Brunswick History
We are Homesteads, Heifers and Hills of Rail.
First settled in the 1830s, Brunswick is named after the river on which the town is settled. However, it was not gazetted until 1898, when the new Collie railway line branched off from the main Perth-Bunbury railway.
The river was named in 1830 by Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling after Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg, the fifth son and eighth child of George III. The Brunswick River was discovered and explored by Collie and Lieut. Preston, who found that it joined the Collie River at what became known as ‘the Junction’, near Australind.
Build a Bridge and They Will Come
William Forrest, father of John Forrest, the State’s first Premier was employed to build a bridge over the Brunswick River, near Australind. Opening in 1845, it allowed Australind settlers to farm or move from the sandy country at the coast to good country, near what became known as Brunswick.
Others followed members of the Clifton family, who established Alverstoke Farm, including Thomas Marriott Snr, who took up land at Riverdale and Andrew McAndrew, who took up land that he called Wedderburn, previously owned by a Dr. Ferguson.
Image: James and Mary Ann Smith at Lunenberg Road, Brunswick, circa 1880s.
Rail Brings Prosperity
The first train came through Brunswick Junction station in 1893, and in the same year, the Brunswick Siding and Railway Bridge were completed. The Siding was originally situated north of the river, near a group of railway workers’ cottages.
When the line to Collie opened in 1898, Brunswick became a junction south of the river. In those days, the rail journey from Brunswick to the Collie coalfields was considered to be one of the most scenic lines in Western Australia. The historic Brunswick Station was demolished in 1982 and a shelter now stands south of its site for today’s passengers.
The Heart of Milk Production
The Brownes Dairy Brunswick Creamery was first opened in the 1920s by Edward Browne, founder of Brownes Dairy, and has been open and in operation ever since. The Brunswick Creamery has been making WA’s favourite dairy products for decades and will continue to do so for many decades to come.