Vasse is a suburb of the city of
Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton ...
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
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, west of Busselton and southwest of
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. Its
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
is the
City of Busselton
The City of Busselton is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Perth, the state capital. The city covers an area of and had a population of 40,640 as at the 2021 Census. It contains two ...
. At the
2016 census
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
*16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...
, Vasse had a population of 2,479.
The area was originally inhabited by the
Wardandi
The Wadandi, also spelt Wardandi and other variants, are an Aboriginal people of south-western Western Australia, one of fourteen language groups of the Noongar peoples.
Name
There are at least three theories about the meaning of the tribal eth ...
people.
Hurford and Penney seem to have had a bay whaling operation in Geographe Bay in 1846.
The town is named after the
Vasse River
The Vasse River is a river in the South West of Western Australia.
The headwaters of the river are in the Whicher Range below Chapman Hill and it flows in a northerly direction through the City of Busselton until discharging into the Vasse Es ...
and Vasse Estuary, both of which in turn are named after French seaman,
Thomas Vasse
Thomas Timothée Vasse (27 February 1774 in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime – presumed 8 June 1801) was a French sailor who was lost in the surf on the south west coast of Australia in 1801, and presumed drowned. From Vasse's name is taken the name ...
, who disappeared in the area in June 1801 during
Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific.
Biography
Early career
Born a comm ...
's expedition. . The townsite of Vasse was gazetted in 1927; the area had previously been known as Newtown.
A hall (originally known as Newtown Hall) was built in 1898, while the Old Vasse Primary School was constructed in 1901 and replaced by a newer school on the same site in 1960; the present cite was in use as a school as early as 1884 and there was a public school in the area in 1869.
The population of Vasse was around 75 according to a 2001 estimate. It was predominantly a farming area until the establishment of a housing estate in 2004.
Along with the government primary school, Vasse is also serviced by a high school at
Cape Naturaliste College
Cape Naturaliste College is a comprehensive public co-educational high day school, located in Vasse, a regional centre in the South West region, south of Perth, Western Australia.
Overview
The school was established in 2008 and admitted 95 ...
(established in 2008).
References
{{Towns South West WA
Suburbs of Busselton
Whaling stations in Australia