GREEN Levi  NEW

Researched and compiled by Gordon Freegard July 2025
Acknowledging information gathered from many sources including Collected UWA and The Voyage of the Tranby article.

Levi Green was born on the 10th of April 1857, in Perth. His father was 49 years old. When Levi was born, the oldest brother William was already 20 years old. Levi was still a baby when his two older sisters married shortly after, in 1860 Elizabeth and then in 1861 Dinah. Levi grew up with the family, and was educated, in Perth.
As a former school friend said in 1916, "Even as a youngster at school Levi stood out from his fellows - he had few if any pals-as an acquirer of pence, by hiring - out his buck rabbits and his cock pigeons, at a penny a time." " Levi was industrious, studious, and ingenious. He parted lightly with nothing, and was a staunch believer in the old Scotch adage that, every mickle makes a muckle."
His father George Green was running his steam mill, in the centre of Perth, and his maritime business with ships plying the coast and Swan River.

LEVI GREEN WITH HIS FATHER GEORGE        #1
 

As a boy in his teens, Levi developed into an expert boat-builder, his first yacht being an eighteen-footer which he named The “Eva”, and with which he won many races. The “Eva” finished her career by capsizing one Saturday afternoon while jibing off Point Resolution in the early seventies and drowning Levi's eldest brother, William Green. But his best effort as a builder of yachts was ’The Eldora”, a twenty-four-foot carver clipper which, with Levi at the helm, was the lady of the river. Probably no one knew Perth water, together with its shoals and its wind and weather eccentricities, better than Levi Green, and nobody could show him a point in building or in handling a yacht.
As an apprentice to John Summers in the wheelwright business, Levi reached the top rung of the ladder long before the expiration of his indentures and was quite an authority as a smithy and a saw doctor before he attained, his majority.
Levi was 17 years old when his father George Green, died in December 1874, aged 68 years old. Levi then inherited half of Town Lot G No.1. which included the flour mill and a foundry.
 

1877 MAP LOCATION OF GREEN'S TOWN LOT G1 AND LEVI'S LATER LOT V17 HAD THE MILL OPPOSITE THE WESLEY CHURCH (8) , CHAPEL (9) AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 910)      #2
 

In the seventies, Levi started the ironmongery business in one of the small shops that his father left him in Murray Street. Levi worked through his 20's and became a successful merchant in the Perth township.
Levi was calling himself a 'Carriage Builder and Machinist' at his premises in Murray Street, during July 1881. He built vehicles including horse-drawn hearses. Levi was still single at this stage

LEVI GREEN ADVERT 1881       #3
 

EASTERN DISTRICTS CRONICLE ADVERT 1885       #4
 

This hearse was commissioned in 1885 from Perth coachbuilder and merchant Levi Green by George Wansborough, a carpenter and coffin-maker who became a funeral director in the inland town of York. Later owners of the funeral business, Stephen and Richard Harvey, sold it to Lew Whiteman in 1963. It became part of his bequest to Whiteman Park. The body of this four-wheeled hearse was painted black with gold trimming. It had carved angels blowing trumpets inset into each corner of the body and green pinstriping on black wheels. There was two large plate glass oval windows on both sides of vehicle. It was available with or without black ostrich plume for the hearse and horses. Also available if  required hearse pieces, horse pieces, and harness cloth of black velvet.
This sombre but highly decorative hearse carried the dead to a final resting place for 65 years. It shows the change from the simple timber carts used in early colonial Western Australia to this American-style hearse drawn by matching black horses, with all the ceremonial ornamentation and dignity seen as appropriate for the journey to the cemetery. Custom-built motorised vehicles were taking over from horse-drawn hearses by the 1920s, but this hearse was used in York until 1950

   FOUR WHEELED HEARSE MADE BY LEVI GREEN IN 1885    #5
 

The 34-year-old Levi married Sarah Elizabeth Graham (born on the 12th of May 1862, in Perth). Sarah was the eldest daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Graham. Joseph had arrived in WA during 1842 with his father and married Sarah's mother, Sarah Butchart during January 1859, in Perth. Sarah and Levi were married on the 9th of December 1891, in St. Georges Cathedral, Perth. They went on to live in Hay Street, Perth. They had five children. Two children died in infancy. 
Levi Green worked as a coachbuilder before opening a hardware store in Perth.  His father George Green died in 1874.The link between Levi Green’s ironmongery and the previous foundry on site is clear. Levi Green was only a teenager when his father died, so he was not retailing goods manufactured by his father but may have been connected with the foundry his father established on the site.
 

