Frederick Clause

Who was Frederick Clause?

Dr. Frederick Rushbrook Clause was a naval surgeon who became an early explorer in Western Australia. He painted the only picture of the Swan River published prior to the establishment of the Swan River Colony.

Clause was born on 2 December 1791, and was appointed a surgeon with the Royal Navy on 15 September 1813. In February 1826 he joined Captain James Stirling's ship HMS Success, serving with it until August 1828. Consequently he was on board the Success in March 1827 when it arrived at the Swan River, on an exploring expedition for the purpose of assessing the area's suitability for establishing a British colony there. After exploring the coastal waters off the Swan River, Stirling selected a party of eighteen men, including Clause, to explore up the river. About a mile north of the present-day location of The Causeway, a fresh water brook and lagoon was discovered which Stirling named "Clause's Brook" and "Clause's Lagoon" respectively. Although the brook and lagoon no longer exist, the name survives in the suburb name Claisebrook. The party camped at Clause's Lagoon on their first night.

The party eventually travelled up the Swan as far as the junction with Ellen Brook.