Written history on the development of Lower King and district has proved hard to find, though, as an outpost and supplier of Albany, its history is very much bound up with the town. The main source of information on Lower King was initially the Albany Advertiser, the archives of which are published online through Trove at the National Library.
And the book "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir, has provided some useful snippets.
However, we do know that this was an early sealers haunt. In 1831, though dismissing the area as impractical for the main settlement, Isaac Scott Nind reported that it was already notorious for sealing. As Albany developed during the 19th Century, this whole coastal area became a haven for smugglers, with its small islands. hidden coves, and shallow river access.
On a more positive note, as Albany grew and land grants were parceled out, Lower King quickly developed as a satellite settlement, to service the needs of the expanding town - eventually becoming a township in its own right, and still growing today.
At the 2011 census, 1,738 people lived within the suburb's boundaries - an increase from 1604 in 2006.
Land Ownership and Farming:
Much of the local timber was unsuitable for building, and so the bush was largely just divided up, sold off, and cleared for farming.
Fruit and vegetable production quickly became established along the King River.
A 1898 report details some of these 'selections', particularly “Eastington”, owned by Englishman Mr. Webb-Watt, who took up 40 acres in Lower Kalgan, a little east of Lower King, and was successfully growing European fruit and vegetables, and raising pigs and poultry.
In 1898, Webb-Watt stated that, on the Lower King River: “…nearly all the land on the western side right down to Oyster Harbor is held by the Hordern family in one large block. There are several other large blocks held both on the Kalgan and on the King by absentees… it would be a great thing if a tax were imposed so that they might be forced to improve or sell.”
Mr. McKail was an extensive landowner, with land in Lower King as well as large holdings in Albany.
In 1903, he wrote to the Albany Roads Board, “asking permission to put a gate at the corner of his land near Lower King Bridge; also calling attention to nets and sails being hung out over the rails of the bridge, and boats fastened to the rails” .
In 1925, N.W.McKail of King River, recalling the early years of settlement, states that the first to actually settle on and farm a selection in Lower King was Mr. Townsend, 1833/4 - Lot 28 (Nanarup Rd to Oyster Harbour).
Second was Patrick Taylor, 1835 - Lot 38, 'Candyup' (now Lower Kalgan) - of Patrick Taylor Cottage (museum) in Duke Street - who was the first to send apples, pears, plums and peaches into Albany, by water.
Lot 3 was taken up earlier by Mr. J. McKail, but not actually used until 1865, when sheep were grazed there - and for some years after.
Lot 5 was taken up by Mr. Geake, but unused until a short-lived effort to develop it by C of E minister Rev. A. McSorley, in the 1870's. Then it was worked for a time by Mr. A. Blackburn.
Nathaniel William McKail wanted this recorded, as the first two certainly deserved recognition for their hard work and dedication, developing the hard-to-access land and opening the way for others to follow.
The 1932 obituary for George Eaton, born in Albany in 1859, "when that town was mostly virgin bush", gives us further information.
As a boy, he lived in Lower King, where he made shingles and palings, was involved with the local boat-builders making shallow-draft coastal cutters, and went whaling off Cheynes Beach for local firm Cooper and Fisher.
Eaton then worked as drover, ostler, teamster, etc, at Coopers 'Mt. Barker Hotel', which was the Royal Mail staging post.
Left jobless after the railway went through, he returned to the Kalgan River and started a farm, "Eatondale", on the Woogenellup Hills. He delivered meat from there to Mt. Barker for many years, joining the Plantagenet Roads Board to fight for a bridge over the Kalgan.
Selling out in 1913 to retire, Eaton instead shifted down-river 4 miles and started again, developing "Woodford" from scrub to pasture.
A popular, trail-blazing pioneer, Eaton helped expand settlement to the east - making Lower King itself more accessible, less isolated. In 1929, failing eyesight forced him to retire for good, and in 1932 cataract surgery in Perth led to his death.
In 1950, an article detailing the life of Mrs. Alice Leishman (nee Bunny) gives an insight into the hardships of a pioneer women's life. Like George Eaton, she was, born in 1959, but in St. Kilda, Victoria, and in rather better social circumstances.
Moving to rural Queensland, and then again following her husband to this area in the late 1890's, was a totally different experience.