LEVI GREEN'S LOT  V17 RUNNING BETWEEN MURRAY AND WELLINGTON STREETS. THE FOUNDRY CHIMNEY IN THE MIDDLE IN 1885       #6
 

During this time two events significantly shaped the development of both central Perth and the wider metropolitan region: the construction of a railway from Fremantle to Guildford, completed in 1881, and the Western Australian gold rushes, commencing in 1885.
The earlier small Levi store was at 258 (later renumbered 246) Murray Street, the southern end of Perth Building Lot V17. He was listed as an 'Ironmonger'. In Western Australia, ironmongers often operated mixed businesses under the ‘ironmonger’ label. By the mid-twentieth century, the term fell into disuse, with former ironmongers rebranding as either ‘hardware’ (where they maintained this specialty) or more general descriptions such as ‘importers’, ‘merchants’ or ‘general providers’.
 

1877 MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF PERTH LOT v17 RUNNING BETWEEN MURRAY AND WELLINGTON STREETS        #7
 

As a result of gold rush immigration, in one decade the population of the Perth tripled, from only 8,447 persons in 1891, to 27,553 in 1901. Levi Green sailed to England for an extended stay during 1900. He returned to WA in December 1901, bringing back with him, extensive stock and new technology for sale.
He announced to his many customers and people generally that his visit has been reproductive, inasmuch as he was enabled to obtain a large quantity of goods while the markets were at their very lowest.
Having thus secured the goods, he can offer the following lines at bedrock prices,

viz.:-Anvils (Peter Wright's), Axles (half patent, mail patent, etc.), Axes (Plumb's Sharp's, Hubbard's, Kelly's, etc., Bib and Stop Cocks (regulation weights). Boat Fittings, new lot just landed, Bars, Brooms and Brushware of every description, Bird Cages for breeding, etc., Bolts and Nuts, all sizes, just landed, Brackets, tinned angle, etc., Buckets, galvanised and enamelled, Bolt Clippers, Rifureated Rivets in special sizes, Brass Foundry, both builders' and furnishing, large stock, Chain, Brass and Iron Jack Galvanised and Black Coil, Trace, etc., Chairs and Rockets, Cartridges and Shot, Cork Pullers, Cups and Sawers, Cutlery (both table and pocket), Jos, Rodgers and other makers, Coachbuilders Material a Speciality, Wheels, Seats. Slips, etc. Caustic Soda, Dinner Sets. Dishes, Doors, Drills, Disston's X Cuts and other Saws and Files. E'ectro-plated Cruets, Biscuit Barrels, Toast Racks, Afternoon Spoons, Spoons and Forks, etc. latest patterns and most suitable Xmas presents), Earthenware and China, Eyelets and Punches for same, Enamelled Ware, best selection in Perth. Fishing Tackle (cheapest in colony), Fireproof Safes, Fire Clay, Fishing Nets, Files (Stubbs's. Disstons', etc.), Fencing Wire, both galvanised and black,Wire Strainers for same. Globe Horse Nails, Garden Tools, Garden Rollers, Glue, Glycerine, Guns and Rifles, Sheet Glass and Glassware, Gutter Tubes and Spikes, Hinges, Hose for Gardens Plain Rubber and Canvas Covered, also Fittings for same, Lawn Sprinklers, Iron Bar, Hoop etc., Iron Wire for Fencing. Iron Harrows. Jugs of Majolica Ware, almost giving these away. Lemon Presses, the most perfect made, Lamps and Lamp Glasses, all kinds and sizes, Lawn Mowers, Meat Covers, Dish Covers, Milk Pans and Pails, Oils and Colours, Paints, Varnishes, Blacking, Reviver, Plate Powder (Goddard's), and all Oilmen's Sundries, Oil Cooking Stoves, Rippingille's and other makers, Plates, Crockery, China, and Enamel, Razors, Rakes, Forks, Garden Trowels, etc., Ropes, Manilla and Flexible SteelWire, Garden Lines, etc. Rat and Mouse Traps, Tools of every description. This is one of my leading lines. Stoves, both Dover and Aidieis, also Scales and Steelyards, Travelling Trunks, Bonnet and Deed Boxes, Cash Boxes, Tea Sets, Vegetable Cutters, Bread Cutters, Butter Prints, all seasonable articles. Universal Food Choppers, Union Scales, Walker's Wire Strainers, Woodware, Wrought Iron Pots and Pans, Wire Netting.

