South West Life

This article was written by Phyllis Barnes.

John Forrest was born on August the 22nd at the mouth of the Preston River on Leschenault Estuary, near Bunbury.

In 1842 his father and mother, William and Margaret, had come from Scotland to Australind in Western Australia, to work for Dr John Ferguson on his farm. Four years later the doctor was appointed Colonial Surgeon in Perth and gave William the mill machinery that he had brought out from Scotland.

With two children by now, William erected a wind-mill at the mouth of the river, believing that it would be favourably placed for the Australind settlers as they travelled down the Estuary to the tiny town of Bunbury.

However when the required winds were not forthcoming, William bought land further upstream, at the junction of the Ferguson River where he created a mill race and a diversion dam between the two rivers to power his new mill that opened in 1851. He built his new home of crushed lime stone and pit sawn jarrah, and family lore recounts that four year old John insisted on walking every step of the way to his new home.

The house is still owned and occupied by his descendants, the mill-race can still be seen as well as the nine olive trees that William planted for each of his sons. The youngest son, Augustus, drowned in the mill-race as a toddler.

Although a Presbyterian, the family regularly attended services at the tiny Anglican Church at Picton, where William and Margaret now lie in its quiet graveyard. Throughout his life John always set aside the Sabbath as a day of rest.

The boys were all self-reliant, sturdy and practical young men, but with true Scots appreciation for education, William sent his five oldest sons to Bishop Hale's school in Perth. John was an excellent student with a natural talent for mathematics and perhaps more significantly, he became good friends with the sons of some of the leading families in that class conscious era.

In 1863 he was apprenticed to the South-West Surveyor Thomas Carey, a methodical and competent teacher who taught him basic traversing and how to determine latitude by the sun, stars and planets - important skills for a future explorer.

By now he was more than 180 cm with a magnificent physique, and able to cope with long periods alone in the bush under very rough conditions. He had learnt bush skills on the farm, he was an excellent horse-man, with a natural understanding of the animals, and growing up with seven brothers had taught him to work with and to respect others.

As a surveyor he now had the background and training that surely fitted him for his great achievements as one of Australia's most successful explorers who never became lost, and never lost a man in his party.