 When gold was discovered in the colony, in the present day Goldfields-Esperance region, many people from eastern Australia and overseas came to the Swan River Colony, and eventually settled in Bayswater.Yet still, Bayswater was semi-rural, with people buying land for garden and farming homes.The opening of the Midland Railway Workshops down the railway line in 1904 brought workers from the eastern states and overseas, Britain in particular, fuelled much growth, and more permanent building were constructed.