This Day in History: 1853-11-15

The Toodyay, Northam and Victoria Plains Agricultural Society was formed at a meeting at John Herbert’s Royal Oak hotel in old Toodyay. Resident Magistrate Joseph Strelley Harris chaired the meeting. The first Secretary was John Taylor Cooke. The Governor, Captain Charles Fitzgerald, RN, was elected Patron. The annual subscription was £1, and 50 members enrolled at that meeting.

Sources:
Perth gazette, 2 Dec. 1853, p.[2].
Rica Erickson. Old Toodyay and Newcastle. Toodyay Shire Council, 1974, p.117.
Rica Erickson. The Victoria Plains. Lamb Paterson, 1971, p. 70.