rest of the land was subdivided into residential lots and sold as Golden Bay, and in 1985 that name replaced Peelhurst as the official suburb name.

The larger change came after 2011. In February that year the State Government announced that Peet would project manage the Department of Housing’s Golden Bay development, planned for 1,750 lots. The estate was launched in April 2012 on a site of 157 hectares, and in November 2014 the government sold half of the project to Peet and the Future Fund, keeping the other half. By then 400 lots had been released.

Places that tell the story

The Peelhurst ruins at 178 Dampier Drive are the remains of Tom Peel’s cottage. Parts of the floor plan can still be traced, but most of the stonework has gone. The City of Rockingham bought the lot in 1991 and keeps it as a reserve, and it was placed on the City’s Heritage List on 24 April 2018. Fig trees and an olive tree beside the ruins are recorded as part of the place.

The City finished an updated conservation management plan for the ruins in 2023. A community archaeological dig on the site turned up an 1880 coin, early 20th century bottles and household items, and the dig was commended at the 2023 WA Heritage Awards.

Golden Bay today

The 2021 Census counted 5,681 people in Golden Bay, with a median age of 30. In August 2026 the State Government committed $10 million to plan a METRONET station at nearby Karnup, with works expected to start in 2028.

More about Golden Bay

For what Golden Bay is like to live in now, read our Golden Bay suburb profile. If you own a property in Golden Bay and are thinking about selling, start with buyers for your property.

Sources

• Landgate: Perth and surrounds suburb names (archived 2022)
• City of Rockingham: City of Rockingham profile (suburb names)
• inHerit: Peelhurst (ruins), Golden Bay, place 03256
• City of Rockingham: Heritage in the City
• WA Government media statement 25/02/2011: Peet to project manage Golden Bay
• WA Government media statement 07/11/2014: Joint venture delivers more affordable land
• WA Government media statement 02/08/2026: METRONET Karnup Station
• ABS 2021 Census QuickStats: Golden Bay

Top image: The beach at Golden Bay, looking north, 2023. Photo: Calistemon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Dates and names are drawn from the sources above. Where sources differ, we have said so or given an approximate date.

By Key Performance Real Estate, 338 Beaufort Street, Perth