Peter Broun - Colonial Secretary

Colonial Secretary

On 30 September 1828, Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling made a number of appointments to important public service positions for the planned colony of Western Australia, including appointing Peter Broun to the position of Colonial Secretary at a salary of £400. Broun's appointment was on the nomination of Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, who was a close family friend of the Brouns.

Broun sailed for the new colony with his wife and two children on board the Parmelia, arriving in June 1829. Initially he worked out of a group of tents on Garden Island, before transferring to a temporary building on the new site of Perth, constructed by Broun with the intention of being his home. In 1832, the Colonial Secretary's office moved to more permanent quarters on the corner of Hay and Irwin Streets.

Broun had brought livestock, equipment and furniture valued at more than £500, which entitled him to a grant of 9,626 acres (38.96 km2) which he took up in Upper Swan and west of Guildford. The latter estate, which he named Bassendean after the Berwickshire residence of an ancestor, is now the suburb of Bassendean.

In 1830, a Legislative Council was formed to help the Governor to rule the colony, with the first sitting in 1832. As Colonial Secretary, Broun was automatically appointed to the Council. The council met four times a month and during Stirling's absence from August 1832 to August 1834 Broun was particularly busy. He remained a member until his death.

In addition to his duties as Colonial Secretary and clerk of the Legislative Council, he was also registrar for the colony and second in importance to the governor.