Australia and Canada have many things in common, but perhaps not as many as might have been. If things had been different, France might well have claimed Australia, or part of Australia. For some time, France seemed likely to claim Western Australia, for example.
Britain claimed WA when it created a settlement in Albany in 1826, before it established the Swan River Colony in 1829. The colony, under the command of founding governor Captain James Stirling RN, did not prosper for many years….
