Boyup Brook

History

About 1839, John Hassell brought sheep and cattle from the eastern states of Australia via Albany, and acquired a lease of land along what would later become Scotts Brook, south of the current town site. Although he grazed this stock in the area, the leases did not become permanent, and Hassell later moved to Kendenup. In 1845, Augustus Gregory followed the Blackwood River from the junction of the Arthur and Beaufort Rivers downstream for about . He carved his initials and the date into a jarrah tree, approximately north-east of where the town now lies. That tree is now dead, but the stump and the markings remain. The stumpnow known as Gregory Treehas been covered for preservation. The first permanent settlement in the area was a lease, south of the current town site, along what became known as Scotts Brook. This lease was granted to William Scott and his wife Mary ( Keane). William arrived in Fremantle as a single passenger on Napoleon in 1841, and Mary on Travancore in 1853. They settled at Scotts Brook in 1854, having travelled from Albany following their wedding in the same year. Their marriage certificate shows William's occupation as bailiff for Peter Belches and his residence as Kindenup Farm, Albany. Initially they named the property Rutherglen after Scott's family farm in Scotland. Scott later questioned the local Indigenous population about the original name of the area and was told it was , meaning , due to the trees surrounding freshwater pools. Inspired by this Scott decided to rename the farm. In about 1872 Scott built a new house that remains to this day (albeit with more recent extensions and renovations), and is now listed as Norlup Homestead on the Heritage Council of Western Australia's register. In 1861 James George Lee Steere, in partnership…