William Locke Brockman

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William Locke Brockman (1802–28 November 1872) was an early settler in Western Australia, who became a leading pastoralist and stock breeder, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Born in Kent, England in 1802, William Locke Brockman was a member of the Brockman family, a prominent Kent family with a history dating back to the 14th century. Little is known of his early life, except that he was a farmer with land in the Romney Marsh area. In 1827, Brockman married Ann Francis Elizabeth Hamersley. They would have six sons and three daughters.

In 1829, Brockman, with his wife and eldest son Edmund, emigrated to the Swan River Colony in Western Australia. They arrived on the Minstrel in January 1830. Brockman brought with him a prefabricated house, seven servants, and a number of sheep. Under the colony's system of land grants, this entitled him to a grant of over 20,000 acres (80 km²). He was only the ninth person to be granted land in the colony.

Brockman established himself as a pastoralist and wheat grower in the Upper Swan district. He named his grant Herne Hill, and this name survives today as the name of the Perth suburb of Herne Hill. He was a foundation member of the Swan Agricultural Society in 1831, and in 1833 became a Justice of the Peace. In 1837 he constructed a mill on his property. Brockman's success as a farmer prompted his wife's brother Edward Hamersley to immigrate. Hamersley arrived with his wife and son Edward in February 1837. He ultimately became a successful and wealthy pastoralist, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council, and the Hamersley family became one of the most prominent families in the colony.

In 1839, Brockman was nominated to the Western Australian Legislative Council, but he resigned the following year. From around 1845 he began exporting horses to India. He later acquired land near Northam, and was the first person to take up land in what is now the Shire of Bindoon. For this reason, the Brockman River, which flows through the Bindoon Shire, was named after him.

In the 1860s, Brockman became involved in the public push for representative government. Eventually, the Governor of Western Australia agreed to hold informal Legislative Council elections, in the understanding that he would nominate those elected. In the informal election of May 1867, Brockman was elected for Guildford, and was accordingly nominated to the council. He held the nominative seat until July 1870, when the council became formally elective. He contested the seat of Swan in the subsequent election, but was defeated by Thomas Courthope Gull. Two years later he contested the seat again, this time defeating Gull. He held the seat until his death at Herne Hill on 28 November 1872.

Two of William Locke Brockman's sons, Henry and Edmund Ralph, became prominent farmers in the colony and Members of the Legislative Council.

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: William Locke Brockman

• Black, David and Bolton, Geoffrey (2001). Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Volume One, 1870–1930, Revised Edition, Parliament of Western Australia. ISBN 0730738140.

[edit] Further reading

• Johnston, Ruth (1982). W. L. Brockman: A Portrait. Nedlands: Darelle. ISBN 0-9593503-1-4.

Persondata
NAME	Brockman, William Locke
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	1802
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kent England
DATE OF DEATH	28 November 1872
PLACE OF DEATH	Perth, Western Australia