The 1946 obituary for Mary Ann Greatrex follows her migration to Albany from England, with husband and family, in the early 1890's. Ernest Greatrex was initially employed by the Great Southern Land Company, then became a train driver for Great Southern Railways. When ill health forced his retirement in 1915, the family moved from Albany to the Lower King, where they bought Collis's 148 acres (see below) and "settled as pioneers of that district". They tried to become self-sufficient, and ran "Hockley' as a mixed farm, with cows, pigs, poultry, vegetables and orchard - not entirely successfully. The family was large, but have all left the area.
The Greatrex home, Prideaux Cottage, is on the corner of Prideaux Road and Lower King Road.
Greatrex Road runs from Lower King Road, opposite Elizabeth Street, through to Chesterpass Road.
By the turn of the century, then, the first wave of farming settlement was almost over, and real estate sales had begun - as seen in this advert from November 1903:
“WHY SETTLE in a drought stricken land when you can reap the benefit of other people's labour and buy a home in a perfect climate at the Lower King Bridge, about seven miles from Albany - navigable river teeming with fish.
JOHN CABBLE has been favoured with instructions from C. Collis, Esq. (due to his failing health), to sell either or both of his selections:
148 acres, four roomed dwelling, outhouse, garden, etc.;
150 acres securely fenced, about eight | acres cultivated, trees bearing, fresh j water.
Full particulars apply the Auctioneer…”
The Gomm family was well established in Lower King by 1905, judging by their adverts in the Advertiser.
Gomm was a contractor, may have been a builder, and tendered for work on Lower King Road and others.
The Gomms owned land between Lower King Road and the sea, and in 1908 they bought Mr. Collis's 150-acre block, for $250.
Lower King & Bayonet Head Progress Association meetings are held at Gomm Park Hall.
And the book "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir, has provided some useful snippets.
However, we do know that this was an early sealers haunt. In 1831, though dismissing the area as impractical for the main settlement, Isaac Scott Nind reported that it was already notorious for sealing. As Albany developed during the 19th Century, this whole coastal area became a haven for smugglers, with its small islands. hidden coves, and shallow river access.
On a more positive note, as Albany grew and land grants were parceled out, Lower King quickly developed as a satellite settlement, to service the needs of the expanding town - eventually becoming a township in its own right, and still growing today.
At the 2011 census, 1,738 people lived within the suburb's boundaries - an increase from 1604 in 2006.
- Information on the early history is very patchy, but this is what has been unearthed so far.
- UPDATE: I have recently found an excellent 'blog' by Ciaran Lynch. which is packed with interesting and detailed information, and well worth a read. His history of European First Settlement in this area, "Campbell Taylor and the Cape Arid Connection" - PART 1 East Along The Coast; and PART 2 The 1840's - are particularly relevant.
Land Ownership and Farming:
Much of the local timber was unsuitable for building, and so the bush was largely just divided up, sold off, and cleared for farming.
Fruit and vegetable production quickly became established along the King River.
A 1898 report details some of these 'selections', particularly “Eastington”, owned by Englishman Mr. Webb-Watt, who took up 40 acres in Lower Kalgan, a little east of Lower King, and was successfully growing European fruit and vegetables, and raising pigs and poultry.
- Though marketing them must have been a major headache, with constant problems with roads and bridges.
In 1898, Webb-Watt stated that, on the Lower King River: “…nearly all the land on the western side right down to Oyster Harbor is held by the Hordern family in one large block. There are several other large blocks held both on the Kalgan and on the King by absentees… it would be a great thing if a tax were imposed so that they might be forced to improve or sell.”
Mr. McKail was an extensive landowner, with land in Lower King as well as large holdings in Albany.
In 1903, he wrote to the Albany Roads Board, “asking permission to put a gate at the corner of his land near Lower King Bridge; also calling attention to nets and sails being hung out over the rails of the bridge, and boats fastened to the rails” .
- The McKail family must have remained here, as a H. McKail was still in Lower King in 1936 (the area mentioned being where the Reserve was sectioned off).
In 1925, N.W.McKail of King River, recalling the early years of settlement, states that the first to actually settle on and farm a selection in Lower King was Mr. Townsend, 1833/4 - Lot 28 (Nanarup Rd to Oyster Harbour).
Second was Patrick Taylor, 1835 - Lot 38, 'Candyup' (now Lower Kalgan) - of Patrick Taylor Cottage (museum) in Duke Street - who was the first to send apples, pears, plums and peaches into Albany, by water.
