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WRECK OF THE
GEORGETTE.
Australia's Grace Darling
By A.F.S.
IT is more than 100 years since the Bus-
sell family arrived in Western Aus-
tralia and gave their name to the once
busy port which stands now at the mouth
of the river Vasse 150 or so miles south
of Perth. It is nearly 60 years since
Grace Bussell, then a girl of 16, achieved
fame as the rescuer of human lives when
the ill-fated steamer Georgette stranded
in the breakers close in-shore near the
Margaret River, and was dubbed "Aus-
tralia's Grace Darling." The daughter
and mother of men whose names are
known throughout the State, Grace
Bussell, who later became Mrs. Drake-
Brockman, died last Monday at her home
in Guildford.
The story of the early settlement in
Augusta and, later, at Busselton, of the
brothers and sisters of John Garrett Bus-
sell, was told in "Cattle Chosen"— the
name of their Busselton estate— by Pro-
fessor Shann. John Bussell, the oldest
of his brothers and sisters, was the driv-
ing force in the fight against the giant
timber of the Augusta country and in
the removal of the colony to Busselton,
whose fertile plains he discovered when
searching for lost stock. When his
brothers grew up they branched out for
themselves as landowners and farmers.
Alfred Pickmore Bussell, one of the
youngest, chose land for himself at the
Margaret River, where he built "Wal-
cliffe." He married and reared a family
of six girls and one boy. Grace was born
in 1860.
In those days labour for the working
of a property which covered some hun-
dreds of thousands of acres of heavily
timbered country was scarce and being
blessed with a family of girls Alfred
Bussell by force of necessity relied on
them for assistance in the handling of
his stock. The girls learned to ride
as they began to walk and from an early
age were as comfortable in the saddle
thrusting through the bush as in an arm-
chair. From the natives who roamed
those parts and who sometimes assisted
with the work of the estate, they learned
bush lore and aboriginal tongue.
A Dream's Warning.
Grace Bussell had just passed her 16th
birthday when the Georgette was wrecked
off the coast a few miles from Walcliffe.
On December 1, 1876, Grace Bussell and
her mother were at work in the kitchen
beginning preparations for the coming of
Christmas. It was a dull windy day and
Grace was beguiling the tedium of her
work by telling her mother that she had
dreamed on the previous night of a ship
wrecked on the coast where now could
be heard the thunder of the rollers pound-
ing on the sand and reef, and of how
none Help
The Late Mrs. G. Drake-Brockman.
she had swum her horse into the breakers
and out to the ship. Her mother was
laughing at the folly of her dream just
as the kitchen door burst open and the
bearded face of their stockman, Sam
Isaacs, appeared. He startled them with
the news that from a neighbouring sand
dune he had seen a ship standing in to-
wards the coast. He feared that if it
came much closer it would be driven
ashore by the rollers which appeared to
be making a plaything of it while he
looked.
Grace waited no longer. She ran from
the kitchen, to the stable, threw saddle
and bridle on to her horse and then,
riding astride, headed for the coast. Sam
Isaacs stared after her and then, decided
to follow. Grace rode her horse across
the sandhills which separated the beach
from the grasslands. From the top of
one great dune she saw the ship. The
rollers had seized the vessel and carried
it into the first line of breakers where
it had stranded. The scene of the wreck
was a good mile along the beach and
Grace recrossed the sandhills to the firm
ground beyond and galloped off in its
direction.
They were an unhappy crowd aboard
the ship. Two days earlier they had
sailed from Rocklngham to Bunbury, and,
after loading timber, made a short call
at the Vasse before setting a course round
the Leeuwln. Towards evening the chief
engineer informed Captain Godfrey that
the engine room was making water. An
examination of the pumps showed them
to be clogged and useless. One lifeboat
was lowered and filled with women and
children. While passing the lifeboat
astern a wave caught and flung it against
the sinking ship. The boat overturned
and eight of its 16 occupants were
drowned. A second boat was manned
and, loaded to the gunwales, set out for
the shore 15 miles away. They landed
safely at Quindalup.
The Loss of the Georgette.
The Georgette settled lower as the night
closed. The engines were useless and the
weight of the wind in the sails served
only to thrust the water-logged ship fur-
ther beneath the waves. Her cargo of
timber kept the ship afloat and next
morning found them close to the coast
bearing steadily towards the breakers.
That afternoon the ship grounded and
pounded on the shallow floor after the
lift of each roller. The one remaining
lifeboat was lowered and several seamen
dropped into it. Next moment they were
caught in the breakers. The boat was
turned and tossed and its occupants
were flung into the turbulent sea to be
hurled ashore together with the smashed
remnant of their boat. Weak and dazed
they lay on the beach unable to man
the life line they had brought ashore.
Those on board had given themselves up
for lost when they saw a lone horseman
gallop down the steep sandhills to the
beach. With amazement they saw the
rider turn the horse into the breakers
and swim steadily towards the ship. They
were aghast to find that the rider was a
young woman but, clutching at the frail
straw she offered, they jumped into the
sea and clutched at the horse's saddle,
main and tail. Grace turned her horse
to the shore and brought the half
drowned men safely on to the beach,
where Sam Isaacs now joined her. He
protested at her folly but she ignored
him. In face of her example he could
do no less than she and so together they
rode their horses back again into the sea
to return again and again with men
saved from the wreck. Without the horse
to hold to they could never have won
safely through the rollers and fought
against the powerful undertow.
When the last survivor was safely on
the beach Grace left them while she
rode back to Walcliffe to secure blankets,
clothing and warming spirits for the
exhausted victims of the sea.
Heroism Rewarded.
For some days after the wreck Wal-
cliffe served as a hospital until the last
of the survivors was fit again to travel.
In due course they told of their experi-
ences and of the rescue. In recognition
the Royal Humane Society awarded Grace
Bussell their silver medal (the gold medal
being reserved only for men at that
time) and the British Government pre-
sented her with a gold watch which ever
afterwards was her most treasured pos-
session. Sam Isaacs was also suitably
rewarded for his share in the events of
that day.
A few years later Grace Bussell mar-
ried a young surveyor, Frederick Slade
Brockman, grandson of William Locke
Brockman, one of the first members of
the colony's nominated council and a
prominent landowner in the early days.
After carrying out explorations in the
Kimberleys and the South-West for the
Government Mr. Brockman ultimately
became Surveyor-General. He died shortly
before the end of the Great War.
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