FAQ
1. Who was Mary Ann Tapper?
According to Landgate, Mary Ann Tapper bought Lot 21 (320 acres on the west and south side of Bibra Lake) in 1895.
This section of land was a grant given to Benedict Von Bibra in 1843. He had not developed the land before he sold it and eventually Mary Ann bought it from Andrew Scott Moore for 365 pounds.
She built a house on the western side of the lake and she and her son Daniel cleared the land for market gardening and an orchard and later dairy farming.
Landgate have no relevant records of land sale to D Currie. Tapper records indicate the land was not sold but leased to brothers David and Duncan Currie, on which they built a large dairy. They lived in a house that was already there on part of lot 21 which was built by Mary Ann and Daniel Tapper.
On 1 July 1908, Duncan Curry purchased from W E Wray, a 19 acre block of land on the south side of their lease for 200 pounds. Mary Ann Tapper had previously sold that portion of her land to her daughter and son in law – W Wray, who then on sold it to the Curries at a later date.
2. Who were the Curries?
David and Duncan Currie built and operated a dairy on Tapper land at Bibra Lake and then sold the dairy building to Daniel Tapper in 1912. Daniel Tapper ran the dairy from 1912 until his death in 1949. It was then taken over by his son and son in law who ran the dairy until 1965. This was when the land was taken over by the government for a green belt.
Later, one Currie brother went back to Victoria and the other moved to Merredin to farm wheat.
3. Who were the Tapper family?
The original Tapper family came out in 1830 on the boat ‘Rockingham’ with their children. Their youngest son John Tapper was born in Fremantle and was the husband of Mary Ann Tapper. John and Mary Ann’s son Daniel Jnr and wife Rosina Tapper had 12 children and ran the first post office, telephone exchange and petrol pumps. A copy of the Tapper Family history of Fremantle volume I and 2 is in the Cockburn library.
4. Who planted the three Moreton Bay figs in the park?
It has been suggested that a Moreton Bay fig tree was planted by Mary Ann Tapper near her house (built 1895). When her son Daniel Tapper married Rosina Whitehead (1899), he built a house north of his mother’s house. Rosina took cuttings from the tree and planted more fig trees.
5. What rules apply to park names?
Landgate states that any submission for a name change must include evidence of community consultation and be presented to Landgate for consideration. Council policy APD88 also states that if renaming is proposed because of some exceptional circumstance there must be evidence of substantial community support for a change of name.
Proposed park names are considered according to the City’s APD88 ‘Geographical Naming’; Landgate’s ‘Policies and Standards for Geographical Naming in Western Australia’; and Part 2 (Naming of Parks and Reserves) of the Land Administration Act 1997.