Edited by Heather Wade, 2026.
Algernon Clifton presented the following early history of Australind and the surrounding district at the State’s centenary celebrations in the Brunswick Hall in September 1929. The stated facts are from firsthand knowledge, or from the diaries of Marshall Waller Clifton, Chief Commissioner of the Western Australian Company of Australind.[1]
The author, Algernon Francis Clifton, known as Algy, was the grandson of Marshall Waller Clifton. Algy was born in 1857 to Robert and Christina Clifton of ‘Alverstoke’, Brunswick. He spent his childhood initially at Brunswick and later at ‘Upton House’, Australind. He married Augusta Dorinda ‘Gussie’ Ker in 1887 and they farmed at ‘Alverstoke’. At the time of Algy’s death in 1948, there were seven surviving children – Robert of ‘Innisfree’, Misses Cecile and Emily Ker Clifton of ‘Alverstoke’, Mrs. Darby Ridley of ‘Walford,’ all of Brunswick; Mrs Leonard Richardson, of ‘Lowlands’ and Mrs. Rupert Richardson of ‘Riverlea’ both of Serpentine and Mrs. Llewellyn Davies of Wellard.[2]
PIONEERS OF AUSTRALIND By ALGERNON F. CLIFTON
There are few who realise the conditions which existed in the early days of the foundation of the colony. My parents and grandparents landed at Australind on March 18, 1841, in the sailing ship Parkfield, my grand father, the late Marshall Waller Clifton, being Chief Commissioner for the Western Australian Company that had been formed in England to settle the land in this district The land held by the company was
100,000 Acres in Extent
known as Wellington Location 1, extending from the Collie River on the south, almost to the Harvey on the north, and from Leschenault Inlet on the west to about 12 miles up in the Darling Range. This ship brought 125 men, women and children, some with the intention of taking up land, others as tradesmen, farm laborers, etc. A large staff of the company’s surveyors had arrived in the Island Queen a few weeks previously and were busily engaged in setting out the townsite of Australind.[3] A little later the Diadem and the Trusty arrived, both bringing more immigrants for the settlement.
At that time Bunbury harbor was just as Nature had left it thousands of years before, with no protection from the north-west gales, and vessels, which were all sailing boats, would often run out to sea on the approach of bad weather in preference to taking the risk of dragging their anchors and being blown ashore. Passengers and cargo had to be put off in small boats and rowed ashore through the breakers. The town itself consisted of less than
Half a Dozen Houses
the most conspicuous being a modest thatched cottage on Bury Hill, where St. John’s Hospital now stands [and in 2026 it is the site of Aldi], and was occupied by Mr. George Eliot, who had shortly before been appointed the first Resident no Magistrate for the district.[4] There was also a court house, and amongst the residents were one policeman and a small detachment of soldiers, who were stationed there for the protection of settlers in case of trouble with natives.[5]
Incidentally, I might mention, that at that time, and for many years later, whales were much more plentiful along the coast than at present. I remember one old native, long since dead, giving a graphic description of how he stood on the top of Light-house Hill and saw whales spouting, first in one direction and then in another, as many as three lying on the surface at one time in the bay. A large number of American whaling vessels used to make Bunbury their port. The whales, when harpooned, were towed ashore, the blubber stripped from the body and rendered down in huge cauldrons, the oil being collected in barrels and taken back to America. These
“Yankee Whalers,”
as they were generally called, did quite a trade with the people of the district, as they brought with them barrels of flour, ship biscuits, pickled pork, sugar, treacle and tobacco, besides various other articles known “Yankee notions,” which included wooden washtubs, wooden buckets, axes, etc., and in return they took fruit, fresh meat and vegetables when procurable. It is on record that as many as 18 of these vessels were anchored in the bay at one time. Unfortunately, through the Government wanting to charge port dues they later transferred the operations elsewhere and ceased to visit Bunbury.
When these early pioneers arrived there was not a bridge over any one of the rivers between Fremantle and Busselton. It was not until March 2, 1845, that a bridge was
Built Over the Brunswick
at Australind, the late Mr. W. Clifton being the first person to ride over it. The bridges over the Collie and the Preston between Bunbury and Australind were built by the late W. Pearce Clifton (who was later R.M. for Bunbury). That over the Preston, near Leschenault, was completed on April 8, 1846, and the Collie bridge on November 28, 1848, and were paid for partly by the Government and partly by subscriptions from the settlers.[6] Previous to this the Collie was forded by going out into the Estuary and round the mouth of the river, where in summer time the water was not very deep, but in winter it was sometimes nearly up to the horses’ backs, and with big waves it was often impossible to cross it. The Preston was crossed near Picton in the vicinity of the present bridge there, which was called “Fording Bridge,” after the old ford. This is a rapid and dangerous river to cross in the winter, and, of course, was often quite impassable. The deviation caused by the want of bridges increased the distance between Australind and Bunbury from 7 to nearly 12 miles.
