Cottages and Cuisine!!!!!!

Pensioner Guard Cottages   

   

Western Australia has many historical buildings. This is a story about some cottages with a difference.

The Pensioner Guards arrived with the first convicts and for the 18 years convicts were brought to Western Australia.

They were Freemen and called Pensioner Guards because they had been pensioned out of the British army and other military establishments. They weren't necessarily old, but had finished their tour of duty.  The men were encouraged to come out on convict ships and act as warders.

Upon arrival, their main duty was to act as a disciplined body of men who could be called by civil authorities to quell any disturbance.

In Western Australia, Pensioner Guards were placed on the fringes of towns with convict depots. The guards were offered packets of land, ranging from two to ten acres. The land came with a two room cottage costing 15 pounds to build. They were erected for the pensioner guards by convicts and ticket of leave labourers.

The cottages were leased to the guards provided they remained and worked for at least seven years. After seven years, the land and cottage became theirs. There were four cottages built in West Guildford, now known as Bassendean, of which Surrey Street is the only one remaining.

Number one Surrey Street was completed in 1857. Records show the first tenant was John Law Davis, his wife Amelia and children. Law Davis was a 30 year old Pensioner Guard, originally employed by the East India Company. Over the next few years, five more children were born .

John died in 1870.

Amelia married John Bates in 1873 and had two more children. Bates was not an enrolled Pensioner Guard and their two children were born in Guildford. It’s possible they too were born and raised in the cottage, which presumably passed to Amelia on the death of her first husband.  

Creamy Prawn and Pasta 

Ingredients

350 grams of fusilli or other short pasta
2 tablespoons of butter
2 whole medium sized leeks, washed and cleaned of any sand /grit halved and finely sliced 
salt and pepper to taste
Half a tablespoon of crushed garlic
500 grams of peeled and deveined prawns
One cup of heavy cream
Zest of one lemon
300 grams of baby spinach
Two tablespoons of olive oil
Half a cup of white wine
One whole corn on the cob (slice the kernels off the cob)
  
Method

Place the pasta in boiling water with about one tablespoon of olive oil and boil until cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a large fry pan place butter, one tablespoon of olive oil and when it has melted add the sliced leeks and corn kernels, stirring for about two minutes. Then place prawns, lemon zest  and white wine in and cook for about a further 3 minutes, or until prawns are done.

Lastly, add the cream, garlic, baby spinach, pasta, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well combined and heated thoroughly.

Serve with fresh crusty bread.