Western Australia’s Settlement History – A short overview from Perth to Augusta

Perth was founded by Captain James Stirling as the capital of the Swan River Colony in 1829, some 41 years after the first fleet of British ships arrived in Botany Bay, and 200 years after Dutch and French navigated had charted the coast.

Aboriginal people have lived in southwest of Western Australia for at least 47,000 years, possibly closer to 60,000 years. It is estimated that prior to the arrival of Europeans, between 6,000 and 10,000 Noongar people were living in the area.
Aboriginal place name: Perth (Boorloo) on Whadjuk country.

It’s a little-known fact that Dutch and French navigators had explored and mapped the coast 200 years earlier. Dutchman Dirk Hartog was the first European to set foot on the shores of Western Australia in 1616, but no settlement was established as it was believed the land was deemed inhospitable.

Throughout the 1830s, life in the colony was unstable and many migrants were not prepared for the poverty and hardship. The colony was struggling financially, with around 5000 settlers scattered across WA’s sparsely populated towns. Convict immigration was introduced, providing labour on infrastructure and relieving pressure on Britain’s overflowing jails.

By 1849, Western Australia formally became a penal settlement and around 10,000 British convicts had arrived. There was plenty of pushback from the outnumbered settlers already here who were nervous as just under 10,000 convicts had arrived by the time the scheme ended in 1868.

In the late 1860s and early 1870s, the timber mills started gaining momentum. Timber was the main export throughout the 1870s with the W.A. Timber Company establishing mills and jetties. This brought a huge economic growth for the colony, particularly in towns like Jarrahdale.

The Ballaarat Engine was brought by ship in 1871 and worked transporting logs from the forest to the Jetty. A side note: the community organised its restoration in 2012, and now Ballaarat is the oldest Australian built locomotive still in existence. You can see it in Railway house near the Busselton Visitor Centre.

However, it wasn’t until the 1880s when gold was first discovered that Western Australia became famous across the world. Gold was first discovered by Prospector Charles Hall and others in the eastern Kimberley region in 1885, sparking the first gold rush in Western Australia. Following this, more gold was found across the state, and because of this, the state’s population quadrupled, reaching nearly 180,000 by 1900.

Artefacts and evidence of Wadandi (First Nations) People living in the region have been found in Devil’s Lair Cave, and date back at least 48,000 years.

1621 was the first European sighting of the area. The Dutch were trading around Jakarta and using WA as a trading route, sailing across on the Roaring 40s and shaving months off their journey. The Dutch vessel Leeuwin spotted a tip of land and named it Land of Leeuwin (Dutch for ‘lioness’). It wasn’t until much later in 1801 that Matthew Flinders discovered it was part of the mainland and he named it Cape Leeuwin.

In 1801 Captain Nicolas Baudin arrived on a scientific expedition with two ships, the Naturaliste and the Geographe – Cape Naturaliste and Geographe Bay now bear their names. The French explorers charted the coastline and collected plants and specimen, with around 25 scientists on the expedition. But Nicolas wasn’t happy – the aristocratic scientists didn’t take orders, and the expedition was plagued by illness and conflict.

Thomas Vasse was on one of the vessels, and was believe to have drowned. The town of Vasse is named after him, and there’s a sculpture by Russell Sheridan near the shopping strip.

The first European settlement within the Margaret River region was in Augusta in 1830, however the rest of the region, including Busselton, wasn’t settled until 1836 due to struggles clearing the dense Karri forest.

From the 1840s, Busselton became a popular whaling station port and in 1865 the first leg of the Busselton Jetty was constructed to support the economy.

The Margaret River area remained a small settlement until the Group Settlement Policy began encouraging migrants from the United Kingdom to move into the region after World War I. The government paid them to clear the land and start dairy farms, and they were given several shillings per acre of land cleared.

The policy promised free ownership of land, good rainfall and assured farming income within the South West. However, the policy was not all that it appeared to be. Few of the settlers had farming experience and even fewer understood the harsh Australian climate and conditions that awaited them. The settlers suffered miserably and by the mid-1930s, over 6000 settlers had left.

As we drive past vineyards, we’ll occasionally see old Group Settlement houses south of Cowaramup. It’s worth noting that they would have lived in tents for months before having the opportunity to build a weatherboard house with a tin roof and dirt floor.

The settlers that stayed are recognised today for their perseverance and resilience, and many group settler descendants’ population the South West community today.

These are some of the places, books and tours I recommend on tour, to deep dive into various facets of our history.

• Climb Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse – Lightkeepers’ Interpretive Centre
• Fremantle Prison guided tour
• Shipwreck Museum in Fremantle – see the wreck of the Dutch vessel Batavia
• Perth Mint – guided tour
• Albany’s National Anzac Centre
• Josh Whiteland’s Koomal Dreaming tours
• Ancient Lands at Ngilgi Cave
• A Fortunate Life by Albert Facey (book, audio book)

Learn more about the beauty of Western Australia and what is on offer. Read further on how wonderful of a journey it is and then come with us to experience something unforgettable.

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