Campion, Western Australia Explained

Type:town
Campion
State:wa
Lga:Shire of Nungarin
Coordinates:-31.029°N 118.5°W
Postcode:6490
Est:c. 1920
Stategov:Central Wheatbelt
Fedgov:Durack
Dist1:303
Dir1:east
Location1:Perth
Dist2:47
Dir2:NNE
Location2:Merredin

Campion is an abandoned townsite in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, located in the Shire of Nungarin on the KoordaBullfinch Road. It is situated within the locality of Chandler, with the closest town being Mukinbudin.

The Campion railway station was close to the Rabbit-Proof Fence number 1.

History

Agricultural settlement in the Campion district began in the early 1920s, with migrants and soldier-settlers being employed as clearing contractors by the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia and staying on to purchase their own blocks.[1] The area was originally known as the East Lake Brown district, with nearby Lake Brown being one of a series of intermittent lakes in the area surveyed by John Septimus Roe in 1836 and named after Colonial Secretary Peter Broun.[2] It was renamed Campion in 1925 after Sir William Campion, the newly appointed governor of Western Australia.[3]

A state school was built in Campion in 1925 and opened by the local member of parliament Harry Griffiths, with around 100 people in attendance.[4] The Campion townsite was officially gazetted on 28 March 1928,[1] located at the intersection of the State Barrier Fence of Western Australia and the railway line between Mukinbudin and Bullfinch.[5] The Campion ward elected one councillor to the Nungarin Shire Council.[1]

Sir William Campion visited the townsite named in his honour in 1930, in the second-last year of his term as governor. A local schoolteacher, Eunice Bedwell, recalled Campion's visit and described the townsite as comprising:[6]

Demise

In 1928, the Campion district produced 40,000 bags of wheat.[7] However, the local wheat industry was affected adversely by falling wheat prices in the late 1920s and the onset of the Great Depression in Australia. In 1932, the district was plagued by emus and sought the intervention of the federal government, resulting in the so-called Emu War.[1]

Following the discovery of alunite on the west side of Lake Campion, a state-owned processing facility was established in 1942 and a new townsite was gazetted at nearby Chandler. Subsequently development activities focused on Chandler, with the Campion townsite remaining undeveloped and the local school being closed. The Campion railway siding was closed in 1956 and the townsite was cancelled in 1972.[1]

Environment

A species of carnivorous plant in the Byblidaceae family, Byblis rorida, is found on the shores of Lake Campion.[8]

Notes and References

  1. News: Campion Townsite. Inherit. State Heritage Office. 2017. 8 October 2023.
  2. News: Lake Brown. Inherit. State Heritage Office. 2017. 8 October 2023.
  3. News: Local and General. 12 June 1925. The Eastern Recorder. Kellerberrin.
  4. News: News and Notes. 12 June 1925. The West Australian.
  5. News: Townsite of Campion, Avon District. 1929. State Library of Western Australia. 8 October 2023.
  6. Book: Cornish, Maxine. A Piece of String: Stories of the Nungarin District. Shire of Nungarin. 2010. 978-0-9599158-2-2. 293–294.
  7. News: Lake Brown Activities. 6 April 1928.
  8. Shivas . R.G. . Vánky . K. . First record of a smut fungus on Byblidaceae: Yelsemia lowrieana, new species from Australia. . Fungal Diversity . 2003 . 13 . 131–135.