Archaeological dig at Peelhurst ruins reveals 19th century artefacts from Rockingham settlement

An archaelogical dig at the ruins of controversial settler Thomas Peel Jr’s cottage has unearthed several historical artefacts from the establishment of Rockingham in the late 19th century.

The Peelhurst ruins in Golden Bay are the remnants of a stone cottage built in the 1860s for Peel Jr, one of the first colonial settlers in WA and a participant in the horrific Pinjarra massacre of 1834.

The Peelhurst site was given to the City of Rockingham in 1991 and is on its heritage inventory.

The dig was held on May 6 and 7 in a bid to unearth historical items and was supervised by heritage specialists and archaelogists, guided by the city’s heritage strategy and the Peelhurst ruins conservation management plan.

Several artefacts were found, including a one-shilling coin from 1880, two fully intact bottles — including a Rosella sauce bottle dated between 1900 and 1920 — and a broken table plate which was later pieced together to reveal the lettering ‘J. Cromie Hall of Commerce’ and dated back to a Victorian newspaper advertisement in the Gippsland Times from February 25, 1889.

The artefacts were found in a stone section of the ruins in what archaelogists believe may be an old cellar or water well.

Mayor Deb Hamblin said the Peelhurst ruins were a “significant heritage site” for the city and the city was “delighted to see community members attend and observe the dig”.

“(The dig) gave visitors the chance to see how an archaeological excavation is set up, what sampling strategies are implemented and the types of tools that are used,” Ms Hamblin said.

“The level of community interest and the positivity surrounding this archaeological dig was exciting for the city and it clearly shows local residents are passionate about heritage in their community.”

Rockingham was named for the last of Peel Jr’s ships to arrive in Cockburn Sound in 1830, the Ship Rockingham.

Peel Jr remains a controversial figure for WA due to his participation in the horrific Pinjarra Massacre.

On October 28, 1834, a group of about 25 soldiers, police and settlers led by Peel Jr, governor James Stirling and surveyor-general John Septimus Roe killed an estimated dozens of Bindjareb people.

The massacre was in retaliation to the killing of one of Thomas Peel’s employees, Hugh Nesbitt, and a result of increasing tension between Bindjareb people and non-Indigenous colonisers in the area.

Accounts of the notorious massacre remain hotly contested, with Stirling’s official report stating about 15 Bindjareb men were killed and other accounts estimating up to at least 80 Bindjareb men, women and children were murdered.

Despite this, the region encompassing the City of Mandurah and the shires of Murray, Waroona, Boddington, Serpentine-Jarrahdale was named after Peel Jr.

In 2017, Bindjareb Traditional Owners started a campaign to rename the region because of its ties to Peel with support from Murray-Wellington MLA Robyn Clarke, but the proposal was ultimately rejected by Premier Mark McGowan.

“I’m not into changing the names of the regions around Western Australia,” the Premier said at the time.