Lot 3 was taken up earlier by Mr. J. McKail, but not actually used until 1865, when sheep were grazed there - and for some years after.
Lot 5 was taken up by Mr. Geake, but unused until a short-lived effort to develop it by C of E minister Rev. A. McSorley, in the 1870's. Then it was worked for a time by Mr. A. Blackburn.
Nathaniel William McKail wanted this recorded, as the first two certainly deserved recognition for their hard work and dedication, developing the hard-to-access land and opening the way for others to follow.
The 1932 obituary for George Eaton, born in Albany in 1859, "when that town was mostly virgin bush", gives us further information.
As a boy, he lived in Lower King, where he made shingles and palings, was involved with the local boat-builders making shallow-draft coastal cutters, and went whaling off Cheynes Beach for local firm Cooper and Fisher.
Eaton then worked as drover, ostler, teamster, etc, at Coopers 'Mt. Barker Hotel', which was the Royal Mail staging post.
Left jobless after the railway went through, he returned to the Kalgan River and started a farm, "Eatondale", on the Woogenellup Hills. He delivered meat from there to Mt. Barker for many years, joining the Plantagenet Roads Board to fight for a bridge over the Kalgan.
Selling out in 1913 to retire, Eaton instead shifted down-river 4 miles and started again, developing "Woodford" from scrub to pasture.
A popular, trail-blazing pioneer, Eaton helped expand settlement to the east - making Lower King itself more accessible, less isolated. In 1929, failing eyesight forced him to retire for good, and in 1932 cataract surgery in Perth led to his death.
In 1950, an article detailing the life of Mrs. Alice Leishman (nee Bunny) gives an insight into the hardships of a pioneer women's life. Like George Eaton, she was, born in 1959, but in St. Kilda, Victoria, and in rather better social circumstances.
Moving to rural Queensland, and then again following her husband to this area in the late 1890's, was a totally different experience.
The 1946 obituary for Mary Ann Greatrex follows her migration to Albany from England, with husband and family, in the early 1890's. Ernest Greatrex was initially employed by the Great Southern Land Company, then became a train driver for Great Southern Railways. When ill health forced his retirement in 1915, the family moved from Albany to the Lower King, where they bought Collis's 148 acres (see below) and "settled as pioneers of that district". They tried to become self-sufficient, and ran "Hockley' as a mixed farm, with cows, pigs, poultry, vegetables and orchard - not entirely successfully. The family was large, but have all left the area.
The Greatrex home, Prideaux Cottage, is on the corner of Prideaux Road and Lower King Road.
Greatrex Road runs from Lower King Road, opposite Elizabeth Street, through to Chesterpass Road.
- ref: "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir - WA Museum Albany: p.44.
By the turn of the century, then, the first wave of farming settlement was almost over, and real estate sales had begun - as seen in this advert from November 1903:
“WHY SETTLE in a drought stricken land when you can reap the benefit of other people's labour and buy a home in a perfect climate at the Lower King Bridge, about seven miles from Albany - navigable river teeming with fish.
JOHN CABBLE has been favoured with instructions from C. Collis, Esq. (due to his failing health), to sell either or both of his selections:
148 acres, four roomed dwelling, outhouse, garden, etc.;
150 acres securely fenced, about eight | acres cultivated, trees bearing, fresh j water.
Full particulars apply the Auctioneer…”
- Mrs. Collis ran a tea-room in Lower King from 1906, catering to the developing tourist trade - possibly because their land, above, didn't sell for several years.
- Mr. Collis was licensed to fish the King River, and made enemies doing so.
The Gomm family was well established in Lower King by 1905, judging by their adverts in the Advertiser.
Gomm was a contractor, may have been a builder, and tendered for work on Lower King Road and others.
The Gomms owned land between Lower King Road and the sea, and in 1908 they bought Mr. Collis's 150-acre block, for $250.
- Seventeen years later, in 1925, they subdivided 40 acres of this block into 36 one-acre housing lots, and in 1934 new streets were extended from Lower King Road throughout the subdivision, and down to the sea.
Lower King & Bayonet Head Progress Association meetings are held at Gomm Park Hall.
Though basically prosperous, all was not entirely well here in the pre-WW1 years.
There was bad blood between the McKail, Collis and Gomm families over fishing and land rights, and a “…Wesley Maley, situated on the Lower King Road..." was having his fences maliciously destroyed at this time.