It is interesting to note that the
Trade in Sandalwood
that later grew to quite a large business in Bunbury commenced in 1847. Notes taken from the diary of the late M. W. Clifton show that at a public meeting held in Bunbury on May 25 of that year, Mr. W. P. Clifton brought forward a proposition for “an expedition to the Williams with all the carts of the district to bring in sandalwood.” This was unanimously agreed to, and the owners of 10 carts put down their names to take part in it. This was before any route had been set out to the Williams. On September 22 of the same year. Mr. G. Eliot, Mr. W. P. Clifton and Mr. F. Gregory (the latter a Government surveyor) with a party of men started out to find and mark out a suitable road. They marked out a line from the Norah gully, going up through the “Iron Pot” to the Williams, a distance of 69 miles, and returned on October 17 (this is now known as the “Old Sandalwood-road”). The expedition started out with bullock carts on November 17, and on the return journey camped for the night near Riverdale, after fording the Brunswick there, and on the following day, December 13, after fording the Collie River, delivered their precious loads, this being the first sandalwood delivered in Bunbury. I have no record of the number of teams that went out on this occasion, nor of the drivers of those first bullock teams.
In those days there were
Large Numbers of Natives
living in the district, and although there was on the whole very little serious trouble with them, they were rather alarming to the new arrivals, most of whom had come from London. I can recall the time when it was not unusual to see as many as 50 in an encampment at once. Their huts were usually made of small branches of trees stuck in the ground in a circle and bent over to meet at top and covered with sheets of paperbark, which was collected and carried by the women, sometimes for many miles. When completed these huts were not unlike a huge pudding basin turned upside down and had a small opening on the eastern side for the occupants to go in and out. The centre of the hut was not high enough to stand upright in. Each hut would accommodate two or possibly four. Sometimes they were made larger and of an oval shape with a larger opening. These would hold, perhaps, 8 or 10. Their dress consisted of “Booka,” that is a one-piece garment, made by sewing several kangaroo skins together and forming a garment not unlike the skirts the ladies wore before they cut them off above the knee. This they slipped on over the head, leaving one arm free, the “Booka” hanging on the opposite shoulder and reaching about to the knees. The fur being next the body kept them warm and comfortable, and if caught in a shower of rain they just squatted down and let the rain run off as if it were an umbrella. Having no matches, their only means of kindling a fire was the very tedious and uncertain one of rubbing two dry blackboy canes together until the friction created heat enough to set alight to the dust caused by the operation. They were careful never to let their fires go out, and when travelling, one or more of the party would always carry a lighted fire stick, generally a banksia cone or the heart of a black-boy, either of which burnt slowly and kept alight for a long lime. If the weather was wet or cold this would be carried under the “Booka.” The dress of the younger men, or any of them, when hunting was after the
Style of “Gunga Din’s,”
– of whom Kipling says, “A twisty bit of rag and a goatskin waterbag was all the field equipment he could find,” and consisted of a “Noolboon” made by spinning the fur of the opossum into a strand about the size of binder twine and winding about 40 yards of it round the waist from which would hang a small bunch of emu feathers and on full dress occasions another round the forehead, with perhaps red cockatoo’s feathers stuck in all round, the whole body and face being well smeared with “wilgie” made by burning a special kind of yellow clay, which was then ground to dust and mixed with grease.
The women when travelling carried a “Koota” bag, the forerunner of the ladies’ handbag. This, like the booka, was made of kangaroo skin, with fury side in, and was about the size of a pillow case. It was hung round the neck and down the back a sort of hold all, in which they carried, not their powder puffs, lipsticks and cigarettes, but any little surplus of provisions such as boya nuts, goonacks, bardies, fish or opossum, and if the mother of a family, the youngest child would stand amongst the collection with its arms resting on its mother’s shoulders, where it would be quite safe and comfortable.
This style of living would hardly appeal to us, but I am not sure that they were not
A Happier People
As long as they had enough food in sight for their next meal nothing worried them. They had no strikes or Arbitration Courts to put up with and had not to consider whether the prices of wheat and wool were going up or down, or living expenses increasing, or whether the hair should be bobbed or shingled. They merely
laid their head on the chopping block while the barber trimmed it with a stone tomahawk, and instead of upsetting the domestic establishment by unnecessary spring cleanings after a month or so in a camp, they just moved on to the next convenient spot where water and food were procurable, the next bushfire effectually cleaning up the premises.
It is on record that one of the partly civilised men who was camped out with a survey party, when moralising after the day’s work was over, put the pertinent question to the leader, “What for white feller blankey fool all time workem?” The reply was not recorded.
