Buffalo Hut at Bengal Station Historic Site

Buffalo Hut at Bengal Station owes its name to its British- Indian heritage and the famous Princep family of India.

In 1831, William Hudson was granted 2,560 acres of land lying immediately north of the head of the Leschenault Estuary. He left the Colony soon after, and in 1841 the land was resumed.

Part of it became the property known as Parkfield Farm. The other section became Bengal Station. Thomas Little established this property for Mr Charles Robert Prinsep, Advocate-General of Bengal.

They named the dwelling on Bengal Station, Buffalo Homestead.

Little, who resided further south at Belvidere Homestead, established two cattle herds, one of which was Bengali cattle or water buffalo, were used for ploughing and as beasts of burden.

Originally, the hut on the Station was used by Indian servants, whom Thomas Little had brought from India with their teams of water buffalo.

Thomas Jackson, who sheltered escaped convict John Boyle O’Reilly, later herded these animals.

In the early years, Buffalo Road was known as Buffalo Lane–as it was more like a track.