 

The Horseshoe bridge near Levi's store in Wellington Street was taking shape in 1903 with the contracts for its construction signed in March. Horse-drawn vehicles and bicycles and an occasional motor car or motorcycle were its main users until the trams came along. Gas light lit the streets and trams ran along Wellington Street.
In 1905 Levi decided to demolished the Wellington Street building occupied by George’s Foundry and erected new premises. The new building that Levi constructed on Wellington Street, was completed later in 1906, after a full twelve-month construction. It was a four-storey masonry building in the Federation Free style, was constructed on the northern end of Perth Building Lot V17. 

1908 WELLINGTON STREET FEATURING LEVI GREEN IRONMONGER        #8
 

There was a lot of difficulty in building it due to the sandy base. Levi Green imported special cement mortar for the foundations, and it reportedly took four months to build the basement walls up to ground level. It is claimed that the steel beams for the first two floors were ‘the largest ever imported to the Southern Hemisphere’. These difficulties were later identified as relating to sinking sufficient foundations for the large building in wet soil, ‘12ft 9in below the footpath level and 4ft 6in below the natural water-level of Perth’. A ‘risky and dangerous piece of underpinning’ was required along the eastern boundary to secure the neighbouring building. Green imported special cement mortar for the foundations and it reportedly took four months to build to basement walls up to ground level.
 

LEVI GREEN'S TOWN LOT v17 WITH THE FOUNDRY CHIMNEY AND THE NEW STORE TO THE RIGHT  1906       #9
 

The building was opened by the Premier, Mr. Newton James Moore, (later Sir) on 10 August 1906. The opening was reportedly attended by ‘nearly one hundred persons including members of Parliament, city councillors, architects, builders and leading businessmen of the city’, The new premises received glowing reviews in the papers, described as ‘perhaps the most up to date in the city’. Those touring the place were impressed by its outward appearance and ‘once inside… filled with wonderment at the spaciousness of it all, the excellent lighting arrangements, and 
the provision made for ventilation’. 

 

LEVI GREEN LAWN MOWER ADVERT  1911      #10
 

The four-storey establishment would have been an immediate landmark. The building was utilised as retail premises for Green, followed in 1922, by the 'Bairds Company' Ltd. and later 'Myer Ltd'.
Levi's older brother, John Edward Green died aged 59 years, at Mongers Street, Leederville, on the 18th of September 1903. The next year, another older brother died. Thomas Henry Green died on the 6th of July 1904, in Cottesloe, aged 56 years. Followed by another brother, James Joseph Green  died on the 31st of March 1907, in West Perth, aged 61 years.
In 1908, Perth streets still had gaslights — electric lights were not installed in the first of them until four years later and the work of converting the whole of Perth's streets to electric light was not completed until August, 1922

Levi Green died on the 22nd of October 1914, after a heart attack, in Cannington, aged 57 years. Levi Green’s Wellington Street store continued trading, with Charles Pearson as the manager. Levi appeared to have been preparing to expand his business to additional premises, but this did not eventuate.
At the time of his death, Levi Green also owned shops along William Street, both in central Perth and Northbridge, and properties in Hay Street, Murray Street, James Street, Palmerston-Aberdeen Street, Cannington, Kalamunda (known as 'Green's Siding', in Walliston, now part of Carmel - Location 702, formally 49/283), Swan and Canning locations, Midland Junction and North Beach with improvements including shops, warehouses, residences etc.  The most valuable portion of the real estate comprised Perth Town Lot 61, having frontages to Hay and William streets, and valued at £30,300; whilst another valuable allotment is Perth Town Lot V17, having frontages to Wellington and Murray Streets, and valued at £22,275. The total value of assets was set down at £126,711. 0s. 10d., against which were liabilities amounting to £20,143. 12s. 6d., leaving a balance of £106,567. 8s. 4d. for probate duty. (This equates to a value of $14 million, 900 thousand, dollars in 2023.)
 

