IN THE EARLY 1920s, thousands of British families boarded ships to Western Australia, lured by the promises of the Group Settlement Scheme – an assisted migration initiative that sought to boost the state’s population and expand its agricultural output, particularly in dairy production.
To promote the scheme, British newspapers published glowing editorials about WA’s profitable farms, while promotional posters of cosy homesteads and paddocks stocked with cows helped romanticise farm life to urban populations. For those living in Britain’s overcrowded and polluted cities, the prospect of owning land was deeply appealing – and, for many, an opportunity that would’ve otherwise been out of reach.
From 1921, thousands of families emigrated from England, Scotland and Wales and settled across south-west WA in ‘group settlements’ at Northcliffe, Manjimup, Busselton, Augusta, Denmark, Pemberton,…