Concertina

This concertina was once played by the first European girl born in the Swan River Colony. Sophia Ellery, nee Dent, was born on the beach in Fremantle in 1829 after her mother went into labour. The ship that had transported their family from England floundered as it reached shore, forcing Sophia’s father to carry her mother through the waves to the beach where Sophia was born. She went on to marry and have four children but her first husband died after which she remarried and bore another four children. She must have found solace in music, having also treasured a pedal organ which is now on show at the Irwin and Districts Historic Museum. She was buried in Dongara Cemetery as Sophia Mitchell.