Broun's Bassendean Estate fmr (site)

Values

• The place is associated with prominent colonial figure Peter Broun, the first Colonial Secretary in Western Australia, from 1833 to 1846, who named the estate ‘Bassendean’.
• The place is rare as what is likely to be an intact archaeological site from the early colonial period.
• The place has the potential through archaeological investigation to reveal information about the lifestyles and agricultural practices relevant to the early settlement of the Swan River Colony.

Physical Description

The place comprises two residential lots in Bassendean which run between the Swan River and West Road. There are currently residences on the eastern portion of both lots. Although no above-surface evidence remains, the place is likely to contain intact archaeological deposits and features dating to the early colonial period, including the foundations of the homestead constructed c.1829/1830 on Swan Location S, and artefacts associated with the occupation of the site. There is also some evidence to suggest there was a well and stables in the vicinity. However, the latter is likely to have been destroyed by subsequent development. Information suggests the original homestead was demolished c.1940. However, it is possible some elements remained past this date and were demolished c.1946. The homestead is understood to have been located across Lots 2 and 3 (being 165 and 167 West Road, Bassendean, respectively).

History

Broun’s Bassendean Estate fmr (site) is within Whadjuk Noongar Booja. The Bassendean locality has numerous sites of cultural significance to the Noongar people, including use for hunting and gathering and as a meeting place. After explorations of the Swan River region in 1827, Captain James Stirling, a British naval officer, arrived with British colonists in 1829 and established the Swan River Colony. Colonists received long ‘ribbon’ grants along the banks of the Swan River, with a small amount of frontage providing access to more fertile soils. Broun’s Bassendean Estate fmr (site) was within the surveyed Swan Location S. James Henty was initially granted this lot in 1829, as marked on a survey map by Surveyor General John Septimus Roe. Henty arrived in October that year per the Carolina, with his brothers John and Steven, stock, and labourers. The Henty brothers were granted 84,413 acres of land which they took up in Swan, Leschenault, and in the Plantagenet district intending to establish farms. Henty’s property on Swan Location S, which he named ‘Stoke Farm’, comprised 1,455 acres fronting the Swan River, south of the Helena River. It is likely the homestead that was situated at Broun’s Bassendean Estate fmr (site) was built for Henty. Henty left the Swan River Colony in 1831 for Van Diemen’s Land. It is possible Colonial Secretary Peter Broun began negotiations for purchasing Henty’s land at this time. Peter Broun had arrived in the Colony in June 1829 on the Parmelia, and was appointed Colonial Secretary by Governor Stirling. In addition to Colonial Secretary, for which Broun received an annual salary of £400, Broun was also the Colonial Registrar and Clerk of Councils, and was considered second in command to the Governor. On 10 September 1833 , Broun acquired Henty’s ‘Stoke Farm’ and renamed the estate ‘Bassendean’. Broun had also acquired Henty’s ‘St Annes’, a 100-acre property across the river and directly opposite the former ‘Stoke Farm’. There is limited information to suggest Broun actually occupied the Bassendean property, but it is possible he resided there at some stage. However, in a government notice listing civil officials, Broun’s place of abode was listed as Perth. Bassendean estate was advertised for lease only three years after he acquired it in 1836 , and was again advertised for lease in the 1840s when the place was described as a farm. In 1843, Broun advertised his intention to subdivide Bassendean Estate into small sections of 4 to 10 acres marketed to the labouring class, but it appears this venture never came to fruition. In May 1834, Broun had mortgaged the land to the government. His brother, Richard McBryde Broun, the Governor Resident of Fremantle, was the agent that accepted the mortgage on behalf of the government. In December 1834, both the Bassendean and Coulston estates were mortgaged to William Tanner. Broun died at his brother’s residence in Fremantle on 5 November 1846. In 1856, ten years after Broun’s death, the 1,455-acre Bassendean estate was put up for sale by public auction by the Sheriff’s Office. By the 1880s, Bassendean estate was owned by Matthew, Jeremiah, and John Clune. The Clune brothers sold the estate in 1905. By this time, the estate had been subdivided into four paddocks. Demolition of Broun’s Bassendean Estate fmr (site) began in 1940 to make way for a new dwelling, and demolition of the original homestead was complete by 1946. The owner at the time had reportedly used bricks from the old homestead in the construction of the new residence. Two new residences now exist in the eastern portion of the lots in which where Broun’s Bassendean Estate fmr (site) was located. The area believed to the site of the original homestead is covered by a tennis court.

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