Yarloop
Information donated by M Cattach
14th April 1990
Situated in an area that was once home to the members of the Binjarub or Binjared Aboriginal tribe, is Yarloop.
The first recorded settler was Joseph Logue who arrived in 1849. He settled on the banks of what was later to become Logue Brook. In approximately 1886, John Bancell took up land on what is now known as Bancell's Brook. Mr W J Eastcott settled nearby the following year.
Yarloop's association with the timber industry began with the arrival of Charles and Edwin Millar in Western Australia. The Millars were alerted to the potential of the timber industry and in 1887, sent a trial shipment of jarrah blocks to London for testing as street pavement in place of cobblestones. Favorable reports followed and in 1895 the first mill began operations on the present site of the Yarloop workshops. This developed and became the center of Millars milling operations in the south west, servicing 26 mills. The workshops manufactured rolling stock and serviced steam engines, which were essential for driving the mills. Most importantly the workshops constructed replacement parts, thus avoiding long delays in acquiring these from the United Kingdom. The patterns used for this purpose are still housed within the complex.
In 1930 more than 100 people worked at the workshops and Millars employed an additional 500 for their operations in the area.
Yarloop was a company town owning the Hospital, Store, Bakery, Butchers Shop, Guest Houses etc, and providing essential services such as power, sanitation and water. After the Second World War, Yarloop's decline was brought about by the replacement of horses with tractors, steam with power and motor trucks until finally in 1983 they were taken over by Bunnings Ltd.
The Yarloop Workshops has tremendous historical significance and leaves some fine examples of the steam era, both in machinery and Victorian architecture.
Yarloop
Information from Harvey Districts Tourist Bureau (Inc)
Yarloop became the center of a thriving timber industry following the construction of the South West Railway, which began in 1893. The accessibility of shipping from the ports of Bunbury and Fremantle led to vast quantities of timber being exported to most areas of the world.
The original mills were built far out in the Jarrah forests and Yarloop originated from the 'Yard Loop' from the Wagerup siding.
The timber was transported from the mills on a complex system of railways throughout the bush. It is of interest that the original tracks were selected by a local farmer and timber cutter, the late, Mr Don Eastcott. When Millars obtained the services of a surveyor and railway expert from England, the tracks were found to be almost perfectly laid out for grades and construction. This railway system became the largest privately owned railroad in the world, and finally closed in 1956 when the boiler finally wore out. It is now being fully reconstructed by the Pinjarra Steam Railway Society.
Many workers at the yard, which was then the largest timber yard in the Southern Hemisphere, began to successfully farm around Yarloop. The coming of irrigation led to many thriving dairy farms in the area.
Timber milling actually began in Yarloop with the building of an electrically operated mill in 1962.
The workforce for this mill came from men who had worked at Nanga Brook, burnt out in the Dwellingup Fire disaster on Feb 23rd 1961, Hoffman Mill closed on Dec 21st 1961, Mornington Mill closed June 28th 1966.
Road trucks now bring the unsawn logs in from the bush, mechanical log loading and chain saw falling have made the work much easier and speedier. The mill has an impressive safety record and high degree of productivity.
Millars Yarloop Store
1897
Yarloop???? Store Millars? ?? Forests Ltd
J? & K Anderson - Store manager
? Seabury - Store assistant
???? Walker -? ?
Alf Shaw - Clerk
Early Days Of Wagerup And Yarloop
(By E.G.D.)
Newspaper Cutting from Library Board of WA
According to information supplied by Mrs M A Eastcott on the earliest settlers of Wagerup (formerly spelt Waigerup) and Cookernup, the first settler was John Bancells, who took up 100acres on Koonarup Brook, now named Bancells' Brook, in 1870. he did not live on the block until about four or five years later.
The next settlers were Mr and Mrs W J Eastcott, who settled on the next block to John Bancells in 1886. Mrs Eastcott was one of his daughters. At the time there was no railway and only a sand track between Perth and Bunbury.
After Bancells and Eastcotts, the next settler was Alexander Aitken and his sons Issac and James. They settled on what is now known as Wagerup Brook in 1890. the rest of the family, two sons and four daughters arrived from Victoria some time later.
In 1893 W J Pusey , his wife and three children arrived and also took up land on Bancells Brook.