- There is now a Reserve named after Wesley Maley, around the Lookout in Bayonet Head.
Despite all this, the first small-lot subdivision went ahead in 1912:
“The Bushby Estate, on the King River, adjoining the Lower King bridge, is now being subdivided into areas of from 1 to 60 acres. Potato growers, dairy farmers, orchardists, as well as gentlemen in search of sites for shooting boxes, fishing and boating areas, will do well to inspect this fertile estate.”
- Colonel Bushby may have been one of the absentee owners Mr. Webb-Watt had complained about in 1898, as his estate was sold in 1912 to pay rate arrears – losing him a fortune.
In 1940, Thomas Mathew Nolan died at Albany District Hospital, and his obituary shows a change of focus here as time progressed. Born overseas in 1882, Tommy Nolan came here as a child, and - boy and man - worked in Albany as a compositor at the (Australian) Albany Advertiser - first hand-setting type, then later by machine. But Football had become a major feature of Australian and local life by the early 1900s, and basic survival had given way to sports-related interests.
Nolan retired early due to ill-health, moving to a cottage in Lower King some years before his death - which suggests that life out here had become much easier by the 1920/30's, and it was now quite an appropriate area for retirement.
- In the inter-war years, a big push was made to develop the land to the east of here, and Lower King gradually became seen as more of a suburb of Albany than as a frontier outpost.
Farming progressed well overall, despite the odd problem, with good trade networks for local produce both at home and abroad.
The development of cold storage facilities and bettter roads and vehicle transport systems helped enormously.
Despite the Depression in the early 1930's, things were looking good for Lower King until the summer of 1939 – when a huge flood ruined crops, particularly the major potato crops, and bankrupted many farmers.
The following year, 1940, devastating bushfires destroyed the Bushby estate, and wiped out a couple of the original settlers.
Bushfires again devastated the re-establishing farms in 1950.
Added to all this, the rising cost of transport was making shipping produce overseas for premium prices less viable..
- By the end of the 1950's, much of the farming land was being sold off, and subdivided for housing developments.
- Most of the current housing was built in the 1950’s, as was the General Store/Post Office, and Lower King was fully subdivided and built up by the end of the 1960’s.
Roads:
The new Albany Advertiser reported through 1897-98 that the Lower King Road (initially known as the Yakamia Road) was already the most used access route into Albany, and urgently in need of an upgrade by the local Roads Board (which was formed in 1896, but had no actual funding).
In May 1898, the Premier, Sir John Forrest, agreed to organise a grant of £800 to build Lower King Road - both to help the existing settlement at Lower King, and to facilitate expansion to the east of Oyster Harbour.
Delaying road building even further, an extreme storm (23rd July 1900) caused extensive damage throughout WA and Albany district. The sea inundated the new Lower King Bridge, and the approach road, embankment and footings were washed away. £50 of repairs were needed before it could be used again.
Two years later, flood damage made it impassable again for six months, and the Upper King Bridge also.
The Albany rail lines were badly damaged on both occasions.
By 1908, the residents were so fed up with constant flooding and damage to the bridge, they petitioned to have the bridge raised to take boats, and the King and Kalgan rivers dredged, to compliment the channel then being dredged in Oyster Harbour.
The new Albany Advertiser reported through 1897-98 that the Lower King Road (initially known as the Yakamia Road) was already the most used access route into Albany, and urgently in need of an upgrade by the local Roads Board (which was formed in 1896, but had no actual funding).
- The first Lower King Road Bridge was completed early in 1898 by the State.
In May 1898, the Premier, Sir John Forrest, agreed to organise a grant of £800 to build Lower King Road - both to help the existing settlement at Lower King, and to facilitate expansion to the east of Oyster Harbour.
- A road and bridge was also needed to help extend out into a new settlement at Lower Kalgan.
Delaying road building even further, an extreme storm (23rd July 1900) caused extensive damage throughout WA and Albany district. The sea inundated the new Lower King Bridge, and the approach road, embankment and footings were washed away. £50 of repairs were needed before it could be used again.
Two years later, flood damage made it impassable again for six months, and the Upper King Bridge also.
The Albany rail lines were badly damaged on both occasions.
- This seems to have been an ongoing issue, well into the later 20th Century...
- This piece-meal approach explains the convoluted route the road takes into town from the Troode Street / Collingwood Road junction! From there to Lower King itself, the road is very direct.
