Frederick Ludlow was an early 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....

 settler in 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 is credited with the discovery of the Capel River

Capel River

The Capel River is a river in the South West of Western Australia.The Capel River is the largest in the Geographe catchment and begins at the junction of Capel River North and Capel River South...

.

Frederick Ludlow was born in 1796. In 1828, he and his wife Mildred ("Kitty") emigrated to Western Australia as servants of Captain Mark John Currie

Mark John Currie

Captain Mark John Currie RN played a significant role in the exploration of Australia and the foundation of the Swan River Colony, later named 'Western Australia'....

, arriving in Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

 on board the Parmelia

Parmelia (barque)

The Parmelia was a barque that was used to transport the first civilian officials and settlers of the Swan River Colony to Western Australia in 1829....

in June 1829. In April 1830, Ludlow joined a group including the Molloys and the Bussells

Bussell family

The Bussell family were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. Four members of the Bussell family emigrated from England to Western Australia in 1831, with more members following in the next few years...

 in forming a new settlement at Augusta

Augusta, Western Australia

Augusta is a town on the south-west coast of Western Australia, where the Blackwood River emerges into Flinders Bay. It is the nearest town to Cape Leeuwin, on the farthest south-west corner of the Australian continent. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1,694; by 2006 the population of...

. The following year, Ludlow walked from Augusta to Perth in company with John Kellam and John Welburn. Although much undiscovered land would have been traversed, no journal was kept so no discoveries were attributed to the men. In June 1834, Ludlow made the same journey, this time on his own. Ludlow kept a journal of his travels, and was consequently credited with the discovery of much new land. In particular, he is credited with the discovery of the Capel River, although he did not give it a name. Ludlow later took up land in the Vasse

Vasse, Western Australia

Vasse is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, west of the town of Busselton and southwest of Perth. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Busselton...

, much of which is now known as the Ludlow Tuart Forest in the Tuart Forest National Park

Tuart Forest National Park

Tuart Forest National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia , south of Perth. It contains the largest remaining section of pure tuart forest in the world. Traditionally the state forest associated with this stand of trees has been known as the Ludlow State...

. Both the Ludlow River

Ludlow River

The Ludlow River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia.The headwaters of the river rise in the Whicher Range near Claymore then flow in a north westerly direction through Yoganup then through Ludlow and discharge into the Wonnerup Estuary and then out into Geographe Bay and the...

 and the town of Ludlow are named after him.