La Perouse
The namesake
Le Compte de La Perouse was born on 22 August 1741, and entered the French Navy at 15. After a distinguished career fighting the British in the American War, the French Government selected La Perouse to Captain an expedition to complete Captain Cook’s unfinished exploration work. In command of two ships, La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, La Perouse left for Brazil on 1 August 1785.
After leaving Brazil he doubled around Cape Horn and refitted in Chile. He sailed up to the Sandwich Islands and on to Alaska, where he proceeded to chart the western American coast between Alaska and California. After a refit at Monterey, he sailed across the Pacific to Macao before spending six weeks refreshing in Manila. The expedition then headed north, surveying the coast up to and beyond Korea, all the way up to the Gulf of Tartary. After replenishing in Kamchatka, the expedition head south across the Pacific to make for New Holland. At the Navigator Islands (Samoa) La Perouse was surprise attacked by natives and lost 11 men. He decided to leave without reprisals, and headed further south to Norfolk Island. The expedition finally reached the coast of Botany Bay on the 24 of January, 1788, but bad weather prevented them from landing for another 2 days. He established a camp on the northern shore on what is now know as La Perouse, and during his six-week stay he maintained good relations the British. On 10 March the expedition set sail once more, and was not heard of again...
The French Government sent another expedition in 1791 to look for him but the search was fruitless. Rumours spread in France blaming the British for the tragedy until in 1828 Dumont d'Urville discovered that La Perouse had shipwrecked at Vanikoro, Santa Cruz.
This information was based on the Australian Dictionary of Biography website.
A map drawn by La Perouse himself charting his travels can be found here.
The suburb
Located on the northern side of Botany Bay, La Perouse was named after the French explorer who arrived here in 1788 just a few days after the arrival of the First Fleet.
Aboriginal people were the first to live at Phillip Bay and La Perouse and their presence was first recorded by Europeans in 1812 by a French expedition.
However, the European pioneers of Sydney made their presence felt in the area through military installations from an early date. The Macquarie Watch tower was built in the 1820s to watch for smugglers and convicts, and Bare Island Fort was built in 1885 against possible attack by the Russians. In the 1920s/1930s Depression, the area was home to many unemployed people who built make-shift houses there; to the north there was the mostly white Happy Valley and Hill 60, and to the south Frog Hollow which was mostly populated by Aborigines.
For more information see:
Randwick City Council About Randwick > Demographic Profile > Local Suburb Profiles > La Perouse