The first recorded European contact was in 1616, when Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog landed on the west coast. Although many expeditions visited the coast during the next 200 years, there was no lasting attempt at establishment of a permanent settlement until December 1826 when an expedition on behalf of the New South Wales colonial government, led by Major Edmund Lockyer, landed at King George Sound, and became the port city of Albany. On 21 January 1827 Lockyer formally took possession for the British Crown. Western Australia gained the right of self-government in 1890, and joined with the five other states to form the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The colony issued its first postage stamp on 1. August 1854. Todays stamp is this first 1d black stamp featuring a black swan, a design used for most of the colony’s later stamps as well. CV for a cancelled copy is about 250 $.