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First Sighting of Avon Valley by EuropeansPrint Page Print this page

16-July-2015
16-July-2015

Photographs supplied by Father Ted Doncaster

The plaque commemorates the first sighting of the Avon Valley by Ensign Robert Dale and William Brockman in 1830 when they climbed Mount Mackie.

In July and August 1830 Ensign Robert Dale of the 63rd Regiment, accompanied by William Locke Brockman and two other men, explored the country east of the Darling Range and discovered the Avon Valley. Brockman and Dale formed an exceedingly favourable impression of the region, as did Lieutenant Erskine, who explored the area a few weeks later. On November 12th, 1830 the district was declared open for settlement, and notice given that "a town to be called York will be laid out in a situation near Mount Bakewell”. There was an immediate rush to select land on either side of the river from Beverley to Northam.

Location

Address:Spencers Brook - York Road, York, 6302
State:WA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -31.773611
Long: 116.713056
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Exploration
Actual Event Start Date:07-August-1830
Actual Event End Date:07-August-1830

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Monday 7th August, 2000
Front Inscription

                       Mount Mackie

On 7 August 1839 Ensign Robert Dale and William
Locke Brockman climbed the far side of Mt Mackie,
        which stands before you, becoming the first
Europeans to see the Avon Valley and its river,
obtaining, as Dale wrote "an extensive prospect
over a comparatively level country to the eastward,
through which we observed flowing at the apparent
distance of two miles, a considerable stream."

This Plaque Was Placed Here On 7 August 2000
                    By The Shire Of York
      With The Assistance Of The York Society

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au