by Jenny Trigwell
Updated: 28 January 2024
Born on 15 November 1877 at Grantham, England, Richard Samuel Palmer was the eldest of seven children born to cabinet maker George William Palmer and Hannah Tinkler Palmer (nee Mortimer).
Richard’s aunt and Uncle, Sam and Elizabeth Buckby, went to Western Australia to manage a farm for Dr Harvey, at Harvey. When 13 years of age, Richard heard that a Mr and Mrs Burrows were leaving England for employment on the Harvey farm. He pestered his parents to allow him to travel to WA with the Burrows, and to live with his aunt and uncle. Eventually his parents gave in, and after travelling on the Charlotte Padbury for 3 months, Richard and the Burrows arrived at Fremantle on 24 October 1890.
Richard enjoyed farm life and the hard work that went with it. One day, at aged 16, he was driving a bullock wagon when he spotted an owl in a tree. He climbed the load to have a better look, lost his balance and fell to the ground. A wagon wheel went over his head, and he was only saved by a small pothole in the road.
Uncle Sam Buckby purchased land in Harvey, Lot 46 corner of Uduc Road and Harper Street. Also, in 1889 he purchased from Mr Harris some uncleared river flats along the Preston River, at Crooked Brook, about 3 miles south of the town of Dardanup. It is understood Mr Buckby employed some chinamen to clear the heavily timbered flats.
In 1894 Sam Buckby suffering from tuberculosis died, and was buried, in Harvey. Mrs Buckby and Richard continued to live in Harvey until 1896, when they moved to the Crooked Brook property that they named The Dell. There is no record as to who built the two roomed cottage that they first lived in.
The cottage has walls of split Jarrah slabs, in two sections and a corrugated iron roof which extends over a verandah. The rooms lined with match board. Later, additions to the cottage consist of asbestos external walls with the internal walls lined with vertical Jarrah boards from floor to ceiling. All the timber was cut on the property and the boards were pit sawn.
Richard was now a strong and energetic, 6 feet two, 20 year old, very social, and a strong supporter of the Church of England in Boyanup. He sang in the choir, taught Sunday School, and taught himself to play the organ. Already smoking a pipe, he once raced a steam train from Dardanup to Picton. Midway, he could see the plume of smoke from the train behind him, so put his pipe in his back pocket and pushed his horse faster. Richard said, “it was an exciting race, but I beat the train alright, when I stopped I too was leaving a trail of smoke – the darn pipe had set alight to my back pocket!”
One night during a wild storm, there was a knock on the cottage door. A neighbour, dripping wet, with only a bag over his shoulders for a coat, was very distressed as his wife had gone into labour. He wanted to go to Dardanup to get a mid-wife but did not want to leave his wife and small children alone. It was too wet and wild to ride to Dardanup, so Richard went with the man to his home. The labour was progressing quickly, the father could not cope with the situation and Richard had to take charge, helping to deliver the baby.
Mrs Buckby’s niece Emma, an orphan, came from England and moved into the cottage with them. Around 1898, a young girl, Isabella Scorgie Barron, came to live and help out on a neighbouring farm with the McFarlanes, who were both ill at the time. Richard used to drive Emma and Isabella in the buggy, and friendships developed.
Isabella and Richard became engaged during 1902 and married on 10 November 1902, in the Boyanup Agricultural Hall. The reception was held at the McFarlane’s house on the property adjoining the south boundary of The Dell.
Sadly, Richard’s aunt, Elizabeth Buckby didn’t get to witness the wedding. She passed away and was buried on 17 August 1902 in the Church of England Cemetery in Bunbury. An attractive woman who was once a lady in waiting to British royalty, her life had been full and varied.
Isabella and Richard lived in the cottage at The Dell and Emma moved into Bunbury to work. Emma was soon married to Joe Kell who worked at Haywards store.
On 23 October 1903, George Robert Barron Palmer was born to Isabella and Richard. Their daughter Daphne Valeria followed on 14 February 1906. On 2 December 1911 another son, Noel Richard Mortimer Palmer, was born.
On the farm, the river flats were planted with fruit trees, mainly stone fruit, which thrived in the rich soil. Initially the Preston River used to flood across the flats in winter, until the fallen tree snags in the watercourse were removed. Successful crops of potatoes were also grown.
By 1914 Richard had installed an irrigation system, pumping water from the Preston River with the 8 horsepower Blackstone engine, and applying water through sprinklers to the orchard trees. Heavy crops of apricots and peaches were produced. He also watered potato crops and mandarine trees. The Great Southern Herald (10 June 1933) reported Richard digging a potato crop of 1 and 1/3 acres which yielded over 400 bags of potatoes, equivalent to about 20 tons per acre! Later he irrigated pasture for the dairy cows to keep them producing during hotter months, when cream prices were higher.
Fruit was sent to Perth on the train which stopped at the Crooked Brook siding where Poad Road joined the Southwest Highway (now Picton Boyanup Road.) Richard planted some pine trees at the siding to provide shade to keep the fruit cool while waiting for the train. The pine trees remained for close to 100 years, before becoming dangerous and removed.
Richard became a member of the Dardanup Road Board on 17 March 1904, the start of a 47-year involvement. He was elected Chairman in 1920, a position he held until 1946. He was defeated in the 1947 election. He was responsible for encouraging the purchase of Lot 37 by the Dardanup Road Board, the site of the hall and Shire office. He also initiated the planting of the lemon gums near the War memorial and office. In recognition of many dedicated years of service, the grounds around the Shire Office and Hall are named Palmer Park.
