Bussell Family
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The Bussell family were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. The four brothers
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
, Joseph Vernon, Alfred and Charles emigrated from
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on ''Warrior'', arriving at
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
on 12 March 1830. Lenox, Frances and Elizabeth arrived at Fremantle on ''Cygnet'' on 27 January 1833, and Mrs Frances Louisa and Mary arrived at Albany on 19 June 1834.Bussell Diaries
State Library of Western Australia, 25 January 2011, accessed 3 August 2019.
On arriving in Western Australia, the Bussells found that all of the good
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
land around
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
had already been granted, and were advised by the
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
, Sir James Stirling, to form a sub-colony in the vicinity of
Cape Leeuwin Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly (but not most southerly) mainland point of the Australian continent, in the state of Western Australia. Description A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further in Flinders ...
. The Bussells first settled in the Augusta area in May 1830, but met with little success. After a number of exploring expeditions, John Bussell discovered good farm land in
Busselton Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...
in December 1831, and by 1834 the family had established a property named "Cattle Chosen". The town of Busselton, surveyed in 1837, along with the
Bussell Highway Bussell Highway is a generally north–south highway in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of Western Australia. The highway links the city of Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury with the town of Augusta, Western Australia, A ...
, are named in their honour.


Massacres and shootings of Noongar people in the Vasse area

During the early years of their settlement in the Vasse area the Bussell family were involved in several massacres and many other shootings of Wardandi Noongar people. On 27 June 1837 Bessie Bussell wrote a diary entry about the first massacre at Vasse. The trigger was the disappearance on 23 June of a calf of the Chapmans', fellow settlers in the area. The two Chapmans, Alfred Bussell, a corporal, Moloney and Constable Elijah Dawson were led by Bobingroot, a local Noongar man to where those who stole the calf would be. The place was called Yulijoogarup. Another Noongar man called Nungandung refused and ran away. Kenny and Jim, two Noongar men, escaped and nine Noongar Wardandi people were killed and two wounded, including women and children. A second massacre followed in July 1837. On 13 July Dawson was speared in the arm by a Wardandi warrior, and Mrs Dawson had a spear thrown at her. This would have been in retaliation to the massacre on 27 June. The Bussell brothers Charles, Lenox and Alfred then got together with the Chapmans and took various steps to retaliate and locate the suspected perpetrator, a Noongar warrior called Gaywal; including taking four Noongar women and a child hostage for a day. The young warrior who threw the spears was Knockindon, a Wardandi man whose land the Bussells were occupying. On 24 July Vernon returned from Perth with the year's rations. On 30 July shouting was heard down at the estuary, and the Bussells, Dawson and other settler men armed themselves and headed down there. They shot and killed at least six people. Bessie Bussell wrote "Three women, one man, one boy are known to be dead, but more are supposed to be dying." Three days later the Bussell brothers buried the bodies when they realised that Noongar people were not going to come back for their dead. Lenox refused to do a report on this incident to the resident magistrate John Molloy. Dawson submitted a report about his spearing instead. During these two massacres, John Bussell was away in England seeking a wife. The other Bussell brothers Charles, Lenox and Alfred were involved. In a letter to his brother John in England, Charles Bussell wrote that "the war with the natives had been properly conducted". In August 1837 Mr Bunbury's horse disappeared and the Bussells headed out again. (Lieut. Henry William St Pierre Bunbury had been stationed down at the Vasse, but was in York at the time.) This time an old Noongar man was shot and wounded and the child he was carrying was dropped. The Bussells kept this child as a hostage for ten weeks. Subsequently, Bunbury's horse was found. In October 1839 Henry Camfield, a colonial settler in Perth who was looking for a wife, came down to the Vasse area to woo Fanny Bussell. During his stay there the Bussells set a trap for a Noongar man who came to steal food. They set a trap with a shotgun and the Noongar man was shot. The Bussells then rode off searching for collaborators and Camden was left to bury the body. Camden then decided against Fanny Bussell as a wife and returned to Perth. In February 1841 a third, much more deadly, massacrethe
Wonnerup massacre The Wonnerup massacre, also known as the Wonnerup "Minninup" massacre, was the killing of dozens of Wardandi Noongar people by European settlers in the vicinity of Wonnerup, Western Australia in February 1841. The massacre on Wardandi-Doonan lan ...
took place after George Layman was killed by Wardandi warrior Gayware. John Bussell, newly married, was back from England by then. He and Captain John Molloy led a group of settlers in a massacre of dozens of Noongar people. Charles Bussell was part of this group, and Lenox may also have been involved (although by then he was mentally very unwell). The '' History of West Australia'', written in 1897, states that during the massacre "the white men had no mercy" and dozens of Noongar people were killed. In 1842 Charles Bussell shot and killed a little Noongar girl called Cumangoot when questioning her about stealing flour from the family's stores. Charles was charged with manslaughter and fined one shilling.


Correspondence archives

Many of the Bussells were prolific letter-writers, and much of their correspondence has been preserved. These letters provide an outstanding record of the lives of a class of settler that were largely neglected by contemporary historians and record-keepers. Consequently, they have been much studied by modern historians. On 14 August 2007, ''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...
'' newspaper reported that the J S Battye Library had paid a possible WA record $91,000 at auction for the personal diaries of Vernon Bussell. Members of the Bussell family include: * Ellen Louisa Bussell ** her first son John Bussell (1803–1875), explorer and MLC *** his wife Charlotte Bussell (1803–1899) *** his daughter Capel Carter Brockman (1839–1924) was named after a Miss Capel Carter, (a cousin of the Bussels in England with whom family members corresponded), after whom is named the Capel River and the town and Shire of Capel ** her second son William Bussell (who did not emigrate with the rest of the family) ** her third son Lenox Bussell ** her fourth son Charles Bussell ** her fifth son Joseph Vernon Bussell (d.1860) (known as Vernon Bussell) *** his wife Mary Elizabeth Bussell, née Phillips *** his son William John Bussell (1854–1936) (known as Archdeacon Bussell) ** her sixth son Alfred Bussell (1816–1882), explorer and MLC *** his wife Ellen Bussell (1833–1877) *** his daughter Grace Drake-Brockman (1860–1935) of '' SS Georgette'' shipwreck fame **** her children included: Edmund Drake-Brockman, Geoffrey Drake-Brockman and Deborah Hackett *** his son Jack Bussell (1865–1940)'Bussell, Alfred John (Jack) (1865–1940)'
Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.
** her first daughter Mary Bussell ** her second daughter Frances Louisa "Fanny" Bussell ** her third daughter Elizabeth Capel "Bessie" Bussell


Notes


References

* Shann, Edward O. G. (1926) ''Cattle Chosen''. Oxford University Press, London. Republished in 1978 by University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. . * Hardwick, Gil. (2003) ''Castle Dangerous: The Alfred Pickmore Bussell Estate, Margaret River, Western Australia''. Hesperian Press, Perth, Western Australia. . {{refend Australian families Settlers of Western Australia Aboriginal genocide perpetrators
People associated with massacres of Indigenous Australians The term "the people" refers to the public or common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. In contrast, a ...