BUNBURY, Henry William St. Pierre

(1812-1875)

Henry William St Pierre Bunbury was born on 2 September 1812, in England, into a British military family. Following in his father’s footsteps, Sir Henry, Henry joined the 43rd Regiment in 1830 and by 1833 had been promoted to lieutenant. He transferred to the 21st Regiment which consequently led to his deployment in the Australian colonies, and having the township of Bunbury named in his honour. During his time in Australia he served in New South Wales (1834-1835), Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania, 1835-1836) and the Swan River Colony (Western Australia, 1836-1837) (reference). In Western Australia Bunbury was stationed in the Pinjarra, York and Busselton districts (reference). While at York he was involved in a government-sanctioned scare campaign whereby many Aboriginal people who were not involved in the murder of two white men, were murdered in retaliation (reference).

Governor Sir James Stirling decided to form the town of Bunbury in honour of Bunbury’s exploration across the land from Pinjarra to Vasse, on 21 December 1836. His exploration is described in his journal.

According to Bunbury, no one wanted to be his guide because they would be travelling through ‘strange tribes’, but Monang, an Aboriginal man from the Murray region, volunteered to guide him on the 80km journey. Two unnamed men, Bunbury’s servant and a soldier, also accompanied them. With all previous travel having been conducted via water, Bunbury proclaimed he was the first European settler to tread this path through the bush.

COLONEL H. W. BUNBURY IN LATER LIFE; In Early Days in Western Australia: Being the Letters and Journal of Lieut. H. W. BUNBURY; Photo courtesy of the DBCA Library (Reference)

Bunbury’s Journal
Photo courtesy of the National Library of Australia

Their journey began in Pinjarra, in the early morning of 14 December 1836. They travelled south-southwest but avoided the “numerous swamps in the country between the Murray and the Harvey [Rivers]”. They were plagued by mosquitos, sand flies and shrubbery tearing at their legs. The next day they encountered a group of Aboriginals near a lagoon called ‘Miellup’ (Myalup). They were acquaintances of Monang, and greeted him enthusiastically. The men, women, children and elderly in the group were curious about the small party, and asked many questions about their horses and weapons, and their journey from Pinjarra to Port Leschenault (locally known as ‘Gombnup’) to Vasse (known as ‘Yandorup’). Then the whole party accompanied them onto the estuary known as Derbal (Leschenault Estuary).

“The vast extent of water before us lay smooth and still like a glassy lake, the sea breeze, having fallen with the setting sun which threw out in dark relief the pointed and steep sandhills on our right.” (reference)

At nightfall, the new members of the party lit a large fire on the bank of the estuary to signal their arrival to the surrounding Aboriginal groups, and it was answered by several fires in the vicinity. The group walked a few more miles before stopping for the night. The locals remembered the first European settlement in the Bunbury area - the 63rd Regiment under command of Lieutenant Mcleod, which had been stationed north of the estuary (today’s Sykes foreshore) during 1830. Governor Sir James Stirling had ordered the regiment to stay there, offering protection to European settlers from the Aboriginal people.

The group that arrived at Port Leschenault, the future site of Bunbury, was large, having been joined by many Aboriginal people wishing to accompany Bunbury on his journey. Bunbury did not linger for long at Port Leschenault and continued onto his destination, Vasse, where he encountered the Bussell family and Governor Sir James Stirling, the latter he travelled back to Port Leschenault with.

It was 21 December 1836 when they arrived back at Port Leschenault and Stirling established the township of Bunbury in his name. Bunbury describes the location in his journal.

“A township has been formed or at least laid down on the maps, comprising the southern promontory and part of the north beach at the entrance of Port Leschenault Inlet which the a house and make a nice place for myself and I could hereafter purchase land and settle on one of the rivers, where the advantages are in my opinion much greater than on the York side of the Daring Range… as the colony prospers I am certain that Port Leschenault must become a place of importance”.

Despite his desire to stay at the newly formed township of Bunbury, his duties as a soldier lay elsewhere. First being relocated to Wonnerup to lead the newly established military camp, he then departed Australia in November 1837 to continue his military service. His career led him to the Cape of Good Hope, where he met his wife, Cecilia Napier, the daughter of Sir George Napier, in November 1852. She was in Western Australia for less than two years. The couple had five children and Bunbury retired as a colonel in 1862. He died on 18 September 1875, having just turned 63 (reference).