By 1908, the residents were so fed up with constant flooding and damage to the bridge, they petitioned to have the bridge raised to take boats, and the King and Kalgan rivers dredged, to compliment the channel then being dredged in Oyster Harbour.
- The Lower King Road was finally completed to the Lower King Bridge by 1912, as was the Kalgan Road connection to the new Upper Kalgan Bridge - both of which really helped the Lower King settlers, and opened up the land to the east.
Norwood Road (initially Northwood Road, after the Northwood Homestead) was surveyed and cleared in 1901,
making a connection between (Upper) King Road (now Chesterpass Road)
and the King River settlement and road-bridge, and Lower King. Norwood
Road was then built up and graveled in 1905.
Albany began to heavily promote itself as a tourist destination by 1904.
In 1911/12, Norwood Road was proposed a part of a loop tourist drive: Albany – Lower King Road – Norwood – (Upper) King Road – Albany.
In 1922, a Java trade delegation to WA was reportedly taken around the well-established loop when visiting Albany.
Lower King was apparently a very popular tourist destination in the early 20th Century, with a good community spirit.
There is now a new development on the river side of Norwood Road - Northwood Estate.
These are large houses on large blocks, many with a river view:
By 1910/11, war was being considered, with plans put in place for the defense of Albany – including troops being stationed at the Lower King bridge.
Fishing:
initially very important to locals, fish was a major part of settlers diet, and tourist fishing trips and sales into Albany were a good income.
Local fish varied by season and tidal status, but included: river black bream, mullett, yellow-eye mullett, flounder, king george whiting, tailor, mackerel, cobbler, flathead, kingfish, salmon trout, herring, and trumpeters. Fish were often smoked to preserve them.
Oyster Bay also had many shellfish. However, the oysters later became diseased, and were replaced commercially by Sydney oysters.
The fledgling net fishing industry declined after it was banned throughout the 1930’s, due to overfishing and depredation of fish stocks.
Tourism:
Marine Drive was completed in 1898, and the Lower King area became an important part of Albany's tourism plan.
In 1911/12, Norwood Road became part of a looped tourist drive: Albany - Marine Drive – Lower King Road – Norwood Road – (Upper) King Road (now Chesterpass) – Albany. Tearooms and other attractions quickly were established along the route.
In 1922, a Java trade delegation to WA was taken around this now well-established loop when visiting Albany.
Industry:
in 1915, a butter factory and Bacon Works were proposed for Lower King – seemingly not getting much help from Council
There was a gravel pit at Lower king, and a sandpit towards Lower Kalgan, used for road repairs.
In 1936, there was a sawmill somewhere on Lower King Road.
Water:
in 1912, a bore was made in the Two Peoples Bay area, and water pipes were laid from there into Albany - along Lower King Road, over the bridge, to a storage reservoir being built on Mt.Clarence. Carting and laying these pipes damaged the road and bridge again, which then had to be closed for repairs once more.
Once the pipeline was in operation, this added further damage to the bridge structure, which needed replacing yet again by 1922.
Flooding and road wash-outs have been an ongoing problem in the low-lying areas. As early as 1927, for example, this again caused the King River to silt up, and need re-dredging.
Telephone and electricity: wires were laid along Lower King Road to Lower King in 1946.
Schooling:
Few children here went on to secondary schooling before WW2. If they did, they mostly had to board in Albany, or go away to Perth or to Narrogin Agricultural College. However, there was a fairly stable primary school at King River from 1894 to 1946.
After some on/off years of schooling, the School Board finally provided a school bus into Albany in 1946, and all local schools closed.
Albany began to heavily promote itself as a tourist destination by 1904.
In 1911/12, Norwood Road was proposed a part of a loop tourist drive: Albany – Lower King Road – Norwood – (Upper) King Road – Albany.
In 1922, a Java trade delegation to WA was reportedly taken around the well-established loop when visiting Albany.
Lower King was apparently a very popular tourist destination in the early 20th Century, with a good community spirit.
There is now a new development on the river side of Norwood Road - Northwood Estate.
These are large houses on large blocks, many with a river view:
By 1910/11, war was being considered, with plans put in place for the defense of Albany – including troops being stationed at the Lower King bridge.
- 1944 – part of the Lower King Bridge collapsed, and was rebuilt.
- 1947 - part of the Lower King Bridge collapsed again, and was rebuilt again.