These natives were very useful to the settlers. There were always a number of both men and women employed in reaping, haymaking, etc., in those times when all the crops were cut by scythe or sickle. They were most useful as stockmen in the days when all the country was unfenced, many being bold and fearless riders and all most wonderful trackers. Their eyesight was far keener than any whiteman’s, so much so that the individual footprints of any one of their party could be recognised by them and the discovery of a strange footprint would cause consternation and alarm in the camp. It is a sad commentary on our civilisation that our taking possession of their country has been the cause of the whole race
Gradually Dying Out,
the last native belonging to this district having died some years ago. The main contributing causes were the whiteman’s diseases, which had never been in Australia before, the misguided kindness of the Government in supplying cheap blankets to the old, which led to their giving up the “Booka,” which was rain-proof, for the blanket, which became sodden with water and brought on pneumonia and kindred complaints, and the whiteman’s strong drink, which completely demoralised them. I do remember one notable exception, a fine old man known as “Governor Peter,” who never adopted the whiteman’s garb and who had the greatest contempt for drink. I have seen his eyes flash and his nostrils distend like those of a frightened horse when speaking of it. Taking them all in all, I have kindly recollections of many of them who were faithful servants to me and my family, and who have long since passed over to the Great Unknown.
To return to the
Early Days of Australind,
although the hopes of the company and those associated with it to found a town and convert their great holdings into thriving farms failed from causes which it would take far too long to enter into here. It was not the fault of the people who came out, many of whom after the closing down of the company took a prominent part in the development of the country and have left descendants who are carrying on the work today in every portion of the State. I would especially like to mention
The Late Mr W. Forrest,
who, after building the bridge over the Brunswick at Australind, settled at Picton and constructed a flour mill, built a dam across the river nearly a mile higher up, and built a wooden flume about 8ft. in width and 2ft in depth to carry the water from there to the mill, where it fell over a large water wheel which worked the whole mill. This mill ground all the wheat that was grown at Dardanup, Preston, Collie, Brunswick and Harvey for many years. I can remember as a boy the consternation that was caused throughout the district when it became known that the mill had been burnt down and all the wheat and flour that was in it destroyed, many of the settlers as well as Mr. Forrest being heavy losers. Nothing daunted, Mr. Forrest set to work and reconstructed the mill, and I think it was about this time that he abandoned the old-fashioned overshot water wheel for the modern turbine, by which much more power is utilised from a given quantity of water, and carried on the business until conditions altering (less wheat being grown in the district and more being brought by boat from Champion Bay and Adelaide) the mill was closed down. Later all the milling was done by his son, the late Mr. Robert Forrest, who had erected a steam-flour mill close to the jetty in Bunbury, where the business was carried on until his death a few years ago. I need hardly remind you that the late Lord Forrest, with whom so much of the prosperity of the State is bound up, was one of Mr. W. Forrest’s sons, and several other brothers have played a prominent part in the State’s development. The Hon. Sir James Mitchell we can also claim as a descendant of one of the pioneers of Australind. The late L. S. Eliot, Under Treasurer, the late H. F. Johnston, Surveyor General, and R. Cecil Clifton, I.S.O., Under Secretary for Lands, now retired, were
All Sons of Pioneers
of Australind and filled their respective positions with conspicuous ability for many years.
When I was a small boy living at Australind the mails were carried from Perth to Busselton on horse-back, having in the much earlier days been carried by a native on foot between Australind and Perth. I remember there was quite an excitement when another contractor got the job and put on a one-horse spring cart and offered to take passengers from Bunbury to Perth at £2 per head both ways, the passengers, of course, having to pay for any refreshments they were fortunate to procure from private houses between Bunbury and Pinjarra, their hotel expenses there for the night and at the “Old Narrogin Inn,” where they lunched the next day. This service soon developed into a buggy and pair and eventually a coach and four was giving a fair service twice a week, taking possibly on the average 3 or 4 passengers each way. Just compare that with our present day train service that we sometimes complain of.
The travellers by mail coach had varied experiences. I remember on one occasion when only a pair were driven, the
Buggy Got Bogged
in a swamp near the spot where that atrocious act was committed a few months ago at the instigation of the Main Roads Board, the victim being a giant that had stood sentinel for thousands of years, holding back the encroachment of the sand on one side from the clay country on the other. The passengers on this occasion were a lady and a small child. The driver was forced to leave them sitting in the vehicle while he proceeded to Australind, riding on one of the horses barebacked, where he borrowed a sturdy plough horse which brought them safely to Australind after a cold and weary wait in the dark with goonacks and frogs croaking round them on a cold July evening. On another occasion one of the wheels collapsed midway between Brunswick and Australind, and again the driver, Mr. McKearnon, had to proceed to Australind, this time on foot, where he secured a wheel off an old spring cart which he trundled back with him and managed to fit on to his buggy. Although nearly a foot larger in diameter, it carried the coach safely to Bunbury.
