An Extraordinary Couple

Charles Edward Broadhurst was born in Manchester, England, in 1826, the son of a cotton manufacturer. He went to Victoria in 1843 where, in 1860, he acquired property at Wallan. There he married Eliza Howes. Eliza, born in 1839 at Clonmel, Ireland, was a talented woman. Family photographs show a handsome, determined couple well capable of the ingenuity and drive that marked their activities in WA. In 1864 the Denison Plains Co. was formed. The Broadhursts, with their two sons, sailed to Nickol Bay to take up land. Eliza suffering privations with fortitude, gave birth to a daughter. After the failure of this venture Charles bought a schooner for pearling. In 1871 he visited Glasgow and bought Xantho, the first steamship to trade on the WA coast. Xantho foundered in January 1873 but had already proven her worth. In 1874 Broadhurst was nominated to the Legislative Council but resigned in November 1875 after eighteen Malay pearl divers claimed that he had abandoned them, penniless.

Meanwhile, in Perth, Eliza became active in social circles and taught music at Bishop's College. In 1876 she opened a school of her own. In 1889 Charles and Eliza retired to England, where they lived in comfort at Bournemouth. Eliza died at Bournemouth on 2 August 1899, Charles died on 26 April 1905. An obituary in the West Australian described him 'as one of the most indefatigable and persevering exploiters of the infant industries of W.A. in his day'.

Eliza Broadhurst
Credit:  WA Museum, donated by the Broadhurst family.

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Credit: WA Museum