Thornlie, Western Australia

Thornlie is a large outer suburb of Perth, located 18 kilometres south-east of the city's central business district. It is part of the City of Gosnells local government area. The Canning River runs through the northern side of the suburb. Since the 1950s the suburb has developed in approximately five stages; north-east Thornlie (1950s-60s), south Thornlie (1970s-80s), Crestwood (1970s), Castle Glen (1980s) and Forest Lakes (1990s).HistoryCaptain Peter Pegus was the original settler of the area now known as Thornlie, which he had called "Coleraine" when granted the land in 1829. Prior to this the area would have been used by the indigenous Noongar population. In 1834 his premises and belongings were burned in a fire that was to prove the end of his settlement.The name Thornlie was derived from a farm "Thornlie Park", established in 1884 by Frank and Amy James, Amy being a niece of Walter Padbury who financed the property.The James family subsequently sold the estate, which had been a productive dairy farm, in 1937 to the mine-manager and investor, Nat Harper. When Harper died in 1954, the 1715acre Thornlie estate was put up for auction in two lots. 228acre of Lot 1 were purchased by D. and M. O'Sullivan and by June 1956 the Gosnells Roads Board had provided approval for the development of the area. By March 1957, forty houses had been completed and by May 1958 there were 100 occupied homes. Thornlie thus as a residential suburb was established in the late 1950s as a housing estate aimed mainly at middle-income earners and inner city dwellers.