Australind marks 175 years

Last Wednesday marked 175 years since the ship Island Queen arrived in Australind and began the town's British settlement.

The vessel arrived on December 16, 1840 carrying an advance party of surveyors aiming to map out the landscape for a new townsite.

It stemmed from a British plan to establish a town, with the Island Queen leaving Britain in August 1840.

The ship is understood to have docked opposite what is now Pioneer Memorial Park along Old Coast Road and near where a monument to a number of early settlement ships is placed.

Harvey shire councillor and Harvey History Online member Amanda Lovitt said yesterday's milestone marked the start of a busy couple of years with the 175th anniversary of several other important ship arrivals, including the Trusty and Parkfield.

Cr Lovitt also raised the mile- stone during a member's report at Tuesday night's council meeting.

Australind and Districts Historical Society member Wendy Dickinson said the event was important from a historical viewpoint and she believed the environment which greeted the Island Queen's passengers would have been confronting.

"It was a much denser landscape than they would have come from, going from the English landscape to something that was total wilderness," she said.

The original map and plans for the Australind town are still shown on the monument and present a vastly different picture to modern-day Australind.

Harvey History Online member Heather Wade said a lot of money planned for Australind instead went to Geraldton, which was perceived as being a better settlement option once messages got back to Britain.

"The scheme failed, but it brought much needed population to the State," she said.