Emma Rose was born Emma Penfold on 24 April 1825 to Richard Charles and Alice Penfold at St-Dunstan-in-West, Greater London. Emma married John Delaporte when she was just sixteen at St Dunstan's in 1842. A few months later, they set out for Western Australia (reference; reference).

Emma and John came to Australia as part of the Australind Settlement scheme. They sailed on the Trusty with 156 other immigrants, including William and Margaret Forrest, Sir John Forrest's parents (reference; reference; reference). These settlers were victims of false promises and suffered through significant deprivation on arriving in Western Australia.

The Delaportes were living in Australind in 1848 when their daughter Mary was born. By the time their son, Thomas, was born in 1850, they had moved to White Road (now Austral Parade) in Bunbury (reference; reference). Emma and John had six children. The last child, Eliza, was born a few weeks after John died in 1854 (reference). When Eliza was born, the family lived in a small cottage in Cross Street, Bunbury (reference).

In 1855, Emma remarried. Her new husband was Samuel Rose, a farmer. Samuel was also a widower with five children whose ages ranged from five to nineteen. His first wife, Mary, died in 1850 due to childbirth complications (reference). Samuel and Mary lived in Picton from 1842 until 1846 when their sons were born. By the time their daughter was born, they had moved to Capel (reference). The family's time on the farm was recalled in an interview with Emma's son, Thomas Delaporte: "His stepfather, Samuel Rose, who built the first Rose Hotel, had leased 3,000 acres of Governor Stirling's estate, and that land saw a good part of young Delaporte's life. Many an acre he ploughed with a willing bullock team. They made their own farm implements, furniture and such like. Such things were otherwise unprocurable. Sheet iron was unknown, nor were shingles used then for roofing." (reference). 

In 1865, Samuel applied for a liquor license. However, his first application was denied as two hotels already operated in Bunbury, and a third had just been granted a license. Samuel refused defeat and organised a petition to support his proposal, presenting it to the Governor. The permit was awarded that year, and the single-story Rose Hotel was built on Victoria Street (reference). Samuel then proceeded to construct a two-storey building on the corner of Wellington and Victoria Streets. The Hotel then consisted of a dining room and bar downstairs and four small bedrooms on the second storey (reference).

Unfortunately, Samuel died in 1867 and Emma, along with James Moore and William Spencer, were executors of the will and trustees of the estate (reference). They were missing some cows from the estate and offered 10 shillings reward to anyone who could deliver any stock branded with an R on their rumps (reference).

After Samuel's death, Emma Rose ran the Hotel on her own for some years, and it was often referred to as Mrs Rose's Hotel (reference). Emma was innovative in her business as the Bunbury columnist for the Perth Gazette and West Australian Times noted at the beginning of an article about the rural sport's day and ball that Emma arranged for the Western Australian Foundation Day in 1868: "Our hostess of The Rose, who is ever prominent in catering for the amusement of the people, especially when conducive to her own interests" (reference). Despite the reporter's slightly "catty" introduction, he did describe the event in very favourable terms: "...a series of rural sports which were witnessed by crowds of people, who evinced their approbation by the continual roars of laughter which the merriment produced. The available ground immediately surrounding the Rose was studded with pleasure seekers, while the balcony of the Hotel itself was graced with a bevy of pretty faces, all smiles, and intent only on the day's amusement. The programme comprised foot-racing, walking, jumping in sacks, bobbing for treacle buns, a greasy pole, &c, &c, while in the evening a ball took place at the Rose Hotel. ...The Ball at the Rose in the evening passed off very well… Perfect order and decorum were maintained throughout the day, and everything passed off well." (reference).

Emma also hosted events for organisations in the town, such as the Agricultural Ball in 1868 (reference).

In 1872, the Hotel was advertised for rent at £60 per annum. This must not have attracted anyone to take over the Hotel because Emma's son, Richard Delaporte, who had opened a butcher's shop next door to the Hotel in 1871, successfully applied for the license of the Hotel in November of the same year (reference; reference).

Richard and Emma ran the Hotel together as her occupation was still Hotelkeeper in 1873 (reference). However, in 1872, J.E. Hands announced his store was closing as Mrs Rose required the premises, and in the 1874 postal directory, she is listed as a storekeeper (reference; reference).

In 1888, Emma maintained an interest in running the Rose Hotel, which was still owned by the family trust, when she signed a petition to support Peter McArthur's licence application (reference). The land next door to the Rose Hotel was still owned by the Emma Rose Settlement Trust in 1943 when it was put up for sale (reference).

Emma died on 24 August 1890 at the age of sixty-five, having maintained good health until two months before her death. She was by then the matriarch of a large family of children, stepchildren and their descendants, and there was a long procession of people at her funeral to pay their last respects (reference). 

Written by Gaye Englund for the Streets of Bunbury project.