Fishing:
initially very important to locals, fish was a major part of settlers diet, and tourist fishing trips and sales into Albany were a good income.
Local fish varied by season and tidal status, but included: river black bream, mullett, yellow-eye mullett, flounder, king george whiting, tailor, mackerel, cobbler, flathead, kingfish, salmon trout, herring, and trumpeters. Fish were often smoked to preserve them.
Oyster Bay also had many shellfish. However, the oysters later became diseased, and were replaced commercially by Sydney oysters.
The fledgling net fishing industry declined after it was banned throughout the 1930’s, due to overfishing and depredation of fish stocks.
- ref: "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir - WA Museum Albany: p.93
Tourism:
Marine Drive was completed in 1898, and the Lower King area became an important part of Albany's tourism plan.
In 1911/12, Norwood Road became part of a looped tourist drive: Albany - Marine Drive – Lower King Road – Norwood Road – (Upper) King Road (now Chesterpass) – Albany. Tearooms and other attractions quickly were established along the route.
In 1922, a Java trade delegation to WA was taken around this now well-established loop when visiting Albany.
Industry:
in 1915, a butter factory and Bacon Works were proposed for Lower King – seemingly not getting much help from Council
There was a gravel pit at Lower king, and a sandpit towards Lower Kalgan, used for road repairs.
In 1936, there was a sawmill somewhere on Lower King Road.
Water:
in 1912, a bore was made in the Two Peoples Bay area, and water pipes were laid from there into Albany - along Lower King Road, over the bridge, to a storage reservoir being built on Mt.Clarence. Carting and laying these pipes damaged the road and bridge again, which then had to be closed for repairs once more.
Once the pipeline was in operation, this added further damage to the bridge structure, which needed replacing yet again by 1922.
Flooding and road wash-outs have been an ongoing problem in the low-lying areas. As early as 1927, for example, this again caused the King River to silt up, and need re-dredging.
Telephone and electricity: wires were laid along Lower King Road to Lower King in 1946.
Schooling:
Few children here went on to secondary schooling before WW2. If they did, they mostly had to board in Albany, or go away to Perth or to Narrogin Agricultural College. However, there was a fairly stable primary school at King River from 1894 to 1946.
- ref: "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir - WA Museum Albany: p.104-5.
After some on/off years of schooling, the School Board finally provided a school bus into Albany in 1946, and all local schools closed.
Reserves, Bays, and Points:
Lower King Bridge: The small park north-east of the bridge was resumed from McKails land, and reserved “for recreation” in 1904-5.
By 1910, people (possibly Menang) were camping there permanently; a few years later, it was designated for camping and recreation. When the town water was put in, with a pipe from the bores at Two Peoples Bay going past it and over the bridge, a permanent trough was put in to water livestock going to market. There is no sign of the water trough today.
In 1926, and for several years afterwards, the annual WA Boy Scout Rally was held there for 2 weeks.
Toilets were first erected in 1928, and replaced in 1945.
By 1932, the reserve was in a rather bad way due to population pressure, and a mosquito plague, and it began to lose its popularity. Upkeep was done during the 1930’s to remedy this. Importing the small fish gambusia, recently introduced in Perth to eat mosquito larvae, was one suggested remedy.
William and Anne Gibb Reserve:
The Gibbs farmed 125 acres on the King River, 'Balgownie', which was first settled in 1891 by Williams Scottish immigrant parents. Originally the Gibb family worked on the farm growing vegetables, fruit etc. for sale in Albany, transported at first by horse and cart. William Gibb diversified, also running a business making and supplying concrete pipes.
When William and Anne Gibb retired in 1965, they bought land and built a home on Lower King Road.
On the Reserve opposite their home, William planted 4 hectares with over 2000 varieties of trees and shrubs, which became renowned by botanists world-wide. Unfortunately, the Reserve and Williams collection has been neglected since his death in 1984.
- ref: "Reflections of Life over the years at King River", by Kath Gibb/Amelia Moir - WA Museum Albany: p.38.
Becker Park
Large bush reserve with lake. Divides Baker Street, Lower King, into North and South.
Parker Bay
Opposite Point Woore - shallow, tidal flats - backs on to the Lower King store.
Shell Bay
Adjoins Bushby Estate , north of the Lower King Bridge.
Point Henty
Land supporting the south entry to the Lower King Bridge.
Point Woore
Tidal flats on the river bend between Shell Bay and Parker Bay.