On 2 May, Fremantle officially claimed for Britain the part of the continent then called New Holland that was not already "included within the territory of New South Wales" which at the time extended to 129th meridian east of Greenwich.
[6]: 11–12 The merchant vessel Parmelia – with the new colony's administrator Lieutenant Governor James Stirling,[7] other officials, and civilian settlers on board – arrived on the night of 31 May and sighted the coast on 1 June.
[contradictory][8][9][10] Ships carrying more civilian settlers began arriving in August, and on King George IV's birthday, 12 August, the wife of the captain of Sulphur, Helena Dance, standing in for James Stirling's wife Ellen Stirling, cut down a tree to mark the founding of Perth.
[8] In 1832, Stirling decided that an annual celebration was needed to unite the colony's inhabitants, including settlers and Aboriginal Australians and "masters and servants".
[3] In November 2024, premier Roger Cook stated he was open to the idea of moving Western Australia Day to a date closer to summer, citing the more favourable climate.