GREEN’S LANDING

The name was probably first suggested by Edward Owen who had established an orchard and founded a Methodist community near a property owned by Levi Green, a well-known Perth businessman who moved into the district in 1844 and had the nearby siding named after him. The area was originally known as Green’s Landing after a siding on the timber line. The name Carmel was formally adopted for the siding in 1915 and for a town site in 1918. “Carmel” is a Hebrew word meaning “park” or “garden of God”’ and is also the name of a mountain ridge in Palestine.
The railway station on the Upper Darling Range Railway was initially called “Green’s Landing” as his property at Carmel was not far away.
Levi Green initially employed Chinese labourers to farm this property at Carmel. Later he leased out sections of the property to Chinese market gardeners such as Gooey Lew John and Ah Dan. The property was 100 acres in size with Piesses Gully running through it giving an ample supply of water.
 

CARMEL ("GREEN'S LANDING")  SIDING        #11
 

MAP SHOWING LEVI GREEN'S CARMEL PROPERTY       #12

Ah Dan (also known as Ah Ping) was born in about 1864 in Canton, China. He migrated to Western Australia in 1899. He was six feet and three quarters in height. He was recorded in the rates book s a “greengrocer” at Kalamunda from at least 1900 to 1925. Other detailed records who that he was also working as a market gardener at Pickering Brook in 1909. In 1910 he was working with Levi Green to build a road to Green’s Landing. In 1912 he had leased part of the Levi Green property at Green’s Landing in Carmel (Location 702) and was operating a fruit orchard when he was prosecuted for failing to comply with instructions to control fruit fly. He was still working in the same location in 1916. In January 1925 he won second prize at the Kalamunda Show for his Lisbon lemons. He made two visits overseas: September 1909 to May 1910, and May 1925 to September 1927.
He died on the 1^st September 1933. The Coroner recorded a verdict of “death by poisoning”. At the time of his death he was staying with a Chinese owner of a laundry at Milligan Street, Perth. In the post-mortern, his stomach revealed the presence of laundry caustic soda. It is not clear whether the death was suicide or something more sinister.

AH DAN        #13
 

Gooey Lew John (also known as Lew Gooey or Ah Gooey) was born in Canton, China in April 1887. He lived in Tasmania and Victoria before moving to Western Australia in about 1904. He was the husband of Gooey Wong Hee. He was five feet five and a half inches in height. John Gooey Lew and Gooey Wog Hee had eight children born in Western Australia: Willie 1903, George 1905, Minnie 1906, Charles 1908, Amy 1911, Arthur 1914, Violet May 1916 and Dorothy Thelma 1929. He started a market garden in Albert Street, North Perth, in 1904. He worked as a fruit and vegetable hawker in 1910 and lived in Charles Street, North Perth. In 1923 he was working as a market gardener and hawker in Charles Street, North Perth. Later he had a fruit and vegetable shop also in Charles Street. He also rented land from Levi Green at “Green’s Landing” (now Carmel, Location 702) and established a market garden there. He travelled overseas in the late 1890s, and from April to August in 1923. He died in 1959.

JOHN LEW GOOEY        #14
 

Every endeavour has been made to accurately record the details however if you would like to provide additional images and/or newer information we are pleased to update the details on this site. Please use CONTACT at the top of this page to email us. We appreciate your involvement in recording the history of our area.

References:                 Article:        Gordon Freegard
                                                    The Voyage of the Tranby
                                                    Collected UWA

                                  Images:     1    Mr. & Mrs. K.J. & A. Blechynden
                                                    2, 6, 7, 9     Historical Panorama Web Site Curtin University
                                                    3     The Inquirer and Commercial News
                                                    4     Eastern Disticts Cronicle
                                                    8     Blechypedia
                                                    10    The West Australian
                                                    11    Kalamunda & Districts Historical Society
                                                    12, 13, 14    Collected UWA

Copyright :   Gordon Freegard     2008 - 2025