Mount Barker

History

Prior to European settlement, small groups of Aboriginal people, the Bibulman, followed seasonal movement patterns through the region. The Aboriginal name for Mount Barker Hill is Pwakkenbak. In December 1829, Mount Barker was named after Captain Collet Barker, commandant of the garrison at King George Sound, by naval ship's surgeon Thomas Braidwood Wilson. Wilson explored the area in company with the Noongar man Mokare from King George Sound, John Kent (officer in charge of the Commissariat at Frederick Town, King George Sound), two convicts and Private William Gough of the 39th Regiment, while his ship Governor Phillip was being repaired. European settlement of the Hay River area commenced around the 1830s and the opening of the Perth/Albany Railway in 1889 helped to ensure the town's future; the first store opened in 1890. Population growth continued through the 1890s and the first school and the town hall were opened in 1893. The population of the town was 326 (183 males and 143 females) in 1898.

Most-observed species

• Australian Ringneck

  Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  365
• Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

  Calyptorhynchus banksii (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  320
• Long-billed black-cockatoo

  Zanda baudinii (Lear, 1832) · Aves
  291
• Australian Raven

  Corvus coronoides Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  273
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  270
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  241
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  227
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  217

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2019-08-01
  2 km ENE of Mount Barker, Australia
• M 5.2 — 2018-11-08
  64 km SSW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 4.5 — 2018-10-12
  63 km SSW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 5.3 — 2018-09-16
  57 km E of Manjimup, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2009-04-08
  43 km SW of Kojonup, Australia
• M 4.5 — 2007-10-09
  29 km S of Katanning, Australia