BUNBURY TIMELINE

Before Europeans, the area was home to the Wardandi Noongar people.

An 1803 French expedition led by Captain Louis de Freycinet (right) explored the Bunbury coastline.

By 1830 a military presence had been established in the area in response to conflicts with local Aboriginal groups.

In 1836 Lt Henry William St Pierre Bunbury travelled south through the area while on an expedition from Pinjarra, northeast of what is now Bunbury, to the Vasse River.

The first European settlers, John Scott and his family, arrived in 1838.

By 1841 almost 400 Europeans were living in the new town of Bunbury.

St Marks Church, WA’s secondoldest Anglican church, was built at Picton (now Wollaston) in 1842.

By 1893 Bunbury was connected to Perth by rail, having become a major export port for karri and jarrah cut and milled in the hinterland.

In the 1890s the town became an important seaside resort.

Bunbury became a city on 8 October 1979.

In 2005–06 Bunbury was Australia’s fastest growing city.