Roelands is a town in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region of Western Australia on the

South Western Highway South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

, between Brunswick Junction and Bunbury. At the , Roelands had a population of 620.

History

The name Roelands relates to a property of the same name granted to the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

's first Surveyor General in 1830,

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in t ...

, as part of the to which he was entitled for bringing considerable capital to the colony. Roe spoke highly of the area and its potential value for agriculture. The first pastoralists and shepherds arrived in the area in the 1880s seeking improved pasture for their stock. In 1893 a railway station was built here to service the railway line from Pinjarra to Picton Junction, and was initially called Collie Siding after the nearby

Collie River The Collie River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The Collie River was named by Lieutenant Governor Stirling after Alexander Collie who, along with Lieutenant William Preston, in November 1829 was the first European t ...

. However, after the gazettal of nearby

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many ...

in December 1897, and much public argument in the region, Collie Siding was renamed to Roelands. The first big quantity of coal from Collie was carted by road to the Collie Siding and then railed to Perth. The demand on the area from the timber and coal business led to the construction of the Colliefields Hotel. A school was established in 1903, and in 1916 a private subdivision was undertaken surrounding the school site. In 1963 the subdivision was gazetted a townsite at the request of the Shire of Harvey. From the 1940s until the 1970s the Roelands Farm and Mission housed Aboriginal children whose families could not look after them, and also children who had been removed from their families by the government. Harry Lupton (

United Aborigines Mission The United Aborigines Mission (UAM) (also known as UAM Ministries, United Aborigines' Mission (Australia), and United Aborigines' Mission of Australia) was one of the largest missions in Australia, having dozens of missionaries and stations, and c ...

) and Ken Cross started it. UAM and later Churches of Christ missionaries served here. An estimated 500 children stayed here during the life of the mission, some of whom spent 16 years of their life there. The land was purchased for A$1.92 million in August 2004 by the Indigenous Land Corporation.

Present day

Roelands is a small township nestled at the foothills of the

Darling Range The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...

, and is the meeting point of the

(Highway 20) between Bunbury and Perth via Pinjarra, and the

Coalfields Highway Coalfields Road, is a Western Australian highway linking Roelands (near Bunbury) on the South Western Highway with Arthur River on the Albany Highway. It is signed as State Route 107 and is about long. Route description Coalfields Road i ...

(Route 107) to Collie, Darkan and Arthur River. Roelands has a small

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

called Hope Christian College located on Government Road, established in 1999, with approximately 500 students currently enrolled.

References

External links

Map of Roelands
(Shire of Harvey) {{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Harvey

History

Present day

References

Further reading

External links