The ship proceeded to Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, and I by Post-Office Packet to Harwich, on the coast of England. I travelled from thence into Derbyshire, where the family of my affianced wife resided at Holme Hall, and was there happily married. I had been desirous of avoiding the frequent inconvenience of moving about with a family while in the army, and my wife was willing to share my fortunes in Australia. From the delay referred to, arising from the King’s illness, I did not arrive in Western Australia until June, 1830. The passage from England was favourable, although tedious, only touching at the Cape de Verde Islands. And on arrival at the anchorage at Fremantle, I and my wife were hospitably received at the house of Mr. George Leake, the leading merchant at that time. An entirely new career now lay before me, but I had health and strength for the undertaking. I was fortunate in finding shelter in a colony only founded the previous year. My less fortunate predecessors at an earlier period, finding neither houses or sheds, had to resort to tents; and their handsome furniture, including satin and gilt chairs, harps, grand pianos (some of them afterwards gutted to make cupboards, &c.), lay exposed to all weathers on the beach. My first object was to find land for a homestead within a moderate distance from Perth, the capital. But such lands had all been already selected; and although I was entitled according to regulations to select 27,000 acres, in virtue of property and servants introduced, I found it necessary to purchase 5,000 acres on the Swan River, about nine miles from Perth. The Governor, Sir James Stirling, had a summer residence adjoining this land, the use of which he offered to me until I could erect some temporary accommodation, and the offer was thankfully accepted. The purchased land was on the navigable part of the River Swan for boats, and my luggage and stores were conveyed to it by contract. I had brought out as servants nineteen souls, including one family; and now hard work was to be done, in which I took my full share. In a short time, temporary accommodation, including a small cottage, store, and huts for the men, were erected; the luggage and stores under shelter, and a commencement made in clearing land for tillage.