Charles Edward Broadhurst
Encyclopedia
Pastoralism
Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...
and pearler
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...
in colonial
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. He was a member
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council
Following are lists of members of the Western Australian Legislative Council:Prior to responsible government:*1832–1870*1870–1872*1872–1874*1874–1880*1880–1884*1884–1889*1889–1890*1890–1894After responsible government:...
of the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
in 1874 and 1875. In 2009 he was recognised as one of Western Australia's 100 most influential citizens.
Early life in Britain and Victoria
Born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1826, Broadhurst was born into the Tootal, Broadhurst and Lee textile empire, but in being a younger son, emigrated to Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in 1843 where he joined his elder brother Robert Henson Broadhurst on his sheep station. Until 1860, he was a pastoralist at Swinton in partnership with his brother. On 22 June 1860, Broadhurst married Eliza Howes, a talented teacher, singer and musician with whom he would have seven children. He then commenced operating on his own at Wallan exporting horses to India.
Broadhurst's first controversy, the Denison Plains Company
In 1864, Broadhurst became involved in the Denison Plains Company's plans to transport and establish Victorian settlers to the fabled Denison Plains, near present day Halls Creek via the new settlement at Camden Harbour, Western Australia. Appointed manager, he sailed with settlers and stock on the Warrior in May 1865. On hearing in FremantleFremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
of the failure at Camden Harbour, they decided to sail for the settlement at Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay
Roebuck Bay is a bay on the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Its entrance is bounded in the north by the town of Broome, and in the south by Bush Point and Sandy Point. It is named after HMS Roebuck, the ship captained by William Dampier when he explored the coast of...
instead, but after failing to enter the bay due to adverse winds, the settlers were disembarked at Tien Tsin, later to be called Cossack the chief port and landing at Nickol Bay. The company suffered heavy financial losses when news of the difficulties being experienced in the north-west eventually filtered back to Melbourne and was eventually bankrupted. The settlers who had landed with him blamed Broadhurst for the failure, and criticised him for refusing to share out the stock until the company's affairs were settled. This was to be the first of many controversies that dogged his life and career from that time on.
His role in the development of Roebourne
In June 1866, Broadhurst was a member of an exploring party under Trevarton Sholl, son of the Resident Magistrate Robert Sholl, which searched for good pasture and a good harbour in Exmouth GulfExmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...
. The expedition was absent for 49 days, and covered 1,000 miles of terrain, but found nothing of value. Partly as a result it was decided to establish a townsite at Roebourne and make this the administrative base for what was then called the 'North District'. This occurred in August 1866. Later Broadhurst was acting Resident Magistrate when Sholl took a short leave.
Eliza Broadhurst
Eliza Broadhurst and the children, (the two boys Charles Jr., Florance and a newly-born daughter Sarah) left the north soon after the disappearance of the schooner Emma, a tragedy which claimed the lives of Trevarton Sholl, W.F. Tays, the then leading pearler in the district and a third of the entire European population of the North District in 1867. In her husband's absence she established a day and boarding school in Perth and taught English, maths, music and languages in order to make ends meet. Her home also became a focal point for young society women, though she was never able to take her rightful place in society due to the scandals surrounding her husband.Pioneer pastoralist, pearler, steamship owner, MLC, guano merchant and fish canner
Charles Broadhurst remained in the north west of Western Australia for many years maintaining pastoral runs on what was to become the Karratha Station on the Maitland River on the Ashburton RiverAshburton River (Western Australia)
The Ashburton River is located within the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The river rises approximately 100 km south of Newman and flows in a west north westerly direction until discharging into the Indian Ocean approximately 20 km south west of Onslow. The river crosses the North...
