Bunbury Historical Society - King Cottage Museum

02/09/2026

Meet the Kings – Part 3: Susannah King

In 1855, a young Susannah King arrived in Western Australia with her husband Henry, just months after their marriage in England.

Born Susannah Ruskin in Essex in 1834, she and Henry went on to raise their family in Western Australia, eventually making their home here in Bunbury.

While Henry's working life is well documented, some of the loveliest glimpses we have of Susannah come from her grandchildren.

Living close by in her later years, they would visit their “Granny” almost daily. They remembered being given tarts and liquorice straps, climbing the ladder to play in the loft above the stables, and Susannah herself as a short woman dressed in black who often laughed.

After Henry died in 1899, Susannah remained at the family homestead, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

In 1911 she suffered a severe stroke and was cared for by her son John and daughter-in-law Eliza. Susannah died on 16 November 1912, aged 78.

More than a century later, the home where Granny welcomed those grandchildren is the place we now know as King Cottage Museum. ❤️

📷 Bunbury Historical Society Collection

Do we have any King descendants following along who have stories of Susannah passed down through their family? We'd love to hear them.

31/08/2026

📜 From the Archives

Take a look at Stirling Street around 1880, looking west from Arthur Street towards the sandhill later known as Boulters Heights.

The building with the curved verandah roof was a store owned by Ephraim Mayo Clarke.8

It's incredible to see just how different this familiar part of Bunbury looked nearly 150 years ago — wide unsealed streets, small buildings and the largely undeveloped hillside beyond.

And we particularly love the message preserved on the old photograph:

“Wishing You A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

What do you recognise in this view? We'd love to hear any memories or stories you have of Stirling Street and the surrounding area. ❤️

📷 From the Bunbury Historical Society collection.

25/08/2026

We love this piece of Bunbury history from Memories of Bunbury! 🌸

Their page does a wonderful job of keeping our community's memories and stories alive, and this one was too good not to share.

Bunbury – City of Gardens 🌿 Who remembers this?

Following our post today regarding the everlasting flowers planted along Ocean Drive, we remember that one of our 1979 logos was BUNBURY - CITY OF GARDENS. See the shirt in this photo from the South Western Times 1979. We had competitions for the best presented street. Wouldn't this be great to do again!

23/08/2026

🚨 THE REVEAL!

A lot of you knew this one! 👏

Our mystery photo was taken inside Bunbury's old Police Station, on Wittenoom Street facing Stephen Street.

Bunbury's police history goes back to the earliest days of the settlement, with a lock-up recorded as early as 1838. James Blythe, one of Bunbury's early policemen, was appointed in 1841 by Governor Sir James Stirling.

Following the arrival of convicts in 1850, a police station was established on the site, with the station facing Stephen Street and the old Wittenoom Street cell block behind it. There were also two houses for police quarters, with a track leading around to the stables at the rear.

The police station pictured here was built in 1852 and remained part of Bunbury for more than a century. These photographs, mostly taken in 1969, give us a fascinating look inside shortly before the old buildings were demolished and replaced.

Swipe through to see the main office, main cell block, Cell #1, the cell block dining room and day room.

And one piece of the old station still survives with us today — the old gaol door is now at King Cottage.

The replacement station remained on the site until it too was demolished, with the South West District Police Complex opening in December 2001.

Thank you to everyone who had a guess — we were very impressed by how many people recognised it! 👏

📷 Bunbury Historical Society collection

19/08/2026

🔎 Can you guess where this is?

This photo might look familiar to some long-time Bunbury locals… 👀

Do you recognise it? Tell us your guess in the comments!

14/08/2026

🏡 Meet the Kings — Part 2: Henry King

In Part 1, we introduced the King family, whose home would eventually become the King Cottage Museum.

Now it's time to meet the man who built it — Henry King.

Henry was born in Essex, England, in 1832. In August 1854, he married Susannah Ruskin, and just months later the young couple left England for a new life in Western Australia, arriving at Fremantle in March 1855.

At the time of his marriage Henry described himself as a labourer, but after arriving in the colony he joined the police force, serving in Perth and Toodyay.

By the mid-1860s, Henry and Susannah had made their way to Bunbury, bringing their growing family with them.

Here, Henry established a brickworks near what is now the corner of King Road and Austral Parade. Clay was taken from the nearby swampy ground and turned into bricks that were used in buildings throughout Bunbury and the surrounding district.

Then, in 1880, Henry purchased five acres of land on what was then known as Blackwood Road — today's Forrest Avenue.

It was here that he built the family home we now know as King Cottage.

