Bussell family

Members of the Bussell family, c. 1867.

The Bussell family were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. The four brothers John, Joseph, Alfred and Charles emigrated from England on the Warrior, arriving at Fremantle on 12 March 1830. Lennox, Frances and Elizabeth arrived at Fremantle on the Cygnet on 27 January 1833, and Mrs Frances Louisa and Mary arrived at Albany on 19 June 1834.^[1]

On arriving in Western Australia, the Bussells found that all of the good farm land around Perth and Fremantle had already been granted, and were advised by the Governor, Sir James Stirling, to form a sub-colony in the vicinity of Cape Leeuwin. 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 the Vasse in December 1831, and by 1834 the family had established a property named "Cattle Chosen". The town of Busselton, surveyed in 1837, is named in their honour.^[1]

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 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.^[2]

Members of the Bussell family include:

• Mrs Frances Louisa Bussell
  • her first son John Bussell (1803–1875), explorer and MLC^[3]
    • his wife Charlotte Bussell (1803–1899)^[4]
    • his daughter Capel Carter Brockman (1839–1924)^[5] 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)^[6]
  • her sixth son Alfred Bussell (1816–1882), explorer and MLC^[7]
    • his wife Ellen Bussell (1833–1877)^[8]
    • his daughter Grace Drake-Brockman (1860–1935) of SS Georgette shipwreck fame^[9]
      • her children included: Edmund Drake-Brockman, Geoffrey Drake-Brockman and Deborah Hackett
    • his son Jack Bussell (1865–1940)^[10]
  • her first daughter Mary Bussell
  • her second daughter Frances Louisa "Fanny" Bussell
  • her third daughter Elizabeth Capel "Bessie" Bussell

References

1. Bussell Diaries, State Library of Western Australia, 25 January 2011, accessed 7 April 2013.
2. Taylor, Robert. Diaries set a record, The West Australianp.12, 2007-08-13.
3. Freda Vines Carmody (1966) 'Bussell, John Garrett (1803–1875)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, (MUP)
4. 'Bussell, Charlotte (1803–1899)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.
5. 'Brockman, Capel Carter (1839–1924)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.
6. T. T. Reed (1979) 'Bussell, William John (1854–1936)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 7, (MUP)
7. Wendy Birman (1969) 'Bussell, Alfred Pickmore (1816–1882)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, (MUP)
8. 'Bussell, Ellen (1833–1877)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.
9. 'Drake-Brockman, Grace Vernon (1860–1935)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.
10. 'Bussell, Alfred John (Jack) (1865–1940)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 7 April 2013.

Shann, Edward O. G. (1926) Cattle Chosen. Oxford University Press, London. Republished in 1978 by University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia. ISBN 0-85564-138-X. Hardwick, Gil. (2003) Castle Dangerous: The Alfred Pickmore Bussell Estate, Margaret River, Western Australia. Hesperian Press, Perth, Western Australia. ISBN 0-85905-322-9.