Capel River | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | Australia |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Junction of Capel River North and Capel River South |
• elevation | 76 metres (249 ft) [1] |
Mouth | |
• location | Geographe Bay |
• elevation | sea level |
Length | 32 kilometres (20 mi) [2] |
Basin size | 653 square kilometres (252 sq mi) [3] |
The Capel River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia that rises in the Darling Range east of Mullalyup, and flows into the Indian Ocean at Peppermint Grove Beach.
The Capel River is the largest in the Geographe catchment. It rises at the edge of the Darling Scarp and flows in a north-westerly direction across the northern part of the Blackwood plateau to the confluence of the Capel River North and Capel River South, near Goodwood.
The original inhabitants of the Capel basin were the Noongar Aboriginal people of the Wardandi dialect group. They called the river Coolingup. [4] The river is said to have formed a border between different clans. Various stone artifacts were found along the river. The lower reaches of the Capel were of cultural importance for the Wardandi because they buried their dead there. A slaughter of the Wardandi occurred in 1841, by John Bussell and a number of settlers, following the murder of George Layman by the Wardandi elder Gaywal. The Wardandi later avoided the place. [5]
The river was given its English name after Capel Carter Brockman (1839–1924), [6] daughter of John Bussell (1803–1875), [7] who was named after a Miss Capel Carter, a cousin of the Bussells in England with whom the Bussell family members corresponded.
The river crosses the Bussell Highway near Capel.
An artificial river mouth was cut through the sand dunes adjacent to the Stirling Wetlands in 1880 to allow it to flow directly into Geographe Bay. [8]
The Capel river has six tributaries: Capel River North, Capel River South, Gynudup Brook, Camp Gully, Layman Gully and Maidenhair Gully.
The inaugural 2009 Ranger Outdoors Capel Descent [9] was held in June 2009, consisting of a 15-kilometre (9 mi) part down river, part open ocean paddle along the Capel River and Geographe Bay.
Busselton is a city in the South West region of the state of Western Australia approximately 220 km (140 mi) south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destination for Western Australians; however, the closure of the Busselton Port in 1972 and the contemporaneous establishment of the nearby Margaret River wine region have seen tourism become the dominant source of investment and development, supplemented by services and retail. The city is best known for the Busselton Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River.
Capel is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, located 212 kilometres (132 mi) south of Perth and midway between Bunbury and Busselton. The town is located on the Capel River and is approximately 19 metres (62 ft) above sea level.
The Bussell family were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. The four brothers John, Joseph Vernon, Alfred and Charles emigrated from England on Warrior, arriving at Fremantle on 12 March 1830. Lenox, Frances and Elizabeth arrived at Fremantle on Cygnet on 27 January 1833, and Mrs Frances Louisa and Mary arrived at Albany on 19 June 1834.
Captain John Molloy was an early Irish settler in Western Australia. He was one of the original settlers of Augusta and an early settler of Busselton.
Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia around 220 km southwest of Perth.
Cape Naturaliste is a headland in the south western region of Western Australia at the western edge of the Geographe Bay. It is the northernmost point of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge which was named after the cape. Also the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse and the Cape to Cape hiking track were named after this location.
The Shire of Capel is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, taking in the land between the cities of Bunbury and Busselton about 200 kilometres (124 mi) south of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 557.6 square kilometres (215.3 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Capel.
The Carbunup River is located in the south-west corner of Western Australia. The mouth of the Carbunup River is approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Busselton where the river flows into Geographe Bay.
The Preston River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.
Brunswick River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.
The Sabina River is a river in the South West of Western Australia.
The Ludlow River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. It was named after Frank Ludlow, one of the first Western Australian colonists, an arrival on the barque Parmelia in 1829, who explored the locality in 1834.
The Buayanyup River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.
Edmund Vernon Brockman was an Australian politician who was a Nationalist Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1933 until his death, representing the seat of Sussex.
The Wonnerup massacre, also known as the Wonnerup "Minninup" massacre, was the killing of dozens of Wardandi Noongar people by European settlers in the vicinity of Wonnerup, Western Australia in February 1841. The massacre on Wardandi-Doonan land in the south-west of Western Australia took place after Gaywal/Gaywaar, a Wardandi Man, speared and killed George Layman, a settler at Wonnerup on 21 February 1841. The leaders of the punitive massacre were Layman's neighbours John Bussell and Captain John Molloy, resident magistrate of the district. Settlers from the Wonnerup, Capel, Busselton and Augusta area joined them to commit "one of the most bloodthirsty deeds ever committed by Englishmen".
St Mary's Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church in Peel Terrace, Busselton, Western Australia. It is possibly the oldest stone church in the state. Opened in 1845, and consecrated in 1848, it has been the subject of a number of additions, and has also been repaired or conserved on several occasions.
Forrest Beach is a rural locality of the Shire of Capel in the South West region of Western Australia, located on Geographe Bay. In the east, a section of the Tuart Forest National Park is located within the locality while, in the south, it stretches to the Ludlow River.
Stirling Estate is a rural locality of the Shire of Capel in the South West region of Western Australia, located on Geographe Bay. In the south, a section of the Tuart Forest National Park is located within the locality. The Capel River flows through the locality, with its mouth located at the boundary of Stirling Estate and Peppermint Grove Beach.
Stratham is a semi-rural locality of the Shire of Capel in the South West region of Western Australia, located on Geographe Bay and on Bussell Highway. In the south-west, a section of the Tuart Forest National Park is located within Stratham.
33°34′37″S115°35′31″E / 33.57694°S 115.59194°E