By the early 1890s, Henry had left brickmaking behind and established a market garden on the property. He remained at the cottage until his death in January 1899.

More than 125 years later, Henry's home still stands — preserving not only the story of the King family, but a piece of the Bunbury community they helped build.

And Henry's story isn't finished yet. We'll be returning to his brickmaking days in a future post.

📍 King Cottage Museum, Forrest Avenue, Bunbury

11/08/2026

🌿 WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE COTTAGE?

It was all hands on deck at King Cottage today for our garden working bee!

Our volunteers spent the morning weeding, pruning, planting and giving the gardens around the Cottage a well-earned tidy up. We’ve also been busy establishing a new native garden bed, with plenty more growing to come. 🌱

It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to care for King Cottage and its grounds, and we’re very lucky to have volunteers willing to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.

While you’re visiting, don’t forget to have a look at our little plant and book stall too — plants are $4 each or 3 for $10, with books available by donation.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out today. ❤️

There’s always something happening at the Cottage!

10/08/2026

COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT — When Bunbury Answered the Call

Before mobile phones, text messages and even dialling a number yourself, making a telephone call was a very different experience.

The telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, and the first successful telephone call followed soon after. But when this strange new invention arrived, there was another question to solve — what exactly were you supposed to say when you answered it?

Alexander Graham Bell reportedly favoured “Ahoy!”, while Thomas Edison suggested the much more familiar “Hello.”

Hello won.

As telephone networks grew, early telephone users would pick up the receiver and be connected to an operator at the local telephone exchange. The operator would then physically connect the caller to the person they wanted to speak to using a switchboard like the one shown in our historic photograph.

Many of the people sitting behind those switchboards were women, and telephone operators became so closely associated with the new greeting that they were sometimes known as “Hello Girls.” During the First World War, the name was also famously used for the American women who served as telephone operators with the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Imagine relying on an operator every time you wanted to call someone — and knowing there was a real person sitting at the exchange connecting your conversation!

☎️ Here at King Cottage Museum, our collection preserves pieces from this changing world of communication, including early telephones, connection equipment and transformers. Together with photographs such as this one, they give us a glimpse into a time when making a phone call involved far more than tapping a name on a screen.

From switchboards and operators to rotary phones, push buttons and eventually the smartphones in our pockets, the way we communicate has changed enormously.

But one little part survived.

Hello? ☎️

📍 Come and see pieces of Bunbury's communication history at King Cottage Museum.

05/08/2026

The Bunbury Historical Society extends its sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Deputy Mayor Tresslyn Smith.

Our thoughts are with everyone who knew and loved her. Vale, Tresslyn.

🕊️ Vale Tresslyn Smith 🕊
Deputy Mayor, City of Bunbury

It is with heavy hearts that the City of Bunbury shares the passing of our Deputy Mayor, and dear friend to many, Tresslyn Smith.

A proud Bunbury local, Tresslyn dedicated her life to the community she loved. As an Elected Member for nine years and Deputy Mayor for five, she brought warmth, integrity and unwavering dedication to everything she did. She championed compassion, inclusion and community spirit, and will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

Tresslyn gave so much of herself to Bunbury. She was a true friend to this community, and her warmth and dedication will never be forgotten. Bunbury – and indeed the world – is a better place for having had Tresslyn, and a poorer one without her.

Her passing comes just three months after the loss of her husband, former Mayor David Smith OAM. Our hearts go out to her children, grandchildren, and all who loved her, during this incredibly difficult time.

Rest peacefully, Tresslyn 🤍

01/08/2026

🏡 Meet the Kings – Part 1: The Family Behind King Cottage

When we think of King Cottage, it's easy to focus on the building. But every home begins with the people who lived there.

Meet Henry and Susannah King.

The young couple arrived in Fremantle from Essex, England, in 1855, hoping to build a better life in the Swan River Colony. Like many early settlers, they arrived with little more than determination, a willingness to work hard, and dreams of a brighter future for their family.

Henry was a skilled brickmaker and bricklayer, whose handmade bricks helped shape many of Bunbury's early buildings. In 1880, he purchased five acres on Blackwood Road (now Forrest Avenue) and built the home we know today as King Cottage.

Henry and Susannah raised four sons and two daughters in Bunbury, watching their children grow, marry and begin families of their own. While they were not wealthy or famous, they played an important role in the story of Bunbury, helping to build both the town and the community we know today.

Over the coming weeks we'll introduce you to each member of the King family, explore their lives, and discover the stories that make King Cottage much more than an old house.

Because preserving history isn't just about buildings—it's about the people who called them home.

📷 Pictured: Henry and Susannah King with members of their family outside King Cottage.