Just a Little: The Life of an Early Settler

Who are we that have big comfortable houses new motor cars televisions modern schools with computers money in our pockets and plenty of food? Who are we? We are the prodigy of our forefathers and mothers who paved the way for us to be able to live as we do today. We do not know the feeling of having to leave families behind as they had to knowing that they would probably never see them again. Not long after the end of the great-war it was decided that Australia should be settled more and the south west of Western Australia appealed as a good area for farming and needed populating. So in conjunction with the Western Australian Government and in particular Premier James Mitchell a new immigrant idea was formed. This idea was named the Land Settlement Scheme. As a result in the year nineteen twenty four some three hundred and fifteen families left the mother country and were shipped to a tiny town named Northcliffe. The journey took about seven weeks with a stop at the Canary Islands where vendors boated fresh fruit and vegetables to the eager passengers. The ships also stopped at Cape Town for two days and the passengers were allowed to disembark to explore this famous landmark.