Sussex Land District


Sussex Land District is a land district of Western Australia, located within the South-West Land Division on the state's west coast. It covers the south-western corner of the state and includes the townsites of Busselton, Margaret River and Augusta as well as Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin.

History

The system of land districts came together in an ad-hoc fashion, and the Sussex district started to be subdivided in 1840 well before any thought was given to formally defining its boundaries. The definition later used by the Lands and Surveys department came from an 1862 gazettal which read as follows:

Towns and areas

Towns

The Sussex district contains the following current or former townsites:
TownsiteCoordinatesGazettedNotes
Augusta1830
Broadwater1897
Busselton1835
Carbunup River1926
Cowaramup1925
Dunsborough1879
Forest Grove1925Cancelled in 1970
Gracetown1963
Jarrahwood1932
Margaret River1913
Mowen1925
Prevelly1978
Quigup1911
Quindalup1899
Ruabon1925"Abba River" until 1928
Vasse1907
Witchcliffe1926
Wonnerup1856
Yallingup1911*Not formally gazetted

Agricultural areas

Under the Land Act 1898, the Agricultural Lands Purchase Act 1896, and preceding regulations, it was open to the Governor to declare agricultural areas on crown land or repurchased estates on private land, to which special provisions applied for both alienation and improvement. Many of these estates came into being shortly after World War I for the purposes of soldier resettlement.
NameCoordinatesGazettedNotes
Anniebrook Estate1930West of Busselton
Locke's Estate1921West of Busselton
Marybrook Estate1907West of Busselton
Stirling Estate1904Near Ruabon