| Summary: |
Edward Thomas Pomeroy Troode originated from Plymouth, England, and arrived in Western Australia in 1853 to join the Convict Department. In 1855 he was transferred to the Customs at Fremantle, where he remained for 37 years and became the Chief Clerk. His link to Cockburn is an early one: he bought land in the area that would become Spearwood, and built one of the only large homes in the area in the 1850s. This home became Woodlands, sold to the Mell family and then to William Watson, who built Watsonia on the remaining property.
Troode and his wife Elizabeth had eight daughters and three sons. Pictured here are Edward and Elizabeth, seated in centre, and all eight daughters in unknown order: Gertrude (b. 1859), Emily (b. 1862), Blanche (b. 1867), Jessie (b. 1875), Elizabeth (b. 1878), Florence (b. 1880), Ethel (b. 1883), and Ida (b. 1886). On his retirement in 1891, Troode moved the family to Albany, where this photograph was probably taken. |