Properties By Region

Woodbridge Heritage Information

When Captain James Stirling explored the Swan River in 1827, the country on the upper reaches of the Swan reminded him of the area around the home of his wife's family at Woodbridge, near Guildford in Surrey, England. On his return in 1829, Stirling took up land between the Swan and Helena Rivers. He named the property Woodbridge and built a small cottage there. Unfortunately, the pressures of Stirling's position as governor meant that he had little time to spend at the property during his time in Western Australia. He died in 1865 but it was more than 15 years before the final disposal of the estate in Western Australia.

In 1880, Mr Charles Harper took a lease out on the lower Woodbridge farm, beginning his long association with the property. As a young man, Charles had farmed a property in Beverley before heading to the north west of the State and engaging in the pastoral and pearling industries. He began a political career as the member for the North District in the Legislative Council of the Colony and remained a member of parliament until his retirement in 1906.

In 1883, Harper bought the section of Woodbridge that he had been leasing and began work on building his home. The building was of a grand nature and in 1884, the newspaper, "The Inquirer" printed a paragraph on the house, declaring it, "the handsomest private residence that has as yet been erected in the Colony and the design reflects the greatest credit upon the architects".

Harper lived in the house with his wife, their ten children and several servants. Friends and associates of the family were regularly entertained there and the property was managed as a working farm.

In 1896 Charles Harper opened a school in the billiard room of Woodbridge for his own children and those of neighbours and friends. The school was later transferred to a small building nearby and it continued to grow. This was the beginning of Guildford Grammar School, one of Western Australia's most prestigious private schools.

Charles Harper died in 1912 and his wife and two unmarried daughters stayed on at the house until 1921. The house was then leased to the previous headmaster of Guildford Grammar School who established the Woodbridge House Preparatory School for boarding and day boys. The school was closed in 1942 and the government requisitioned the house.

For the next 22 years the house was used as a home for aged women and in 1964, it was used by the Education Department as extra classrooms to relieve pressure on high schools in the district. Around this time, the demolition of the house was considered, to make way for playing fields for the new Governor Stirling Senior High School.

The National Trust approached the government for the transfer of Woodbridge and in 1968 it was vested in the Trust. The building was opened to the public in 1970 once restoration was completed and most of the ground floor rooms were furnished. Since then, gradual restoration, furnishing and display have continued with the building today reflecting an aspect of life in the late Victorian era.