British on the Blackwood
Bridgetown on the Blackwood
Brothers on the Blackwood

ALBANY, MONDAY JANUARY 3 1842 ABOUT 8 A.M. Seven mounted horsemen, including a military escort and aboriginal trackers, set out for the Vasse on Geographe Bay. They achieved it in 12 days. Midway into their journey they entered a terrain not previously encountered in the young English colony. The hills were high and very steep, valleys narrow and thick wild grasses made movement difficult to negotiate. A substantial watercourse was evident and there were signs of dramatic flooding. It was the Blackwood Valley.

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TRANMORE, ENGLAND, MAY 14 1862, ABOUT 3 P.M. Two men entered the vacated Chester Road premises intent on robbery. They were caught in the act. Both were indicted for robbery and attempted murder and one, a repeat offender, received a life sentence to a British penal colony. In 1873 he arrived in Bridgetown, Western Australia and stayed. His name was Peter Jenkins.

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MULLALYUP, SUNDAY MARCH 14 1880 ABOUT 4 P.M. Two riders in the near vicinity of the Elm Grove Farm on Blackwood Road heard a gunshot. They rode up to the homestead and observed its owner, former convict William Coverley, skinning an oxen. Two days later Coverley, along with two of his sons, was arrested for cattle stealing.

About the Author

John MASLIN, born at Bridgetown in November 1938, is the eldest of four siblings. He schooled at the local St. Brigid Primary and later Aquinas College in Perth. He is Tertiary qualified in Cartography and Photography. Since the mid 1970s he has participated in numerous historical publications as author, co-author and cartographer. This Trilogy began with a 1990s publication titled Brothers on the Blackwood. It was a story centered on a tiny country town in south western Australia involving convicts, cattle stealing, settlers in conflict and Supreme Court action. From there the story expanded into this Trilogy, evermore intriguing, fascinating, captivating.