Camden Harbour was a short-lived settlement in the Kimberley 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 ...

in 1864–1865 that was situated in the larger Camden Sound. The settlement was also known as the Camden Harbour Expedition, as well as the Government Camp. Ships known to have transported people to the settlement included ''Calliance'', which was wrecked on its shores. A number of families settled and explored from this location, however it did not continue after 1865. The Sholl family were one of such families that were part of the community. Camden Harbour was visited in June 1865 by the crew of the tiny ''

Forlorn Hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the kill zone of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defen ...

'', who were well received by Government Resident

Robert J. Sholl Robert John Sholl (16 July 1819 – 19 June 1886) was a Administration (government), government administrator, magistrate, explorer, journalist, entrepreneur, harbourmaster, customs official, postmaster and lay reader in Western Australia (WA), ...

and Government Surveyor James Cowle, but found them and other settlers, many from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, despondent and weary. The ground was hard and stony and the grass of little value to the few remaining sheep, who were weak and dying. As the crew left they witnessed the burning by Victorian settlers of ''Calliance''s hull, to recover her

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is the practice of protecting the under-water hull of a ship or boat from the corrosive effects of salt water and biofouling through the use of copper plates affixed to the outside of the hull. It was pioneered and developed by ...

. Charles Smith Bompas was dismissed as Camden Harbour's doctor by Sholl around October 1865, having only been there about a month. Bompas left the settlement on ''Kestrel'' shortly after. The location has been visited in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries by Kimberley

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Kimberley (Western Australia) 1864 establishments in Australia 1865 disestablishments in Australia