Early European settlement

Alexander Collie led an expedition from King George's Sound (Albany) in April and May 1831 accompanied by the Noongar man Mokare. The expedition commenced by journeying up the Kalgan River and overland to the base of the Porongorups. Collie was granted 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) in the Kendenup area having been satisfied with its agricultural potential.

Other early land grants in the district were made to:

• John Lawrence Morley, 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres);
• Lieutenant William Preston, 810 hectares (2,000 acres);
• George Cheyne, 7,700 hectares (19,000 acres) at 'Location 27'
• and in June 1830, Captain Thomas Banister, 2,389 hectares (5,903 acres)^[5]

In 1838, Captain John Hassell sailed from England en route to Van Diemen's Land in the Dawson, intending to settle on a 200-hectare (500-acre) grant on the Tamar River.^[3][6] Running low on water, he stopped at King George Sound in Albany where he met with the Government Resident, Sir Richard Spencer who persuaded him to consider acquiring land in the vicinity. Hassell ultimately purchased George Cheyne's Location 27 and after returning to Hobart and New South Wales, arrived back at Albany on 6 March 1840 in the China which he had chartered for the purpose. His stock included 800 sheep, 12 cattle and 10 horses from New South Wales which he walked overland to establish a homestead and farm which he called "Kendenup".^[7] Hassell, who was known widely as Captain Hassell, acquired further properties and by 1850 had expanded the operation to 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) freehold and 15,000 hectares (38,000 acres) leased.^[7]

Hassell's partner and brother-in-law was Frederick Boucher who had established the British and Australian Bank in London in 1838.^[8] The bank failed in 1841 and as Boucher's assets were tied in with the collapse, Hassell found himself having to work closely with the bank's trustees as partners. Lieutenant Peter Belches was appointed as the bank's trustees agent to realise on Boucher's assets.

After establishing the farm, Hassell lived mainly in Albany using managers to run the day-to-day operations on the station. In Albany he ran an import/export business which included managing the farm's wool sales to England. He travelled to Kendenup regularly to oversee the business.^[3] The Kendenup wool won many awards.^[6]

In 1856 the family settled at Kendenup.^[6] Captain Hassell's two eldest sons, John Frederick Tasman Hassell and Albert Young Hassell, took control of operations and later married and settled there with their own families. Several homesteads and buildings were built to accommodate the families, some of which still stand and are listed and protected for their heritage value.^[3]

In the early 1870s the station boasted 30,000 sheep.^[3]

J. F. T. Hassell left the property to live in Albany in about 1871/72 followed by Albert who ran the farm until 1886. Captain Hassell died on 15 August 1883, survived by his wife, five sons and a daughter. The property stagnated for the next 30 or so years, with J. F. T. Hassell attempting to sell it 1909. He died in 1919.

Gold

On 20 July 1869, the Government of Western Australia offered a payment of £5,000 in the Government Gazette for the discovery of payable gold. Hassell submitted stone samples from Kendenup in 1872 and was told that they were gold bearing. A five-ton consignment was sent to Victoria for crushing and returned four ounces of gold.^[9]

Encouraged by the prospects, the Standard Gold Mining Company was registered on 15 December 1874, with a capital of £3,000. A mine about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of the town with a nearby five-stamp battery were built. The operation became the first to start mining in the state. However, recoveries failed to live up to expectations and the battery crushed only ten tons of ore before being closed when the company went into voluntary liquidation on 5 June 1876.

The mine and battery are still visible, although in poor condition.

1920 De Garis settlement

While in Adelaide in July 1920, rural entrepreneur Jack De Garis had heard that the Kendenup property was for sale by the Hassell family executors for £47,325, or £1 per acre. He offered £45,000 with a £1,000 deposit which was accepted, the offer being made prior to his inspection of the property.^[10] After having satisfied himself with an inspection De Garis proceeded with his plan of subdividing it into approximately 60-acre (24 ha) lots, selling the lots through the sale of debentures to settlers to the value of £150,000 using a closer settlement model. He also purchased Kendenup East, a 6,200-acre (2,500 ha) property which included a homestead and a 50-acre (20 ha) orchard, for another £1,000.^[10]

The "DeGaris Kendenup W.A. Development Company" was set up as the debenture issuer.^[11] De Garis planned for subdivision of the estate with a townsite which would include an administrative and civic centre, public parks, recreation areas, factory areas, a school and church sites.^[3] A dehydrating factory under the name of Kendenup Fruit Packing Company was established to pack farm produce for the community at a cost of £4,000.^[12]

He promoted the scheme around Australia, and from late 1920 settlers started to arrive and were granted farm blocks of between 10 and 60 acres (4.0 and 24.3 ha) on the purchase of ten-year interest-free debenture notes to grow fruit, vegetables and other farm produce. However, the project was under capitalised and lot sizes were considered to be too small to be fully viable and after a peak of about 350 families settling, debenture sales dried up.

In August 1922 De Garis travelled to the United States to raise urgently needed capital. The following classified advertisement was published in the New York Times on 13 August 1922.^[13]

$250,000 was promised but never materialised.^[14]

By 1923, the scheme had effectively collapsed with the company going into voluntary liquidation. About 30 families stayed on. In order to remain on their selections the Kendenup Settlers Association (Inc.) took up the fight. The government established a Royal Commission 'to inquire into and report upon the establishment of the settlement at Kendenup', headed by Commissioner William Grogan. Fraud by De Garis had been alleged prior to the Royal Commission but he was exonerated in the findings.^[15] A second Royal Commission headed by barrister Ross McDonald was held to look into the difficulties faced by the settlers and possible assistance which could be offered. Changes to the Act which governed the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia were made as a result. McDonald later worked pro bono on the settlers' behalf to negotiate with creditors and the banks to enable them to purchase additional land and transfer the debentures to conventional mortgages.^[9][15]

Despite the setbacks, the settlement had provided much of the infrastructure for the current Kendenup township.

Internment camp

During World War II the town was the site of an internment camp housing 200 Italian prisoners of war.^[16] The camp operated from 4 November 1943 to 23 May 1946. Internees were assigned as labourers to farms in the area.