Fremantle was named after Captain Charles H Fremantle of HMS Challenger which stopped at Garden Island in April 1829, a mere three years in lieu of the foundation of Albany. Several months later Captain James Stirling arrived with Surveyor JS Roe and 68 other settlers. By 1833 a visitor to the infant settlement wrote:

In 1830 the first newspaper, the "Fremantle Journal", a handwritten affair costing 3 shillings and sixpence a copy was issued. Various ships containing stores and potential settlers arrived with a particular example being the Rockingham and it's 175 passengers led by Thomas Peel. Unfortunately the ship ran aground and the settlers endured various hardships before eventually departing for Perth, their attempts at colonisation a failure. A monthly boat service linked Fremantle to Guilford, as roads were non existent at this time.

The Round House was constructed in 1831 and was used to incarcerate minor offenders, being used as a lock up. That year saw the establishment of the first cemetery, with it's first occupant following a year later. The first vineyard was planted in the area in 1833 and the first horse race was held in October of this same year. In 1835 the first post office and postmaster position were established in Fremantle and the excavation of a tunnel under Arthur's Head to link the town with the only operating jetty at the time began in 1837.

1837 also saw the beginning of whaling in the area. The Fremantle Whaling Company commenced operations in this year only to sell to Patrick Marmion in 1948. The area had long been visited by American whalers.

In 1841, the first Anglican minister was appointed to Fremantle. The Rev.George King set up schools for native children and would travel as far as 50 miles to conduct services. By 1842 the town had been laid out fully and boasted two hotels, three stores and two Government buildings. In 1845 Fremantle exported her first shipment of sandalwood and the Roman Catholic church was opened.

1850 saw the advent of the convict period with the arrival of the first batch of prisoners who were incarcerated in a temporary premises until the completion of the new prison. Convict labour was used in the construction of Commissariat buildings, pensioner's barracks, warder's residence and the north Fremantle bridge as well as on road building and other public works. The convicts transported to Western Australia were not of the hardened criminal variety that Tasmania and New South Wales housed. Due to an agreement with the British authorities no female convicts or convicts of a dangerous class were to be sent to the new colony.

In 1851 the Fremantle Literary Institute was established and a year later the water police body was amalgamated with the land police to form a single unit. By 1859 the population of Fremantle was 2,946 persons, an increase of 2,239 over a five year period. The post office savings bank was established in 1863. The following year saw the beginning of a series of explorations for gold which according to a convict called Wildman was to be found in abundance around the area of Camden Harbour. Exhaustive searches proved the claim to be untrue. In 1866 the first bank was opened in the town when the National Bank of Australasia Ltd arrived.

On June 21 1869 the telegraph line to Perth was established, providing the already blossoming settlement with a reliable means of communication. By 1870 there were 3,796 residents in Fremantle, all attesting to the prosperous aura in the area. A year later Fremantle was declared a municipality and the Western Australian Bank opened a branch in the town. The telegraph line had been extended to Geraldton by May 1874. In 1876 author Henry Tauton described Fremantle thus:

"Fremantle consisted of one principal street made up of hotels and stores and a few Government buildings, including the Imperial Convict depot, a lighthouse and a number of private dwellings all glaring in whitewash. A few churches made up an apparently sleepy but really flourishing township, which might be described as a city of public houses, flies, sand, limestone, convicts and stacks of sandalwood."

By the beginning of the 1880s the population of Fremantle had risen to 4,133. A grammar school was established in the town in 1883 and a year later the West Australian Shipping Association was formed. The railway to York was opened and the Town Hall was finally completed in June and the telegraph line reached Roebourne in October of the same year. The first telephone exchange was opened in January 1888 and a year later the telegraph line had stretched as far as Derby and Broome. The Great Southern Railway had been opened in June.

The influx of settlers to Fremantle in the 1890s can be attributed to the gold rushes occurring in the neighbouring regions. Those prospectors who were unsuccessful decided to return to settle in Fremantle and thus ensued a housing boom. 1890 saw the town become the first in the colony to organise a water supply. In December the very first responsible government election was held. The railway linked Fremantle to Gin Gin in 1891.

1892 was to be a momentous year for the settlement. As a result of the discovery of gold at Coolgardie Fremantle was to experience further development. A river harbour was commenced, and further additions to the communications network were added when in 1893 the telegraph line reached Wyndham, Karridale and Quindalup and a rail line was constructed to Bunbury. A plethora of people passed through the town en route to the goldfields thus bringing further prosperity to Fremantle. Banks, retail stores, merchants and hostelry owners flourished.

In 1895 the small casualty ward in the town was transformed into the Fremantle Hospital with the first board meeting in October 1897. During 1928 1,330 in patients and 17,629 out patients were treated. In 1898 the railway arrived to Kalgoorlie and in tandem with the new harbour project was a major influence on the prosperity of the town. In 1895 however the Government decided to transfer the railway workshops in Fremantle to Midland, this resulted in a decline in population and prosperity for the townsfolk.

The turn of the century saw the establishment of the State Steamship Service and the failed attempt to construct a dry dock in Fremantle. 1914 saw a severe drought sweep the region and the beginning of the First World War with a number of native Fremantle soldiers enlisting and seeing action at Gallipoli.

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