Jandakot Railway League Campaign 1900-1906
And James Albert Hicks
For many years, Jandakot residents had to travel 7 miles or more (about 11 kms) through bush and farmland to reach Fremantle.[1] The track was a simple ‘plank road’ made of Jarrah sleepers with compacted limestone in between, making it a rough journey and difficult for those travelling on foot or by horse and cart. It was especially hard for local farmers who regularly had to transport their produce to Fremantle for sale. By 1900, many locals had had enough.
On a stormy evening in June 1900 a large meeting was held at the Forrest Road Agricultural Hall. More than 50 settlers from Jandakot and Armadale attended the meeting and many others sent letters of support. The group was determined to secure a new railway line from Armadale, through Jandakot, to Fremantle.[2] The proposed line would connect with the South-Western Railway line which went from Perth to Bunbury.[3]
The following day, the Western Mail described the meeting as the ‘most important and successful political gathering that has ever assembled in the Jandakot area’.[4] According to the report, ‘[g]reat enthusiasm characterised the meeting throughout, and with much force and argument the proposed Armadale to Fremantle railway, via Jandakot route, was advocated, and its many advantages exhaustively enumerated by the various speakers’.[5] This initial meeting eventually led to the establishment of the Jandakot Railway League and a six year campaign for a new railway line to Fremantle Port.
In the early years of the campaign, a pamphlet giving ‘37 reasons why the Armadale to Fremantle railway should he constructed’, were given out freely.[6] It was written by James Albert Hicks (1857-1942), who became known as ‘Jandakot-Armadale Hicks’ – a nickname coined by the humorous Goldfields writer and poet Dryblower.[7] In the pamphlet, Hicks argued that the ‘proposed line would benefit “hands all round”’ including the ‘citizens of Fremantle, the struggling settlers of Jandakot, and the settlers of Donnybrook, Greenbushes, and the whole southern districts’ who currently had to transport their goods to Fremantle via Perth.[8]
Hicks became known as ‘the diplomatic and omnipresent Chairman of the Jandakot Railway League’ who continuously opposed the Fremantle Roads Board, and J.J. Holmes MLA, who were pushing for a different railway line; a Mundijong-Fremantle link.[9]
Hicks was also an active member of the Jandakot Agricultural Society and the Jandakot District Roads board.[10] Together, these organisations tirelessly advocated for an Armadale-Fremantle railway link.
At a special meeting held by the Agricultural Society in 1902, a motion put forward the Secretary made clear the organisation’s position:
"In the opinion of this meeting a railway through Jandakot, to connect Fremantle with the South Western line, is a work of great urgency, and is absolutely necessary for the opening up and development of the Jandakot agricultural area, and as Jandakot settlers have proved beyond all doubt that the district is capable of supporting a large population of producers, this meeting respectfully urges upon the Government the pressing necessity for the immediate construction of the line." [11]
Although the Agricultural Society fought for the benefit of many growers and residents of Jandakot, it must be noted that they also ignored or discriminated against certain groups. For instance, not only were Chinese market gardeners excluded from the Society, in 1901 the group also passed a motion (put forward by James Hicks) that specified that ‘[a]ny person leasing land to or employing Chinamen’ was also barred from the organisation. Reflecting the deeply entrenched racism that characterised Australian society, the group was determined to ‘discourage the introduction of Chinamen into the Jandakot area, as their presence in any capacity whatever will be detrimental to the best interests of the district’. [12]
***
By February 1902, nearly two years into the campaign, Jandakot was still without a railway, and the settlers continued to ‘have to plough their ways through sand from their homes to a market and back again in the same way as they did two years ago.” [13]
Luckily Hicks, a landowner in both Fremantle and Jandakot, with drapery stores in Fremantle and Kalgoorlie, had a good understanding of politics. He invited everyone who mattered in the Government and Lands Department and other VIP’s, to the Jandakot Agricultural Society’s annual Show on 26 February 1902.[14]
This gala event , attended by 850 people, and a perfect opportunity to put forward the case for an Armadale-Fremantle line.[15] As the Umpire described:
‘Bunting floated in the breeze, and music was good and plentiful… The Armadale to Fremantle via Jandakot Railway Committee had a calico streamer setting forth the claims of the district for a railway’.[16]
Walter Kingsmill, Minister for Railways, and Acting-Premier, was invited to open the show. When the opening proceedings were over, a deputation of Jandakot residents came forward to press their need for a railway, including Hicks, who presented a ‘petition from residents praying for the line’.[17]
In the Umpire’s coverage of the event, the newspaper noted:
‘That little length of railway connecting Fremantle with Armadale via Jandakot was, responsible for the gathering together of fourteen members of Parliament at the show ground on Forrest-road last Wednesday. James A Hicks, who is making that railway his magnum opus, was in his element, and greatly impressed Ministers by his earnestness’.[18]
When there was no action, the gala event was repeated the following year with similar speeches presented to the Minister for Works and Railway, C. H. Rason.[19] James Hicks also continued to regularly spar with his rival J. J. Holmes, often in the letters to the Editor pages of local newspapers.
