Lower Brunswick River Bridge 1845

The Lower Brunswick River Bridge (also known as the Paris Road Bridge) in Australind was the first bridge built in the South West.

The Brunswick River was surveyed by John Septimus Roe in 1830 and likely named by Governor Stirling after the Duke of Brunswick. Stirling was in command of HMS Brazen in 1813 when the ship was commissioned to take the Duke of Brunswick to Holland.

When the early pioneers arrived, there were no bridges over the rivers between Fremantle and Vasse (now Busselton), making travel difficult and dangerous.

Mr William Forrest of Picton, father of John Forrest, the State’s first Premier was responsible for the bridge’s construction and it opened on 2 March 1845. The Chief Commissioner, Marshall Waller Clifton, was the first person to ride over it.

Besides improving travel within the South West, it also allowed Australind pioneer settlers to farm or move from the sandy country at the coast to ‘good’ country, near what became known as Brunswick.

Many locals would sit by the river and fish, including Grace Wright of Roseleigh Farm.

The current bridge includes a pedestrian crossing.

There is also a parking bay to the southwest of the bridge, which provides access to the Brunswick River.