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down a riot of some 2 000 natives who set fire to the town. Bremer returned home from the East Indies Station on
28 November 1827.
Following a change of government in London, complaints by New South Wales Governor Darling that the
cost of the distant settlements was too high, consistent lobbying by Captain James Stirling RN for a new colony
to be established at Swan River and adverse reports from the two garrison commanders, Major Campbell, 57th
Regiment and Captain Smyth, 39th Regiment, both Fort Dundas and the subsequent establishment, Fort Wellington
at Raffles Bay, were abandoned in 1829.
On 25 January 1836 Bremer was made a Knight of Commander of the Hanseatic Order (KCH) and in the
following year he was appointed to command HMS Alligator.
After consideration of questions regarding the inadvisability of abandoning the north coast of Australia, the
desirability of establishing a naval base there, French plans for an expedition to north Australia, and further political
change in London, Bremer was once again sent, in 1838, to establish a base and secure north Australia as a British
possession. The expedition was a naval exercise, controlled by the Admiralty. Only marines were employed to
garrison the settlement, which was named Victoria in honour of the Queen.
The expedition, having called at Adelaide to pick up a detachment of marines, left Sydney on 18 September 1838
and, encountering adverse winds, did not arrive at Port Essington until 27 October. After careful examination of
the port a site was selected on 3 November. The place chosen was an ideal defensive position projecting into the
western side of the inner harbour and having cliffs, which were described as ‘being in excess of 50 feet in height’,
and from the tops of which a battery commanded access to the inner harbour.
Bremer spent some seven months supervising the establishment of Victoria, meeting the French explorer
D’Urville and his expedition, and visiting the Portuguese governor at Dili and the Dutch governor at Kupang. Then,
being satisfied with the progress of the settlement and finding it necessary to confer with Governor Gipps, he sailed
from Victoria on 3 June 1839. In September he took Alligator to Norfolk Island where he quelled a mutiny among
the troops. On 8 November 1839 Bremer sailed from Sydney in Alligator, intending to go to Victoria. The climatic
conditions at the time of year caused him to sail by way of Bass Strait. He called at Penang and Madras, and arrived
at Trincomalee in March 1840. Due to the death of Sir Frederick Maitland in December 1839 and the short term
of office of his successor, Rear Admiral Elliott, who arrived in July 1840 and departed an invalid in November of
that year, Bremer was senior naval officer of the India Station for much of the years 1840 and 1841 until he was
relieved by Sir William Parker in November 1841. He thus had the naval command of the expedition to China
during that time and for this service he received the thanks of Parliament, and was made a Knight Commander of
the Order of the Bath (KCB) on 29 July 1841.
In April 1846 Bremer was appointed Commodore, second-in-command of the squadron that patrolled the
English Channel. In this position he flew his broad pennant in HMS Queen. This was his last seagoing appointment;
in November 1846 he became Commodore Superintendent of the Woolwich Dockyard. He held this post for the
next two years. Bremer attained the rank of Rear Admiral on 15 September 1849. He died a few months later, on
14 February 1850.
In 1811 Bremer married Harriett, daughter of Thomas Wheeler and widow of the Reverend George Henry
Glasse. They had two sons and four daughters. His elder son, Edward Gordon, served as an officer in the Royal
Navy. His eldest daughter married Captain (afterwards Admiral) Sir Leonard Kuper.
The two establishments founded by Bremer in north Australia survived for relatively short periods, four and
11 years respectively. The continued existence of Victoria as an important centre in the proposed Colony of North
Australia was prevented by a change of government in London, and it was abandoned in 1849 shortly before
Bremer’s death. However, we should not underestimate the importance of Bremer’s contribution to the security of
Australia. Its ultimate development as a nation inhabiting the entire continent owes much to Bremer and the tiny
garrisons that he installed on the northern coast at a time when other powers were expanding their interests in the
islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
ADB, vol 1; Australian Encyclopedia, vols 2 & vol 6; Dictionary of Naval Biography; Royal Naval Biography Supplement pt III; Addenda to
Post Captains of 1814, Maritime Museum Greenwich.
TED STREET, Vol 1.BRENNAN, ALICE KATHLEEN LORRAINE (LAURIE, BREN or MISS B) (1923–1992), office worker,
nurse, nurse administrator, educator and community worker, was born in Sydney on 23 February 1923 to
John Patrick Aloysius Brennan and his wife, Alice, nee Archer. Her father was a supervising telephone technician
and her mother was responsible for running the family home. From all accounts Laurie and her brother John James
Patrick were nurtured in a warm and loving family environment.
She grew up in Sydney and attended the West Ryde Public School from 1929 to 1934. During that time she
was the recipient of school prizes in 1930–1932 and featured in the April and June 1932 editions of the school
magazine. Her secondary education was undertaken at Burwood Domestic Science Intermediate High School
and her New South Wales Intermediate Certificate was issued in 1938. She successfully sat the University of
Adelaide’s Board of Public Examinations English Matriculation Examination in 1967.
In 1938 she was employed for 11 months at the York Printing Company at Petersham. She left to take up
the position of Typist and Invoice Clerk with the Sydney office of the Pepsodent Company (Australia) Pty Ltd.
She stayed with this company until she resigned to commence her nursing career. She left both positions with very
good references.