Holmes was determinedly putting pressure on the government to approve a Mundijong-Fremantle line. Likewise, the Millars Karri & Jarrah Co. was also campaigning for its preferred option, a Jandakot-Mundijong alignment that would further reduced freight mileage. Despite their significant influence, the government chose the Armadale option because it was the shortest route from Jandakot to the Southwest Railway.[20]
The Jandakot Railway Bill passed the parliamentary sitting in January 1904 but was hampered by J.J. Holmes until he lost his seat in July 1904.[21]
In July 1904, Truth reported that the:
‘struggling settlers of Jandakot have been jubilating over the disastrous defeat of J. J. Holmes in the recent Homeric struggle for the representation of East Fremantle in the State Parliament. "Joe", was the chief stumbling-block in the road of the proposed Fremantle-Jandakot-Armadale railway, so that his compulsory disappearance from the political arena has materially strengthened the case of the settlers. Holmes was a strong partisan of the suggestion to connect the loop at Jarrahdale with the S. W. line, and his opinion was probably colored by the fact that "Holmes' Paddock" would have substantially increased in value if his desires had been given effect to. Now stated that the Government have agreed to at once complete the survey from Jandakot to Armadale” [22]
The campaign was ultimately successful and the first section of the railway line- Robb's Jetty to Jandakot was opened on 1 April 1906 and the second section, Jandakot to Armadale, opened on 15 July 1907. An Opening ceremony was held at Armadale on 22 July 1907. According to the Sunday Times report:
“it is quite refreshing to hear "Jimmy" Hicks', opinion of the future of Fremantle…. He is a strong and fervent enthusiast and is more optimistic than ever respecting our trade prospects. It was the boss of the "White House" firm of drapers who was mainly instrumental in securing the Jandakot railway; and we owe a debt of gratitude to the clothing merchant for his strenuous efforts to improve the trade of the district.” [23]
Both sections of the railway were built by the Railway Construction Branch, Public Works Dept. The railway from Bibra Lake-Armadale closed on 23 February 1964.[24]
Portrait, J.A Hicks, Western Publishers, 1929
James Albert Hicks
Father arrived age 12 with his Family, in Fremantle on the Medina in 1830. Born in Perth in 1857, Educated in Perth and Fremantle. Hicks Married Matilda Esther Wearne in 1884 at the Wesleyan Church, Fremantle and they had 10 children. In 1903 he lived on 68 Hampton Road, Fremantle and was a merchant in Fremantle for 48 years with a shop -The White House- no’s 81-83 High Street.[GM1]
Photo texts:
1. Portrait, J.A Hicks, Western Publishers, 1929
2. J.A. Hicks caricature portrait, Sunday Times, 20 October 1907
3. The deputation at the Jandakot Agricultural Show, Western Mail 8 March 1902
4. Fruit and vegtables on display at Jandakot Hall, Western Mail, 2 March 1901, page 26, Photo by C. Walker
5. WA Premier at the Jandakot Agricultural Show, Western Mail 2 March 1901
6. The Hall at Jandakot Agricultural Show, Western Mail, 8 Mar 1902
7. The Agricultural Show, Jandakot, Western Mail 25 July 1903 (may be too dark to use)
[1] ‘Fremantle-South Western Railway: To the Editor,’ West Australian, 22 July 1903, 2.
[2] ‘A new railway: Meeting at Jandakot,’ Western Mail, 23 June 1900, 29.
[3] ‘Armadale to Fremantle via Jandakot railway,’ Umpire, 15 February 1902, 4.
[4] ‘A new railway: Meeting at Jandakot,’ Western Mail, 23 June 1900, 29
[5] ‘A new railway: Meeting at Jandakot,’ Western Mail, 23 June 1900, 29
[6] ‘A new railway: Meeting at Jandakot,’ Western Mail, 23 June 1900, 29.
[7] ‘Political Salad,’ Sporting Life: Dryblower’s Journal, 18 August 1906, 1.
[8] ‘Proposed Armadale to Fremantle line,’ Western Mail, 23 June 1900, 29.
[9] ‘The Jandakot Railway,’ Truth, 4 Feb 1905, 5.
[10] ‘Jandakot Agricultural Society’, West Australian, 25 January 1902, 8; ‘James and Jandakot,’ Sunday Press, 5 July 1903, 4.
[11] ‘Armadale to Fremantle via Jandakot railway,’ Umpire, 15 February 1902, 4.
[12] ‘Jandakot,’ Umpire, 2 November 1901, 5.
[13] ‘The Jandakot Agricultural Area: Proposed Railway Communication,’ West Australian, 24 February 1902, 2.
[14] ‘Jandakot Show: A grand success,’ Umpire, 1 March 1902, 3.
[15] ‘Jandakot Agricultural Show,’ West Australian, 27 February 1902, 6.
[16] ‘Jandakot Show: A grand success,’ Umpire, 1 March 1902, 3.
[17] ‘Jandakot Agricultural Show,’ West Australian, 27 February 1902, 6.
[18] ‘Brevities’, Umpire, Fremantle, 1 March 1902, 2.
[19] ‘Jandakot Agricultural Show,’ Evening Courier, 12 February 1903, 4.
[20] Jeff Austin, Rail Heritage WA, Correspondence with Denise Cook, 18 April 2025
[21] ‘The Parliamentary Session: Bills introduced and passed,’ West Australian, 16 January 1904, 9.
[22] Truth, 16 July 1904, page 1
[23] Port Paragraphs, Sunday Times, 20 October 1907, 4.
[24] Jeff Austin, Rail Heritage WA, Correspondence with Denise Cook, 18 April 2025
[GM1]Reference