The Yelverton Bed

Henry Yelverton was born in England in 1821. He intended to study medicine, but at 18 visited America and then joined a whaler which reached the Swan River colony in 1845. By 1855 he had moved to Vasse River settlement where he obtained a government license to mill timber and he built a small portable mill which was the first steam powered mill in Western Australia. Yelverton secured a 20 year timber concession over Quindalup jarrah and exported the timber overseas from Geographe Bay. To comply with his license conditions he erected a jetty, saw mills, sheds, workshops, houses and offices in the Quindalup area. Yelverton also constructed a general store and a school for the convenience of the community.

Between 1850 and 1868 the British Government sent over 9600 adult male convicts to WA to satisfy the demand for skilled and unskilled labour. Henry Yelverton employed around 270 ticket of leave convicts at his mills and also in the construction of public and private buildings in Busselton, including the first section of the Busselton jetty (to a length of 90 metres) and later the Busselton Police Station and lock up.

When the mill machinery arrived in 1858 on board the brig Champion Yelverton was able to commence business on a large scale and in the same year he became partners with Mr McGibbon. A second mill was constructed three kilometres further inland and a flour mill was built above the saw mill on the second floor and was used when the saw mill was not operating.

In 1860, in answer to a government questionnaire, Yelverton stated that his timber operations were on a scale at least ten times greater than any other in the trade in WA. In 1865, when all timber exported from the colony was worth £15,693, the quantity shipped by Yelverton was valued at almost £11,000 and three years later the Perth Gazette called him 'the oldest and most experienced timber merchant in the colony'. In January 1880 he was seriously injured when a huge log fell on him and due to the risk of moving him a hut was built over him. He gradually recovered and was able to walk on crutches but he died suddenly on 1 April, 1880 at the age of 58, .

His son Henry John, born on 6 April 1854 at Fremantle, took over the Quindalup mill. In 1898 when British financiers were showing a keen interest in the Western Australian timber industry, he was bought out by the Imperial Jarrah Wood Corporation, later absorbed into Millars' Karri and Jarrah Co. (1902) Ltd. He remained as manager for a time. From 1901 to 1904 he was M.L.A. for the Sussex electorate, supporting the Liberal government. He died on 14 January 1906 when he was mill-manager at Dardanup.