in 1830, john butler, a settler, set up an inn at freshwater bay (in modern-day peppermint grove) to attract travellers on the road from perth to fremantle. a wetland became known as butler's swamp (later lake claremont). after the arrival of convicts in the colony in 1850, work began on constructing the fremantle road. the government allocated land on the foreshore and at butler's swamp to 19 pensioner guards and their families, and a permanent convict depot operated at freshwater bay (until 1875).