were presented in Perth and Fremantle, and the departing Governor embarked under a salute of seventeen guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce, the Commandant, was sworn in as Acting Governor.
Mr. O'Grady Lefroy, in 1863, paid a two years' visit to England, a release from duty which he richly deserved. In his absence Mr. Frederick Dirck Wittenoom, and then Mr. W.H. Knight, sen. (who, in 1861, was appointed Registrar of Deeds and Registrar-General), became Acting Collector of Revenue. The other official changes were few. The Legislative Council and Executive Council memberships were practically the same as in 1860, except for the resignation in 1865 of Mr. E. Hamersley. In 1861, Mr. J. Harris, of Toodyay, became Resident Magistrate of Augusta and the Vasse, and Mr. Durlachie succeeded him at Toodyay. Mr. Yule, P.M., for thirty years a Western Australian colonist, left for England in January, 1862. His services as a magistrate were for some time greatly missed. He died in November, 1868.
The record of death in 1861 is dismal, and each year witnessed the demise of pioneers who fought side by side against dispiriting odds. Mr. Marshall Waller Clifton died on the 10th April, 1861, at his residence, Upton House, Australind. The historical narrative mentions his name too often to call for detailed recapitulation here. The sudden change from high official positions under the Imperial Government in England to the precarious incidents of colonial life did not dismay this strong-minded man. After the failure of the Australind settlement, Mr. Clifton closely associated himself with the aspirations of the colony. He took up his residence within the old town site of Australind, at a charming point overlooking the wide expanse of estuary and the dark-ridged sandhills opposite. Near the beach he planted one of the finest gardens in Western Australia, notable for a splendid avenue of clustering vines—his peculiar care. A phenomenal rise of the tide cast the estuary waters over the orchard and destroyed it. In the Legislative Council Mr. Clifton was a zealous advocate for settlers' rights. He was seventy-three years of age at his death, and was buried near his colonial home. The other deaths in 1861 were—Mr. John Allnut, sen., at Australind, on 8th March, a devoted religionist; Mr. Isaac Wood, on 17th July, chief clerk of the Bank of Western Australia; and Mr. P.G. Meares, at Auburn, in August, a pioneer among the first and best.
Mr. Meares' brother, Captain Richard Meares, did not long survive him. On 9th January, 1862, he died at Auburn, York, in his eighty-first year. Captain Meares joined a cavalry corps in 1795, served in the 2nd Life Guards from 1809 to 1818, and fought in the battles of Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo. He was an enterprising, determined colonist, and for many years filled the office of Government Resident at York. The kindness, simplicity, and truthfulness of Captain Meares' character made him respected. On 28th February, 1862, John Smith, late Colour-Sergeant of the 21st Regiment, who arrived in Western Australia in 1833, died at Perth. Lieutenant W. Shaw, J.P., late of the Rifle Brigade, died at Belvoir, Upper Swan, on 5th May, 1862. Since 1830 this gentleman had fought in the turmoil of a settler's life. Still another well-known south-western pioneer succumbed in 1862. On 13th January, Mr. James Edward Turner, aged eighty-three years, died at his residence in Perth. He was an excellent example of a pioneer, and one worthy of emulation—ingenuous, active, industrious, temperate, and prudent.
The revered botanist and Parmelia pioneer, Mr. James Drummond, died at Toodyay on 27th March, 1863, aged seventy-nine years. Few such enthusiastic men of science as Mr. Drummond could have been found to do such long, unostentatious, unremunerative service for a young colony. He devoted himself to the public service without salary. He traversed immense stretches—north, east, south-east, and south—in the interests of his branch of science—botany. He was able to glean a mass of information, useful not only for pastoralists and agriculturists in the colony, but for the furtherance of the botanical knowledge of the world. For some years he was in correspondence with illustrious English botanists, and his monetary reward was tardy and totally inadequate. While he was performing such splendid labour his personal interests were overlooked. No settler's name merits perpetuation more than Mr. Drummond's.
Other old colonists soon followed in 1863. Mr. Richard Morrell, at Northam, on 23rd April; Mr. Robt. Draper, aged seventy-four years, at Yangedine, on 4th July; Mr. Thos. Brown, old settler, Government Resident at Geraldton, and an earnest worker for public good, at Geraldton, on 5th July; Mr. Lionel Lukin, magistrate and prominent settler, at Deepdale, Toodyay, on 22nd July; and Mr. Gavin Forrest, at Busselton, on 4th August. Mr. Frederick Dirck Wittenoom, son of the Rev. J.B. Wittenoom, succumbed at Perth, on 28th October, 1863. This gentleman joined his father in the colony, and in 1840 entered the Public Service as a clerk in the Surveyor-General's office. He was afterwards appointed Guardian of Juvenile Immigrants, and subsequently Sheriff. When Mr. O'Grady Lefroy left for England in January, 1863, he became Acting Colonial Treasurer, with a seat in the Executive and Legislative Councils, positions which he filled until his death. Mr. Wittenoom possessed an amiable, a charitable, and an unobtrusive disposition.
The Resident Magistrate at Pinjarra, Mr. D.S. Murray, died in that district on 3rd February, 1864, and Captain Daniel Scott died at Fremantle on 20th February, 1865. The latter gentleman arrived in the colony in 1829, and succeeded Captain Currie as harbourmaster at Fremantle, holding that appointment for upwards of twenty years. Captain Scott was a fearless investor, both in buildings and mining. A pioneer miner on the Murchison, Mr. Joseph L. Horrocks, died, aged sixty years, at the Wanerenooka mine on 7th October, 1865. Mr. T. B. Wall, aged seventy-one years, of York, and Mr. Robert Powis, aged eighty-seven years, of Perth, both old colonists, died in October, 1865. Mr. William Edwards, aged seventy-three years, formerly of the 96th Regiment, and an old pioneer died at Beverley on 28th October, 1865.
The year 1866 was as fatal to pioneers as the preceding years, among the deaths being, on 19th March, at Albany, Mr. Henry L. Cole, aged fifty-nine years, a pioneer of 1829; on 9th April, at Fremantle, Mr. Wm. Pearse, aged fifty-eight years, a pioneer of 1830; on 12th May, at Carrolin, near York, the worthy Mr. John Gregory, aged seventy-two years, a pioneer of 1830; on 16th April, at Busselton, Mr. J. Herring, aged eighty-seven years, a pioneer of 1830; on 10th July, Mr Chas. Wittenoom, son of Rev. J.B. Wittenoom; on 22nd July, at Bunbury, Mr. James Everett; on 7th December, at Perth, Mr. McBryde Brown, late registrar of the Convict Department, and son of Mr. Peter Brown; and on 13th December, at Perth, Mr. W. Shenton, aged sixty-one years.
