Pioneers
Welcome to our Pioneers series dedicated to the
settlers of Western Australia. The caches are located on a rarely
used bike track between Henderson and Naval Base passing close to
Mt Brown. The track is a bitumen surface and provides about 5 kms
of smooth riding and is the only way to complete this series.
Warning!!
Some of the Pioneer caches are near restricted areas due to
unexploded ordinance (artillery shells etc...), we
have placed these caches in areas outside the
warning areas.
***** Please don't try to come across by
road to individual caches for your own safety. *****
Sir John Forrest GCMG (22 August 1847 – 2 September 1918)
Was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament. As a young man, John Forrest won fame as an explorer by leading three expeditions into the interior of Western Australia. He was appointed Surveyor General and in 1890 became the first Premier of Western Australia, its only premier as a self-governing colony. Forrest's premiership gave the state ten years of stable administration during a period of rapid development and demographic change. He pursued a policy of large-scale public works and extensive land settlement, and he helped to ensure that Western Australia joined the federation of Australian states. After federation, he moved to federal politics, where he was at various times postmaster-general, Minister for Defence, Minister for Home Affairs, Treasurer and acting Prime Minister.
Shortly before his death, Forrest was informed that the King had approved his being raised to the British peerage as Baron Forrest of Bunbury. He immediately began signing his name as "Forrest", as if he were already a peer. However, at the time of his death his peerage had not been legally established by letters patent. References to him as "Lord Forrest" are therefore incorrect. Forrest, was one of 10 children of William and Margaret Forrest, who came out as servants under Dr John Ferguson in 1842. He was born at Picton near Bunbury in what was then the British colony of Western Australia. He was also known as Jack to his family. Among his seven brothers were Alexander Forrest and David Forrest. John attended the government school in Bunbury under John Hislop until the age of twelve, when he was sent north to Perth to attend the Bishop's Collegiate School, now Hale School, starting there in January 1860. In November 1863, he was apprenticed to a government land surveyor named Thomas Carey. When his term of apprenticeship ended in November 1865, he became the first man born and educated in the colony to qualify as a land surveyor. He then commenced work as a surveyor with the government's Lands and Surveys Department. On 2 September 1876 in Perth, Forrest married Margaret Elvire Hamersley. The Hamersleys were a very wealthy family, and Forrest gained substantially in wealth and social standing from the marriage. However, to their disappointment the marriage was childless.
Perth Park
The Colony's first Surveyor General John Septimus Roe recognised the qualities of the area and tried to protect it, by identifying the land to be set aside for public purposes. By 1835 Roe's protection was overturned and the first shipment of five tonnes of Jarrah was cut on Mt Eliza, becoming the colonies first export. Logging in the area continued until 1871 when Roe's successor Malcolm Fraser persuaded the then Governor Weld to set aside 1.75 km² as public reserve. In 1890 this was enlarged to its current size by Sir John Forrest, the first president of the Board appointed under the Parks and Reserves Act 1895. Forrest planted the first tree, a Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla), and other trees were introduced to the site, Eucalyptus ficifolia and exotic species of Pinus; few of these were successful due to lack of irrigation. Perth Park Officially opened on 10 August 1895, the park was originally called Perth Park and was renamed in 1901 to King's Park - the apostrophe was later dropped.This was to mark the ascension to the British throne of King Edward VII and the visit to Perth of George, the Duke of Cornwall and Princess Mary. One of the major roads through the park, May Drive is named in the Princess's honour.