. From 1866, he was also involved in the pearling
Pearling in Western Australia
Pearling in Western Australia existed well before European settlement. Coastal dwelling Aborigines had collected and traded pearl shell as well as trepang and tortoise with fishermen from Sulawesi for possibly hundreds of years. After settlement the Aborigines were used as slave labour in the...
industry at Nickol Bay where 'naked diving' (i.e. without any aids including goggles) became the norm. In 1868, in partnership with Dempster, Barker and Gull, he introduced the 'hard hat' to the pearling industry a full twenty years ahead of its time, only to fail. When the demands on the native divers became untenable, he was also one of the first settlers to import what were then generally, but incorrectly, called Malay
Malay people
Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...
pearl divers. In 1871, Broadhurst travelled to England, where he bought the Xantho
SS Xantho
Powered by a horizontal trunk engine, SS Xantho was a steam ship used in the colony of Western Australia as a pearling transport and mothership, as a tramp steamer, carrying passengers, including Aboriginal convicts and trade goods before she sank at Port Gregory, Western Australia in 1872.The...
for use as a transport for shell and labourers and as a mother boat in the pearl industry . It was also to be the first steamship
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
to trade on the coast of Western Australia, carrying over 140 Malays to the coast and taking goods, passengers and shell to the Straits Settlements. The loss of the Xantho after only a few voyages caused Broadhurst substantial financial difficulties. Unable to continue as a pearler in the north west, he took his men to Shark Bay, there joining Francis Cadell as the two leaders in the industry. Initially very successful, being lauded as a 'man in 10,000' due to his great successes,on 6 July 1874, Broadhurst was nominated to the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
. He then moved to Perth leaving his nephew Daniel Broadhurst in charge. A severe downturn in the industry saw the 'Malays' unpaid and unable to return home and apparently some starved to death. An investigation was launched into charges made by the 'Malays'. Eventually charges were brought against Broadhurst Snr., prompting him to resign from the Legislative Council on 24 November 1875. He then took out a writ of certiorari
Certiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
and the cases brought against him were quashed by the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Western Australia
The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters , and hears the most serious criminal matters.The Supreme Court consists of a General Division The Supreme Court of Western...
in January 1876. Broadhurst experimented with the sale of Shark Bay shell in London 1878, but failed. He pioneered fish-canning at Mandurah
Mandurah, Western Australia
Mandurah is the second-largest city in Western Australia and is located approximately south of the state capital, Perth.The city attracts a large number of tourists, including many international visitors...
with considerable success, but soon sold the enterprise. By 1884 he had established the guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
industry at the Houtman Abrolhos
Houtman Abrolhos
The Houtman Abrolhos is a chain of 122 islands, and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. Nominally located at , it lies about eighty kilometres west of Geraldton, Western Australia...
; but though he worked energetically in the industry until 1890 he did not prove a success. In that year, he retired in favour of his son, Florance Broadhurst
Florance Broadhurst
Florance Constantine Broadhurst was a 19th century Western Australian businessman who is most notable for successfully taking over the management of a number of business ventures of his notoriously unsuccessful, yet extremely creative and hard-working father, Charles Edward Broadhurst, and...
, who with his mercantile education proved enormously successful. In excavating the Gun Island guano deposits F.C. Broadhurst's men unearthed relics from a Dutch East India VOC ship the Zeewijk
Zeewijk
The Zeewijk was an 18th century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company that was shipwrecked at the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia, on 9 June 1727. The survivors built a second ship, the Sloepie, enabling 82 out of the initial crew of 208 to reach their initial...
(1727). He catalogued these finds and presented them to the State of Western Australia. Initially thinking the relics were from the Batavia
Batavia (ship)
Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...
(1629) Broadhurst arranged for the purchase and translation of an original account of its loss. This led to its eventual discovery after Henrietta Drake-Brockman, a playmate of his children, became interested in the story and as an adult conducted her own research into the tragedy.
Retirement in Bournemouth, England. Katherine Broadhurst becomes a suffragette
After Florance Broadhurst took over the guano industry Charles and Eliza Broadhurst returned to England and they purchased a home in Bournemouth they called Karrakatta. One daughter Katherine Elime Broadhurst followed her mother's interests (as evidenced by entries in Eliza's scrapbook since donated to the Western Australian Museum) in the 19th century feminist movement. She subsequently became a suffragist. On her return to Western Australia 'Kitty' Broadhurst was one of the 12 women who formed the St George Reading Circle, which became the Karrakatta ClubKarrakatta Club
The Karrakatta Club is a women's club in Perth, Western Australia. Established in 1894, it was the first women's club in Australia.-History:The Karrakatta Club was founded in 1894 by members of the St George Reading Circle. The St George Reading Circle was formed around 1887 for the purpose of...
. It became a leading force in making Western Australian the second state in Australia to grant women the vote. Predeceased by Eliza, Charles Broadhurst died on 26 April 1905 at Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
.