Cooled
off a bit early in the morning, 17 degrees. All foggy till about 9am. Forecast
for only 25 today – the hot days are over.
Went
to Australind to get a photo under Brotherton Way. Named after a supporter of
The West Australian Company.
www.heritageaustralia.com.au
The inlet on which present-day Australind is
located was named 'Leschenault' by French explorer Lieutenant de Freycinet, who
charted the Australian coast in 1803 in the company of Captain Nicholas Baudin.
The land around Port Leschenault was explored by the Swan River Colony's
Surveyor General, John Septimus Roe, in 1830 and was further investigated by
Lieutenant Bunbury in 1836.
The origins of settlement at Australind began with
the formation of 'The West Australian Company' in London in May 1840. The
Company acquired land in the area for the purpose of establishing a settlement
in accordance with the principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who proposed that
the land in the colonies should be sold at a reasonable price, rather than
granted to landholders, and the profits from its sale should then be used to
transport migrants and labourers to the area.
The land in the area was named Australind in the
hope that a trade of cavalry horses and food would be established between
Australia and India. Marshall Waller Clifton was given the role of Chief
Commissioner of Australind and in 1841 almost 500 settlers arrived under his
command.
Marshall's role was to divide the grant into small
farming lots and sell the land for one pound an acre, founding an English-style
village in the centre of the project.
The one-storey, jarrah weatherboard-clad Henton
Cottage (circa 1841-42) was originally built as a hotel for the early
Australind pioneers. It today houses an art and craft gallery.
The poor soil and extreme weather conditions of the
area, however, proved to be unsuitable for agriculture and by 1843 the
settlement had failed with settlers relocating elsewhere in the district.
Clifton remained at the site and his double-storey
brick Upton House (1847) is still standing today. The tiny St Nicholas Church,
measuring just 8.2 metres in length and 3.6 metres in width, was built as a
workman's cottage and became a church in 1848.
The Australind settlement project was officially
abandoned in 1875.
Australind grew as a tourist resort during the
1900s and is now dormitory suburb of Bunbury, 11 kilometres south of the town.
Got
our fresh vegies and packed up the van ready to leave tomorrow.
In
the afternoon we went to Kev & Linda’s daughter, Lauretta’s place for
dinner. Wes & Lauretta have a wonderful place with plenty of room for their
three children. We were going to place a game similar to disc bowls but the
dark clouds came over with lots of wind then it rained. Fast and light drops
but enough to wet the ground. Had dinner inside as it turned cold – lucky we
brought our jumpers. Taught them how to play ‘Beanie’ and had a great night
laughing. So good to play it again – took me a bit to remember the rules!!
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