A little-known yet significant historical connection has been discovered between two cities over 4,000km apart. I told a version of this story live on West Bremer Radio.

Everyone who goes to Busselton, Western Australia, walks to the end of the Busselton Jetty. At over 1.8km this is the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. It’s a landmark not to be missed.

The Bussell family from Devon in England were a family of early settlers in colonial Western Australia. The first four brothers emigrated in 1830. Three more family members arrived in 1833, and two more in 1834. They were numerous and made a name for themselves.

Today there’s the Bussell Highway and the city of Busselton that are named after the Bussell family, particularly John Garrett Bussell. He was among those to arrive in 1830. He was well-educated having studied at Oxford University, and his father was an Anglican clergyman.

Meanwhile, from the same Bussell family in Devon, there was a Miss Anne Bussell. She was born in 1834 and her father was also an Anglican minister educated at Oxford University, and likely the brother of the Bussell brothers in the west.

While her cousins settled the south-west of Western Australia and a city now bears their family name, Anne’s life took a different path over 4,000km away in the city of Ipswich, Queensland.

Anne Bussell married The Reverend Lacy Rumsey. Like Anne’s father, Rev. Rumsey was an Anglican clergyman. He held the incumbency of St. Paul’s church in Ipswich for six years from 1858 to 1864. During this time, Rev. Rumsey performed a marriage ceremony for which he was called to give evidence in a murder trial in which the groom chopped up the bride, put her butchered remains in a box, and carried it down Sussex Street of Sydney. But meanwhile, at the end of their term at Ipswich, Reverend and Mrs Rumsey were so well liked that they were given as a gift an elegant, inscribed silver tray and one hundred and fifty gold sovereigns.

The couple returned to the old country, and both passed away in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 1915. Their last resting place is marked by a small and simple stone cross. They could both easily have been forgotten forever.

However, not only are there historical connections for Mrs Rumsey, the former Anne Bussell, to the city Busselton in Western Australia, but her husband Rev. Rumsey left a huge legacy in Ipswich which cannot be ignored.

Firstly, Reverend Rumsey was in charge of the parish when the landmark building St. Paul’s Church was completed right in the centre of town. It was officially opened on Whit Sunday in 1859. The initial service was conducted in the morning by a minister who had raised the money for the building, but the first evening service was conducted that same day by Rev. Rumsey himself.

Secondly, Rev. Rumsey actually created Ipswich’s crest and arms that you see today. You can see it on Ipswich city council buildings, offices, even on the Ipswich mayoral chains of office (pictured below and top of page). It features a crown, cross, a golden fleece, and symbols of mining, industry, agriculture, and the paddle steamer, which reflect Ipswich’s early industries.

This is all thanks to the presence in Ipswich of Rev. Rumsey and his wife Anne both of whom now rest, on the verge of being forgotten, under a small stone cross in Wales.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON WEST BREMER RADIO.

Photo credits:
Ipswich mayor Teresa Harding – ABC News 2020.
Busselton Jetty, 2025 – Harold Peacock 20250610_094017.
Members of the Bussell family, c1867 – State Library of Western Australia.
John Garrett Bussell – Sunday Times, Perth, 2nd June 1929, page 8.
St. Paul’s Church of England, Ipswich, c1872 – State Library of Queensland.
Rev. Lacy Henry Rumsey, St Tudwal Churchyard, Llanstadwell, Pembrokeshire, Wales – Find a Grave by James Evans 2019.
City of Ipswich Crest & Arms close-up of the Ipswich Mayoral Chains of Office in use since 2010 – Picture Ipswich.