Byford

History

Little has been documented of the Aboriginal occupation of the Byford area, but material traces of the district's original inhabitants have been found in numerous locations. During the colonial period, the foothills were on the periphery of Thomas Peel's 1834 land grant, and during the 1840s European settlers took up small land holdings around the area at Wungong and Cardup. By the 1890s, the area was settled by a small number of large landowners, with names of early settlers included Lazenby, Mead, and Liddelow. Mead was an enterprising farmer with numerous landholdings in the foothills between the Serpentine River and the Wongong Brook, and at East Rockingham. Majority of early settlers in Byford lived in poor conditions before they obtained building supplies for houses, and often had large families with up to 13 children. A second major brickworks was set up at Beenup, north of Cardup, in 1913. This industry was a state government initiative aimed at reducing the cost of worker housing. Like the brickworks operating at Cardup and Armadale, this one exploited the shale deposits of the escarpment to produce high quality pressed brick and used the railway to transport the finished product to customers. The State Brickworks at Byford closed down in 1964, due in part to its operations being eclipsed by a new brickworks in Armadale. The Cardup brickworks closed in 2012, but much of the infrastructure is still extant. Shortly after the brickworks had been established at Beenup, local land owner Mr C C Blythe (of Blythewood Park Estate) initiated the planning of another townsite on the eastern side of the rail line - a convenient distance from the brickworks and highway. The new townsite, which is now the most established part of Byford, has a distinctive square plan…

Most-observed species

• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  5,270
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  4,737
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  4,365
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3,890
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  3,793
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  3,606
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  3,511
• Pacific Black Duck

  Anas superciliosa J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  3,441

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2005-05-06
  5 km NW of Bullsbrook, Australia
• M 2.5 — 2005-04-15
  10 km SSW of York, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2005-03-15
  46 km NE of Boddington, Australia