Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park - History

The Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is located on the south-west coast of Western Australia, 261km from Perth. The park lies in the Aboriginal land of the Wardandi (people of Warden, the ocean spirit). The wardandi are one of the fourteen Nyungar tribes that live in the South-West.

Their land extends from the coast at Stratham to the sea at Augusta. The park stretches for 120km, from Bunker Bay in the north to Augusta in the south. Cape Naturaliste is the northern most point in the park. The first noted Europeans to have sighted the area were the Dutch, in 1622. They named the southwestern tip "t Landt van de Leeuwin" meaning the land of the lioness.

It was later explored by Matthew Flinders , in 1801, who renamed it Cape Leeuwin with respect to the Dutch who had first sighted the rocky headland.The area became a popular place for whalers and sealers to collect fresh water and to seek protection from the storms that whipped up off the southern ocean.

However the area was officially settled by Europeans in 1830 after the establishment of the Swan River Colony. New settlers who had arrived in Fremantle on the ship "Warrior" on 12th of March, 1830, were hoping to take up land near the Swan River Colony but, Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling, knowing that all of the fertile land had already been taken up, persuaded the settlers to move south, to an area near Cape Leeuwin.

Captain Molloy, a small military detachment and about thirty settlers headed south and arrived in an area near the Blackwood River . Among the new settlers from the "Warrior" were Captain John Molloy and his wife Georgiana and John, Charles, Vernon & Alfred Bussell (who all became influential in the development of other areas in the south-west).

The site was named, Augusta, by James Stirling in May 1830, in honour of Princess Augusta Sophia, the second daughter of King George III and Queen Charlotte.

With very few of the settlers having a history or background in agriculture, it didn't take long before they discovered how hard life was on the harsh landscape.
Supplies from Perth came infrequent and small relief was found through the Whalers (predominantly American), who came ashore to collect fresh water and trade with the settlers. The settlers would exchange potatoes, meat and vegetables for much needed oil (for lighting), molasses and tobacco. However, even with the whaler trade, many settlers found the isolation and harshness of the area too much and they left Augusta including the Bussells and Malloys.

The settlers that stayed, used the local Aboringines to help clear the local hardwood timber and assist with crops and with the introduction of convicts to Western Australia in 1850, many convicts were given tickets-of-leave and sent to Augusta help the settlers cut timber (Jarrah & Karri ).

The banks of the Blackwood River were used to house convicts & guards and where timbers were pitsawn before they were loaded onto rafts and floated down to the mouth of the river (as Jarrah does not float).It would, however, be another twenty years before Augusta would flourish, due to the timber industry and a man named Maurice Coleman Davies. M.C. Davies established sawmills at Coodardup, Karridale, Boranup and Jarrahdene in the late 1870's and almost singlehandedly create a market and efficient industry for Karri and Jarrah hardwoods which was highlighted in the Paris Exhibition in 1878.

By the 1880's the timber industry was booming and mills, jetties, towns and a railway were built to cope with the demand for Western Australian hardwoods. Timber became Western Australia's second largest export, behind wool. By the early 1900's the demand for Karri and Jarrah from the area had declined and the last mill was closed in 1913.

After the first World War many returned soldiers took up dairy farms in the area. Augusta is now a popular holiday resort, with among its attractions being the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse and waterwheel, Jewel Cave, Boranup Forest and whale watching tours it also boasts pristine beaches, great fishing and friendly pelicans.

In 1957 the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park was established from crown land along the Leeuwin-Naturalist ridge and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

Info from Margaret River Vista and google images.