The Broun and Sewell families are my maternal line and were "pioneer" settlers to Western Australia. That is, they arrived between 1829 and 1838, the period of Sir James Stirling's administration of the Swan River Colony.
Peter Nicholas Broun was a descendant of the Brouns of Colstoun and Thornydykes. The family gravestone at Lochmaben contains four generations of the Broun family, including Peter Nicholas Broun's grandfather the Rev. Richard Broun the 6th Baronet.
Peter Broun (known as Brown until about 1843) came to the Swan River Colony as the first Colonial Secretary with the first fleet in 1829. My great grandfather, his second son James William Broun was an Avon Valley farmer from about 1850 until 1897.
My grandfather, Frank Tyndall Broun commenced farming with his father in the 1894, entered local government in 1902 and was first elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1911. His ministerial portfolios included Colonial Secretary, in a way, following in his grandfather's footsteps.
My grandmother May Constance Sewell's family came to the Swan River Colony on the "Adam" in 1830. Subsequently, the Sewell developed a range of agricultural and business interest in the Colony.