82 High Street (pre 1938 - 100/102/104 High Street), Commonwealth Bank (former), Hospital Benefit Fund of WA, indigenart, New Editions

1907 THE FREMANTLE GAS & COKE CO. LTD Gave Free Cookery lectures and demonstrations in the Company’s showrooms-introducing Cooking with Gas… (reference)

1912 - 1927 Purser & Bousfield, tailors operated a Drapery business on this site.

1919 To the craftsman the idea of having reached finality is foreign. To be satisfied with a "Good enough" standard is a confession of mediocrity. To be the maker of better suits is our aim. Order your suit from us and judge whether that aim has been achieved, PURSER & BOUSFIELD, FREMANTLE. (reference)
1926 Fremantle Shops Bought. With the object of establishing its Fremantle branch offices there, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia has purchased for £9,500 a big two-storey brick building, with a frontage of 50ft. on Lot 412 High-street, Fremantle, occupied by Purser and Bousfield, mercers and tailors, and W. J. Payne, fancy goods dealer. The property, which adjoins the Commercial Hotel, belonged to the estate of the late Mr. W. Leach, an early colonist, and the sale, which had been the subject of negotiations since November, was effected through the agency of Robertson Bros., Ltd. (reference)

From 1928 - 1949 the COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA operated on this site.

The current building - with its distinctive façade was built for the Commonwealth Bank in 1933. The plans of the building were prepared by the Perth office of the Works and Services Branch of the Department of the Interior, and the building contract wa secured by Mr. A. T. Toms. A description of the details of the building can be found here… (reference)

28 August 1933- The Fremantle branch of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia will be opened for business in new premises in High street this morning. In the new offices a commodious banking chamber is approached through an attractive portico under two imposing columns of the Corinthian order, and the light stone coloured facade has been carried out to give an atmosphere of dignity and solidity to the building. Under the supervision of the manager of the branch (Mr. N. C. Russell), who has been associated with the bank's activities at Fremantle for many years, the work of removing books and records from the old Market-street premises of the State Savings Bank, where banking operations were carreid out during the rebuilding, commenced on Wednesday and reached its heaviest stage on Saturday afternoon, when most of the 17 bank officers with half-a-dozen casual hands, were kept busy. (reference)
1936 Perth's first armoured truck arrived at Fremantle from Sydney on Tuesday… Next week the vehicle will begin its official career as a carrier of notes, coin and bullion for the Common wealth Bank. In outward appearance it resembles the police "Black Maria," though painted navy blue. It has several striking features. The sides and back have small holes from which firearms can be discharged, and the windscreen and the window panes of the canopy are of bullet-proof glass… (reference)
10 June 1937 At a flagpole on the Fremantle Esplanade, on the spot marked by tradition as being near where Captain James Stirling proclaimed the colony of Western Australia on June 18, 1829, the foundation of the State was commemorated last Monday by the hoisting of a flag. The ceremony, which is held annually, is arranged by the Fremantle City Council in conjunction with the Western Australian Historical Society… The naval battalion from the Royal Australian Naval Reserve, Fremantle, marched through the streets of Fremantle before and after the ceremony, headed by the R.A.N.R. Band. On the return march, a salute was taken by the District Naval Officer (Commander C. C. Baldwin), who was accompanied by Sir Talbot Hobbs, from the steps of the Commonwealth Bank in High-street… Dr. J. S. Battye, who represented the Historical Society, was introduced by Mr. M. E. Solomon, chairman of the historical committee of the Fremantle City Council. He said “the first bushel of wheat grown in the colony was ground at Fremantle, which also had the distinction of producing the first newspaper”. (reference)

The place was bought and restored by the Hospital Benefit Fund in 1977.

From c 2002 to c2006 it was Indigenart - run by Mossenson Gallery.

Mossenson Galleries, one of Australia's leading commercial galleries, was founded as 'Indigenart' in 1993 in Perth by Dr Diane Mossenson and her husband Dan… At the time of establishing Indigenart in 1993, there was no West Australian gallery exclusively dedicated to serious Aboriginal art…” Indigenart-Mossenson Galleries soon developed a national and international reputation in the art world, and soon became defined as a trailblazing epicentre for the exciting emerging Indigenous art movement.…Headquartered at its Hay Street Gallery in Subiaco, Perth, Indigenart has also established galleries in Fremantle, Western Australia, and Carlton and Collingwood in Victoria. (reference)

In 2013 it was the site of the New Edition Bookclub and café. (currently cnr High and Henry sts)- Best independent bookshop in Fremantle:

3.1.2013 Cruising through Fremantle one day with a group of university friends we stumbled upon a beautiful bookstore called New Edition Bookshop. Might I add this bookshop has a small cafe attached. I have always been a fan of combining a bookshop with coffee. You are allowed to sit down for a coffee and small meal in the bookshop, while catching up with friends or just on your own. Rebecca -Weekend Notes (reference)

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