FSN - Freo Life

Fremantle Shipping News

Fremantle Shipping News at https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au is an online magazine all about the historic port town, Fremantle in Western Australia. Fremantle is known for its vibrant community and as an incubator of ideas, activism and talent of all sorts - in literature, arts, music, politics, the environment - you name it.

  1. 26 FEB

    Interview with Lara Bianca Pilcher – Audacious Artist

    Lara Bianca Pilcher is an international performing artist, author, speaker, and ICF PCC-certified creativity coach with over 25 years of experience across musical theatre, choreography, education, and leadership. She has worked internationally in Australia, London, and the United States, and holds a Master’s in Musical Theatre Creative Practice (ArtsEd London), a Bachelor in Creative Arts (Dance), and a Graduate Diploma in Education (Dance and Drama). Her debut book, Audacious Artistry: Reclaim Your Creative Identity and Thrive in a Saturated World – just released in the Northern Hemisphere and soon to be released in Australia – introduces the Creative Brief for the Audacious Artist — a powerful identity-based framework for staying grounded, courageous, and self-directed through the realities of creative life: obscurity, doubt, rejection, comparison, and the fear of being overlooked. With deep experience as both artist and coach, Lara speaks and teaches globally, equipping artists to build emotionally, artistically, and practically sustainable careers. She is also the creator of The Healthy Wealthy Wise Artist Podcast and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two children. The Editor of Fremantle Shipping News, Michael Barker, was very pleased to catch up with Lara Bianca Pilcher before her planned Australian speaking tour (including in Perth, her home state) to make the podcast (that you’ll find at the very foot of this post) where we discuss how to be an Audacious Artist!  It’s a great listen. Lara is a brilliant communicator! You can read the original story on FSN here. Support the show

    28 min
  2. 02/12/2025

    The Catalpa Escape Podcast Series – Episode 8

    Welcome to Episode 8 of the Catalpa Escape Podcast Series. In Episode 1, our narrator, Margo O’Byrne, sets the scene for the famous 1876 Catalpa Escape of the ‘Military’ Fenians from just south of Fremantle, Western Australia. Episode 2 deals with the raising the money through the auspices of Clan na Gael – the Irish Association in America – and how John Devoy became the key plotter of the escape.  In Episode 3, we find ourselves in New Bedford in key meetings of key men. Devoy, Goff, Reynolds, Hathaway, Richardson – and George Smith Anthony. And Anthony’s wife Emma. A suitable ship needs to be found and purchased for the Fremantle mission. A Captain to sail her and control the mission needs to be found. Enter Anthony. The Catalpa is spotted. Reynolds takes out mortgage on his house to purchase the Catalpa. In Episode 4, Margo O’Byrne explains how the Clan-Na-Gael rescue committee needed to find a way to realise the funds to pay for the rescue attempt. Richardson and Hathaway move the Catalpa to New Bedford and prepare it for the voyage. Captain Anthony selects a crew. And it’s time, to think about who will be on the ground in Fremantle to coordinate the final moments of the escape of the Fenians. And you get to meet Duggan, Brennan, Breslin and Desmond. In Episode 5, Margot relates just how the Catalpa voyage progressed on its way to the Azores, then Tenerife, and onward. Who knew just where they were actually heading? Did Captain Anthony have to take Brennan aboard along the way? And just what luck did Captain Anthony have when he crossed a British ship on the Indian Ocean south of Port Elizabeth? In Episode 6, Margot asks what the Fenians in Fremantle were up to while the Catalpa crew were on the high seas catching whales and then encountering the Ocean Beauty and meeting with Captain Cousins in the Indian Ocean and receiving maps of the coastline of Western Australia, and the two US operatives, Breslin and Desmond, were aboard the speedy mail steamer, Cyphranes bound for Sydney. Were the Freo Fenians aware of any of these events? How many of them were still incarcerated? Were they kept locked up inside the Establishment?  In this episode, Episode 8, Breslin/Mr Collins and Desmond/Johnson are still in and around Fremantle and Perth. The Catalpa is awaited. In anticipation of her arrival, Breslin helps Foley depart the jurisdiction. He also visits the ‘interior’. And discovers the place from which he decides the Military Fenians should escape the shores of Western Australia forever. His love life is also becoming more complicated.  And on top of that who should enter the scene but McCarthy/Dixon and Walsh/Hopkins. Who are they and what are they doing in Fremantle? To complicate matters further, the money is running low. And where is the Catalpa? So many questions demanding so many answers! You can read the original article for Episode 8 here. Support the show

    42 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Fremantle Shipping News at https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au is an online magazine all about the historic port town, Fremantle in Western Australia. Fremantle is known for its vibrant community and as an incubator of ideas, activism and talent of all sorts - in literature, arts, music, politics, the environment - you name it.