British colony covering the western third of the Australian mainland; founded 2 June 1829 as the Swan River Colony (military outpost pre-empting French/other claims), renamed the Colony of Western Australia in 1832. Grew slowly — it took in convict transportation 1850-1868 to fund labour — until the 1890s gold rushes tripled its population.
Federated into the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901 as the State of Western Australia.
Landmark edited scholarly history of the colony/state, from the Swan River settlement through the 20th century.