History
Group Settlement
Group 7 - Western Australia's Group Settlement Scheme
Cape Landing’s picturesque vineyard in Forest Grove, Margaret River, sits on land that originally formed part of Group 7 of Western Australia’s Group Settlement Scheme.
The Group Settlement Scheme, a joint venture between the United Kingdom and West Australian Governments, had the dual purpose of helping the United Kingdom Government ease post first World War I unemployment, and, at the same time, provided the State Government of Western Australia with the migrant labour required to clear native forest and open up the south west of Western Australia for agriculture.
Opening Up South-West Western Australia
The Group Settlement Scheme was operational in the 1920s and 1930 bringing migrants from the UK and Ireland to Western Australia.
The pioneering settlers from Europe, along with colonials from the Australian gold fields, working collectively in regional Groups, cleared vast areas of land, fence properties and established homes and farms, in and around Margaret River and other south-west locations.
In return, the settlers were given unencumbered title to parcels of land to farm in the Group Settlement locations they had directly helped to clear.
Heritage
Mark Lewis and his family emigrated to Australia in 1976, decades after the Group Settlement Scheme had finished, arriving into Fremantle by boat on the ‘M. V. Kota Singapura’ in much the same way as the original Group Settlers.
The original Group Settlement cottage on Cape Landing, built in 1923 by the first Group 7 settlers on what is now Lot 1640 Calgardup Road, has been fully restored and is still used as our family home on the vineyard.
The heritage of Group Settlement is very much a part of Cape Landing’s history. As a tribute to the pioneers who helped forge the foundation of Margaret River’s world class wine industry today, the image of the ‘Cape Landing Settler’ appears on every bottle of wine produced from our single vineyard.