Western Australia

Swan River Colony, a free colony i.e. not a penal colony, was established in 1829 at Swan River (now Fremantle), populated with British settlers. York, the first inland settlement, was established in 1831. The name Western Australia was declared in 1832.

The earliest British settlement in WA was established by Major Edmund Lockyer at King George's Sound (now Albany) in 1826, being on the shipping route between Port Jackson (NSW) and Britain. Claiming the site was also to alert the French, who were exploring Australia at the time, that Britain claimed the whole of New Holland. 

Lockyer landed with troops and convicts from NSW. He also rescued aboriginal women who had been enslaved by whalers, leading to the prosecution of these men and the establishment of good relations with the Minang Noogar aboriginal people. 

Convicts were sent from NSW to Albany from 1826 - 1831. This practice was stopped in 1831, due to objections from free settlers in Swan River, as was the presence of a military garrison funded and controlled from NSW. Albany was then absorbed into the main colony. 

The first oveland journey from the east to Western Australia was that of Edward John Eyre in 1841.

Convicts were directly transported from Britain to Fremantle, then dispersed to other areas to work from 1850 to1868; transportation ceased when British policy changed.

The 1896 discovery of significant quantities of gold at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie brought large numbers of people to the state. 

Interestingly, WA did not participate in the earliest Federation conference, being generally opposed to joining the federation. However the majority of electors voted to join the eventual federation of Austrlain states. Nonetheless, there have been calls for secession from the earliest days of the colony. In fact 68% of voters voted for seccession in 1933 (Source: Wikipedia)