When Richard Sholl was postmaster-general for West Australia, the mail from Perth to Bunbury was carried in a four-horse coach, driven by John McKernan. The coach was fitted to seat eight or ten passengers and, in addition to carrying letters, carried flour, sugar, possum and other skins, kangaroo tails for soup making, and even kangaroo carcasses, from North Harvey (now Yarloop) to Bunbury.
In 1892 and up to May 1893,when the last coach went through, an elderly gentleman, always known as mylam, handed out the mail and received all the goods for transport at the old single roofed building on the main road.
Although the railway was not officially opened until September 1893, J Owen Mitchell of Blackrock, recorded that he went to the line for letters on May 26, 1893.
Among those living in the southern part of Wagerup were P Kau, Tom Garlick and the Bowles brothers, who in addition to farming, repaired machinery for their neighbours.
When the railway was opened with a siding on Waigerup Brook, near Aitken's farm, it is said that the man who painted the sign on the platform left out the letter 'I' in the name and so it became Wagerup.
After inquiring from W J Eastcott if there was any good timber in the district, Teesdale Smith, who lived near Albany, sent harry Smith to see W J Eastcott, who showed him the track in the hills about six miles from the railway to what became known as Klondyke. Millars' Company constructed their tram line to the hills on this track. In 1894 most of the land, on which the mill now stands, was owned by T Garlick on the east side of the line and by A M Wickham on the west side.
In 1895 Messers, Smith and Timms, who had been operating two small mills, amalgamated with Millars Bros and opened up at Wagerup as Millars Bros.
About this time the postmaster at Bunbury sent a message to Graves Mitchell 'I want you to go out and help put the telegraph line into Millars' office at Wagerup.' The linesman and Graves cleared the line from Perth-Bunbury road and put the telegraph into Millars office where it stands today.
Millars constructed a loop-line from the railway, via what became known as the top yard, to the bush where a great network of tram lines was put down through many miles of the country. This line was known as the yard loop and about 1897 this was abbreviated to Yarloop, which became the name of the mill town and station.
Owen Mitchell in his dairy refers to Wagerup in September 1896, and to Yarloop in April 1897, when Fitzgerald's circus came to the milltown. This is the earliest reference that can be found for Yarloop.
With the erection of its mill and workshops, Yarloop soon became an important timber center. About 1900, in addition to the mill store, other businesses included the Palace Hotel, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace, a large wooden building with hand mortised frames, near the post office and kept by a Mrs. Jones, James Ballard's blacksmith shop, James Boyd's shop. Tim Rogers store. William Marriott's butcher shop and W J Rodgers' billiard saloon.
Dr Lancaster was the mill doctor and he was followed later by Dr Moore.
Teasdale Smith was the company manager of Millars' Karri and Jarrah Co. and Reg Driver was the mill manager at Hoffman Mill and Frank Brady is recorded in the road board book of 199 as a mill manager, but it is not stated which mill he managed.
It is believed that Waterous Mill was the first to be opened near Yarloop. Of 34 timber workers' names recorded in the rate book for 1900 only one is still living in Yarloop in 1956. He is Mr. Anderson, known by his many friends as 'Butcher'.
Before any saw mills were established in the district, Harry Hawkins was well known in the south west as a timber hewer of the early days. There was a lot of timber hewing in the district when the South West railway was being constructed. The Adams brothers were well known as sawyers before the mill started. Charles and William worked in the saw pits while Joseph, when a lad of 16 hauled logs to the pits with horses.
Before the first school was built at Yarloop, children attended the old Wagerup school on the Perth- Bunbury road. With the rapid growth of the district a second school was built in 1908, at West Yarloop, near Brockman road, where Tom Eastcott was teacher.
The Anglican church at Yarloop was built single-handed in 1910 by Rev Thomas Jackson. It is recorded by Mrs. G Meredith that when the church was being consecrated by Bishop Goldsmith in November, 1910 the Rev Jackson collapsed and died in the arms of John Pollard. The church still stands as a monument to its builder and contains a pulpit dedicated to his memory.
Constable Pollard was stationed at what was known as North Harvey in the early days and many years later Constable Nevin was in charge of the whole district with quarters at Yarloop, near the original post office.
In 1921, the timber company, which had become widely known as Millars Timber and Trading Co. erected the only horizontal band saw in Australia at Yarloop. The saw was moved to Hoffman in 1923.