Other interesting events were: —
1892, September 19 – Driving of last pile in the Brunswick railway bridge.
1892, October 18 – Lunch to Mr. Venn in garden at Frogmore, he giving a political address in afternoon in old school house opposite. This building was built many years before entirely by the settlers, and served as school and church, occasional service being held by both Church of England and Congregational ministers. Quite a number of weddings were celebrated here.
1893, April 6 – Public meeting called to enrol members of the Brunswick Farmers’ Association. At this meeting it was moved by Mr. R. H. Rose, and seconded by Mr. J. P. O. Wellard, that the secretary write to the Hon. H. W. Venn and request him to use his influence with the Government to ensure a sum being placed on the estimates for building a public hall at Brunswick.[7]
1893, September 8 – Official opening of South-Western railway.
1894, March 7 – Opening of Brunswick Agricultural Hall. Dinner in the hall at 2 p.m. Afternoon tea. Ball in evening.
At the time of the opening of the railway there were no people living in what is now the townsite, and very few in the district. Amongst those most widely known were Mr. Thos. Marriott, snr., of Riverdale: Mr. David Eedle, of Frogmore (the first president of the Farmers’ Association); Mr. R. W. Clifton, of Upton House, Australind; Mr. Alfred Gardiner, of Roelands; Mr. Jas. Perren, living where the State Farm was carried on at a much later date; and Mr. John Crampton, on what is now Mr. A. Wright’s property. This place was well known, being the first stage on the journey from Bunbury to Perth. The mail coach horses were changed here and fresh ones put in for the next stage at Logues Brook. Mr. Crampton was postmaster without an office, the few letters he received being kept in a box in the bedroom.
All of these mentioned belonged to the hand of pioneers who came from England to Australind under the Western Australian Company in 1841 and have long since gone to their rest.
Up to 1894 very little progress had been made in this portion of the State. The huge timber milling industry that arose later was almost non-existent. Coal had not been discovered, and what is now the flourishing township of Collie, with the mines putting out hundreds of tons of coal daily, was
“Waste Lands of the Crown,”
supporting a few kangaroos and dingoes and occasionally during dry summers grazed over by a few cattle or sheep. The never failing supply of fresh water in the large pools of the river were the main attraction.
The now thriving settlement at Harvey was then supporting one settler. Mr. J. T. Logue, who was renting 13,000 acres of the fertile lands on the Harvey River at a nominal rental and making a scanty living by running a few head of cattle and horses on it. The goldmines of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were then in their infancy. The wonderful Mundaring Weir and Goldfields Water Scheme and the Fremantle Harbor work, for which we have to thank the late Lord Forrest and the late C. Y. O’Connor, were then unthought of and the Eastern wheat belt, which, owing chiefly to the foresight of Sir James Mitchell, is now producing many millions of bushels annually, was then considered little better than a waterless desert.[8]
…………………………………………
[1] https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1490362 and the diaries referred to were published in 2010 – P Barnes, JM Cameron, HA Willis, The Australind Journals of Marshall Waller Clifton 1840-1861, Hesperian Press, Carlisle, WA, 2010.
[2] 1948 ‘Funeral Of The Late Mr. A. F. Clifton’, Harvey-Murray Times (Bunbury, WA : 1931 – 1955), 23 January, p. 10. , viewed 29 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article251103964
[3] The Island Queen arrived at Port Leschenault (now Bunbury) in December 1840; Parkfield on 18 March 1841; Diadem, 10 April 1842; Trusty (first voyage) 6 December 1842 and Trusty (second voyage) 21 May 1844.
[4] By 14 July 1838 Henry Bull was the Resident Magistrate (then called Government Resident) at Leschenault. Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 14 July 1838, p 111.
[5] A small detachment of soldiers under Ensign MacLeod landed on 6 March 1830 and relocated to Augusta in late August as no settlers had arrived at Port Leschenault in that period.
[6] ‘The first bridge over the lower Preston was on a great loop of the river. During the 1930s two loops were cut off, leaving the bridge high and dry. Its position is easily located near the present Leschenault Homestead on the remnant of the Australind road.’ Footnote 193, p 269, P Barnes, (ed), Australind Journals of Marshall Waller Clifton.
[7] Brunswick Farmers Association was launched on 20 March 1893 (1893 ‘BRUNSWICK.’, Southern Times (Bunbury, WA : 1888 – 1916), 22 March, p. 3. , viewed 29 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167581814 ) and the first public meeting was held on Wednesday 5 April 1893 (1893 ‘BRUNSWICK FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION.’, Bunbury Herald (WA : 1892 – 1919), 12 April, p. 3. , viewed 29 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87083117
[8] 1930 ‘PIONEERS OF AUSTRALIND’, Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 – 1955), 9 March, p. 1. (Fourth Section), viewed 29 Mar 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58377210