Postans history: a convict settler’s name and the land beside The Spectacles

Postans has almost no houses, but its name reaches back to one of the first settler families in the Kwinana district.

How Postans got its name

Landgate records that Postans is named after George Postans, one of the first settlers in the area, and that the suburb was once known as Caledonia. George Postans arrived in Western Australia in 1850 as a convict on the Scindian, received his ticket of leave in 1851 and was pardoned in 1858. He married Harriet Green in 1854.

By 1880 George and Harriet had settled on 100 acres in what became Hope Valley, and title passed to George in 1882. He took up a further 100 acres in 1887, and in 1900, 28 acres were transferred to their son Frederick.

Places that tell the story

The ruin of the limestone Postans cottage stands on Hope Valley Road in neighbouring Hope Valley. In 2014 descendants of the family identified it as the original homestead, and its position matches an 1880 survey plan of the block. It is on the City of Kwinana heritage list in the highest category. The site is private land.

Postans today

The locality is mostly infrastructure and open land, with the Water Corporation’s Kwinana Water Resource Recovery Facility on McLaughlan Road and The Spectacles wetlands beside it.

More about Postans

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

Sources

• Landgate: Perth and surrounds suburb names (archived 2022)
• inHerit: George Postans’ Cottage (former), Hope Valley
• WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation: licence L6543/1991/12
• inHerit: The Spectacles
• inHerit: Frederick Postans’ Cottage, Hope Valley

Top image: Medina Research Station, Postans, seen from Abercrombie Road, March 2020. 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