March Event –

Robert Nicholson – Captain Robert Laurie of Fremantle

Tuesday 24 March 5.00 – 6.00 pm
Refreshments available from 4.30 pm
Fremantle History Centre, Ground Floor, Walyalup Civic Centre

151 High St, Fremantle 6160

A Scottish born sailor, at fifteen Robert Laurie migrated to Australia to join the Adelaide Steamship Company which, in 1880, sent him to Fremantle where he worked as a stevedore before becoming a member of the Legislative Council and first Chairman of the Fremantle Harbour Trust. He fought to achieve proper marine standards to ensure the port attracted the patronage of international shipping.

Our speaker is the great grandson of Captain Laurie. The Hon. Robert Nicholson was born in 1937, his mother Betty, nee Davies, was a granddaughter of Captain Robert Laurie. His grandfather was a solicitor, John Nicholson, who emigrated from Scotland in 1896, establishing a law firm here. One of his sons, Edward, became a partner in 1927, and Edward’s son, Robert, joined the firm when he was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1960.

Robert (Bob) served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of WA from 1988 to 1994. He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to the judiciary, to education and to the community. Then the year after, was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), also for service to the judiciary and the law, to education, and to the community.

He has published a number of research papers before writing the story of his grandfather, ‘Shaping Australia’s West: The Life of John Nicholson’ and then ‘Captain Robert Laurie and the maritime development of Fremantle’ in 2025.