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Grace Vernon Drake-Brockman (1860–1935)

from West Australian

Mrs. Grace Vernon Drake-Brockman died at her home at 36 Market-street, Guildford, yesterday at the age of 75 years. For the part she played in the rescue of the company on a sailing snip which went ashore near Cape Leeuwin when she was 16 years of age, Mrs. Drake-Brockman was known as 'the Grace Darling of Western Australia.' She was the mother of Judge Drake-Brockman, of the Federal Arbitration Court Bench; Lady Moulden, of Adelaide; Mrs. Fergusson Stewart, of Carnarvon; Mrs. Hutchison, of Adelaide; Mr. G. Drake-Brockman, Engineer for the North-West; Mr. K. Drake-Brockman, solicitor and a Rhodes Scholar for Western Australia, and Mr. A. Drake-Brockman, sales manager of Musgrove's, Ltd.

A member of the well-known Bussell family, Mrs. Drake-Brockman was born at Busselton. She was a daughter of the Alfred Pickmore Bussell, who arrived in Western Australia in 1829 and with his brothers helped to found the settlement at Busselton. When she was 16 years of age Mrs. Drake-Brockman, who lived with her parents in the Margaret River district, was riding on horseback in search of cattle when she saw the sailing vessel Georgette in the surf on the coast. She and a native boy who was with her rescued the ship's company by riding their horses into the surf and bringing the people on board ashore. For her part in the rescue Mrs. Drake-Brockman received the Royal Humane Society's medal, and also a gold watch and chain from the British Government. When 20 years of age she was married at Busselton to Mr. Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman, the late Surveyor-General of Western Australia, who died in 1917. The remains will be privately interred in the Karrakatta Cemetery this afternoon.

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Citation details

'Drake-Brockman, Grace Vernon (1860–1935)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/drake-brockman-grace-vernon-13730/text24529, accessed 24 December 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Bussell, Grace Vernon
Birth

23 September, 1860
Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia

Death

7 October, 1935 (aged 75)
Guildford, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Occupation or Descriptor
Awards