Esperance History:
The Noongar are the first known inhabitants in the Esperance region and populated this area 20 000 years ago. KEPA meaning water KURL meaning boomerang is the local Noongar name for Esperance, which means "where the waters lie like a boomerang". The region provided a rich source and wide variety of food and thus the Noongar people did not venture far.
In contrast the European history began in 1627 when a Dutch vessel "Gulde Zeepaard" passed through the Archipelago but did not actually land in the area. Discovery is generally credited to the French when two ships, "L'Esperance" and "Recherché" were forced to seek shelter from a storm in 1792. The French word Esperance is sometimes translated as "hope" but it is a difficult word to translate and "Hope with confidence and faith in the future" is as close as you get in English.
Esperance has a twin town - St Martin de Re, a small village on Isle de Re off the west coast of France.