January 11th, 2010 by admin

Who were the earliest settlers at Pemberton?

Edward Brockman, the son of Perth’s first mayor, was the first settler to the district in the early 1850s.  He was attracted to the red loam soils and ample rainfall.

Brockman chose to breed horses and many of these were exported to India (500 were sent in his first contract).  At the time, a newspaper advertisement referred to Brockman’s stud sire, Sir Hercules.

The job of clearing land, raising horses, growing maize and wheat, catching game and marron, and building an isolated home was difficult.  His wife, Capel Bussell, had the equally demanding job of raising nine children at Warren House.

An 1880s visitor described the home as ‘a rambling, untidy house with farm buildings, nothing ever seemed to be repaired there’. The house was made of burnt mud bricks, pit sawn timber and split jarrah shingles for the roof.  Convict labour helped with the bricks and timber.

Where did Pemberton’s name originate?

The settlement’s name came from Pemberton Walcott, a pioneer at ‘One-Mile’ in 1862.  He was forced to leave two years later.  His cattle died from a mineral deficiency in the pasture.  Fodder and wheat crops also suffered from the lack of soil phosphates.

In 1867, Decourcey Lefroy also left the district after his crops failed.  His dream was of karri forests transformed to golden wheatfields.  The site of his attempt well over a century ago can be viewed at Founder’s Forest.  There is no wheat now, only a thick stand of karri regrowth.

Wheatfield Walk (400m, easy) starts from the picnic area at Founder’s Forest.  It is l3km east of Pemberton, down Vasse Hwy.

After Lefroy left, bushfire in 1875 germinated fallen karri seeds.  A forest regenerated on his cleared land.  Lefroy had built a house and a small flour mill powered by a water wheel, by Lefroy Brook.  Only scattered, sun-bleached rubble remains.

The settlement’s earliest name was Big Brook.  Then it was just scattered farm buildings.  An official request asked for the village to be named Walcott.  The Postmaster-General refused, hoping to avoid confusion with Port Walcott.  He simply made a substitution by using the pioneer’s first name.

Walcott Street also carries the name of the pioneer who ended his days at Roebuck Bay.  Some say Pemberton Walcott died at sea, others that he was speared.  His 1889 headstone overlooks Roebuck Bay, Broome.

Opening up the Pemberton area?

By 1866, Pemberton was linked to the rest of the world.  Convicts completed the road between it and Vasse (Busselton).  Seven strong bridges ensured the road could be still be used after winter rains fed the many streams.  Many decades later the Pemberton’s main street was sealed.

The forests gradually opened up to farming.  The Premier, James ‘Moocow’ Mitchell, declared that if the district grew tall trees it must grow good cows.  Land was advertised as free.  By 1921, group settlement for British migrants had inexperienced farmers settle places like Pemberton.  Most found it too tough.  The new settlers had often never held an axe or shovel, or been close to farm animals.  Fewer than ten families remaining in the Pemberton district are descendants from the scheme.