Karrinyup

The name “Karrinyup” was derived from the title of a local swamp.  “Careniup” is an Aboriginal word apparently meaning “the place where bush kangaroos graze”.  “Carine” means “black gloved wallaby”, and “up” often relates to water.  Surveyor P. Chauncey gave the lake this name, Careniup, during his survey in 1844.  It was modified to its present form by the Lake Karrinyup Country Club in 1929.

Samuel Moore had one of the largest Grants in the Swan River Colony in Middle Swan, and though he had some fertile ground, much of the Grant consisted of thin, sandy soil.  As he had large flocks and herds, he needed good grazing land. This led him to the Careniup Swamp because swamplands usually remain grassed through the summer.  When he expressed his interest in the area, the land in question was gazetted as Swan location 92, and Moore purchased it at public auction in 1840.  He also bought similar land further north in the Wanneroo area. Moore prospered until the death of his infant son in 1846, when his own health declined.  By 1847, he needed to lease out part of his holdings to gain ready cash.  His advertisement read in part, “The farm of Carenup, eight miles north of Perth, capable of feeding one hundred head of cattle, is for letting Rent is moderate and will be taken in keep of stock.”

Following this original purchase, the history of the ownership of this area varies according to different authorities. According to Gordon and Olga Shearwood, Samuel sold location 92 to Thomas Mellersh in 1848, who then sold it on to Jesse Chivrel.  However, according to Cooper and McDonald, Dorothy Moore sold the swamplands following Samuel’s death in 1849, then they say that Jesse Chivrel paid her the princely sum of 5 pounds in 1851 for Swan location 92, which had a mortgage of 300 pounds on it.  He did so well that he had discharged the mortgage two years later.

One of the factors contributing to his success was the opportunity to lease large areas of surrounding land, but by 1860 opportunities to lease disappeared as the land passed into private hands and was no longer available for grazing.  Chivrel sold up his holdings of Swan Location 92 in the 1870s.  However, the Shearwoods say that little improvement had been made by 1874 so Chivrel sold the land to J.M. Mews for the same price he had paid, 300 pounds.  Mews worked the land until his death in the early 1900s, when it was acquired by a syndicate comprising W. Maley, G. Bellingham and C. A. Saw in 1907.  Within two years, Maley had bought out his partners and had sole ownership.

In the meantime, J.D. Manning, who had extensive property in the Scarborough area, as well as in other suburbs of Perth, had purchased Lot 960, in what is now South Karrinyup, in 1894.  His son sold this lot to Charles Stoneman, a Commission Agent, in 1904.  In the same year, Stoneman also purchased lot 1226, then subdivided the whole area into sixth of an acre blocks.  Many of the lots were sold, but as there was no road access, few houses were built.  Obviously, Stoneman’s advertising techniques were excellent.  Part of his advertisement for the Killarney Ocean View Estate, south of the current Karrinyup Road, read: “Lofty sites, charming ocean views, grand scenery, lovely beaches, macadamised roads".  There were four releases of land in the Killarney Estate, moving south into the current Scarborough and Doubleview areas. He was the one who named the part of Killarney Estate in Scarborough after some of the streets in Perth, so that people buying sight unseen thought they were buying into the City.

As late as 1945 the main development in the area was still the Golf Club. When W. Maley died in 1926, the Golf Club had only recently been formed.  Maley’s family offered 355 acres to the Foundation Committee of the Club, which accepted the offer. Looking for a name, the Committee adapted the name of the nearby Lake Careniup, to Karrinyup, and was registered as the Lake Karrinyup Country Club in 1929.

In 1957, more rapid development of the suburb began, when the 1904 subdivision was redesigned and referred to as the Karrinyup Scheme when the R & I Bank and the Golf Club resurveyed the land and released it in the current size blocks.  The newly surveyed streets on the higher ground were named after former Education Department School Inspectors such as, Harold Keanes, Thomas Edmondson and Gordon Worner.  Keanes Street seems to have disappeared or been renamed, but the other two still exist. By 1962 the State Housing Commission had invested one million pounds in the Karrinyup Estate, and there were 396 completed houses, 68 under construction and 360 lots had been surveyed and cleared. According to Cooper and McDonald, many of these houses were brick veneer, where comparable housing in other suburbs had been solid brick.  The Shire of Perth budgeted one thousand pounds for the initial work for a public golf course on the western boundary of Karrinyup.  Following various delays, the Hamersley Golf course opened to the public in 1968, under the joint supervision of golf professionals Len Thomas and Pat Tobin.  From 50,000 players in the first year, usage had risen to 76,600 by the 1971- 1972 financial year.

The next step in development was to introduce shopping facilities, and the decision was made to avoid the ribbon development which had characterised Scarborough.  To this end, in 1963 Margaret Feilman was commissioned to design the Karrinyup Shopping Centre.  Temporary shops were erected on the corner of Francis Avenue and Karrinyup Road to fill the gap.  By the early 1970's, the first shops had been occupied and the Post Office was established.  Karrinyup Library and Community Centre was opened in 1974.  With two major stores as well as many smaller ones, the “Star of the North” is a big drawcard for the area.  As you will know, at Christmas time it is very difficult to find parking, even though the staff are required to park their cars elsewhere. In the last few years the shopping centre has been extended and now provides an even greater service to the Northern Suburbs.

In 1978 the Mitchell Freeway had extended as far as Hutton Street, and businesses in the area were concerned that their customers would be diverted to other areas.  It took another six years before the freeway extension reached Erindale Road.  The Karrinyup Road Bridge was opened on 1 May, 1984, restoring access to the Osborne Park Hospital, which has been in operation since 1962. Clement Drive became the first street to receive traffic calming constructions because so much traffic cut through on the weekends.

Service Clubs for the residents include the Rotary Club of Karrinyup and the Karrinyup Inner Wheel, Country Women’s Association, Kiwanis, and Lions.  For children, there are groups such as Brownies and Guides, Scouts and Venturers. Formal education for the local population has not been ignored, either. Earthworks for St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School were begun in 1965.  Another church run school is Our Lady of Good Counsel Primary School.  State Schools consist of: Deanmore, Newborough and Karrinyup Primaries, and the now defunct Scarborough Senior High School was technically in the area. Pastoral care has also been provided in the area by the various religions. The Moline House Complex and Chrystal Halliday Retirement Villages provided homes for seniors in the area.