Richard and Bella were heavily involved in the planning and fundraising for the building of the Anglican Church in Dardanup. He was involved in the local Red Cross Branch and Primary Producers Association.
For a long time, Richard and Bella planned to build a new house on the little rise above their cottage. Architect F W Steere, Stephen Street, Bunbury, drew up plans and specifications for the large wooden bungalow residence and tenders for the construction were advertised in October 1922. Jarrah timber for the house was railed from Wellington Mills to a spot near to the Garvey Road T-junction. While carting the timber in his dray, the load slipped and three of Richard’s ribs were broken.
Finally, 27 years after Richard first moved into the little slab walled cottage, the magnificent new house was completed. Wide steps lead up to the front verandah and front door, which opens to an area with a beautiful skylight. The rooms include five bedrooms, a music room and large kitchen. There is a separate building containing the wash house and engine room, with a little ‘out house’ (toilet) nearby.
The West Australian newspaper reported on the large reception held at The Dell on 15 November 1923, on the occasion of ‘the opening of the new homestead, a magnificent bungalow, with every modern convenience, even to the installation of electric lighting.’ The electric light was of course, 32 volts powered by an engine that had to be started with a crank handle. Like the other adjoining farms, 240-volt electricity was not connected until 1962.
By 1924 Richard owned a car, Licence number DA 9, which also made it easier for him to travel around visiting roads, bridges, and other infrastructure as part of his Road Board involvement.
The Dell was one of the first houses to have a telephone, phone number 2. In September 1931, Richard narrowly escaped from certain death. He had been talking on the phone and just hung up the receiver when there was clap of thunder and flash of lightening which struck a telegraph pole near the house, cutting it in two. The current burnt the wires and blew out the top of the telephone box.
Richard and Bella built up a very successful farm. An article in the Bunbury Herald, 13 May 1924, reported that The Dell consisted of 800 acres, including a 30-acre stone-fruit and citrus orchard on the fertile banks of the Preston River. Cases of peaches sold for 22 shillings and 6 pence in 1924. The farm also boasted thirty, mainly Jersey, milking cows, with the cream travelling by train to the factory in Bunbury. Boys from Fairbridge Farm school for migrant children (at Pinjarra) were employed to help with the dairy herd and farm duties.
Eldest son George worked on the farm with Richard and Bella. There were jobs associated with the orchard almost all year round. George was very proficient at building fruit cases from jarrah boards. He could make a flat case for the peaches in 1 minute 30 seconds! He married Ruth Caroline Edwards in 1930 and they commenced married life in the little cottage which had been vacant for seven years.
In 1934 George and Ruth moved to Waterloo, first living with Ruth’s parents Charles and Tilly Edwards, while farming and building their own house on land that was part of the C E Edwards estate. They purchased 150 acres surrounding the house, established a dairy farm and raised three children, Beverley, Lois and Kingsley. George died 27 June 1989 and Ruth passed away on 9 February 2001.
Richard and Bella’s daughter Daphne married Cyril Eric Courthope. The wedding took place in St Mary’s Anglican church in Dardanup on 23 March 1929. A reception for over 100 guests followed in the Dardanup Agricultural Hall. Cyril and Daphne lived in South Perth. Cyril became a very successful insurance agent and for a while was a member of the National Party executive. Some years later they moved back to farm at The Dell. They had one daughter Heather. Cyril died 25 August 1968 and is buried at the Dardanup Cemetery. Daphne died 27 January 1972 and is buried with Cyril.
Noel married Audrey Williams in Fremantle in 1932. He served in the Royal Australian Airforce, for ten years enlisting in 1936. He was divorced in March 1946 and was discharged from the air force on 19 September 1946. A second marriage to Peggy McEwen also took place in 1946. Noel died on 14 December 1999 in Hillarys in Perth.
Bella suffered heart problems and died 17 May 1955, aged 79. She was the first person to be buried in the Dardanup Cemetery, on what is now Garvey Road.
After losing Bella, Richard took a trip back to England to visit family members, and toured Europe with a sister. Ten years after Bella’s death, Richard passed away on 20 October 1965 and is buried in the Dardanup Cemetery.
Still in the Courthope family, The Dell homestead is now used for short term accommodation and the old slab cottage is occupied by a caretaker. (2022)
References:
- The Story of Richard Samuel Palmer by Ruth Palmer
- Wandoo The Story of Charles E Edwards by Ruth Palmer
- Recollections of Ian Trigwell and his mother Margaret Poad
Images:
- Photographs of The Dell, and the original slab hut, courtesy Jenny Trigwell, 2022
Newspapers:
- Bunbury Herald Saturday, 31 January 1914, Page 8
- Great Southern Herald, 10 June 1933
- South Western Tribune, Bunbury, Thursday 17 April 1930, page 1
- West Australian, Friday 30 November 1923, page 13
- Bunbury Herald, Monday 15 December 1902, page 2
- Bunbury Herald, Tuesday 13 May 1924, page 1
- South Western Times, Saturday 13 April 1929, page 5
- Southern Times, Thursday 4 April 1907, page 5
- South Western Tribune, Wednesday 9 September 1931, page 4
- Southern Times, Saturday 16 August 1902, page 5
- The West Australian, Friday 20 October 1922, Page 2
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