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On the trail of Rotto's pioneer

Tomorrow is the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Thomson - the first man to live on Rottnest Island and whose name was given to the island's main bay.

Coincidentally, Thomson did not die on Rottnest but on Kangaroo Island off South Australia.

Usually the anniversary of his death would pass mostly unnoticed but a new walk trail through the middle of Rottnest brings Thomson's time there into new focus.

The trail takes walkers through the land Thomson and his family farmed in the 1830s and past the well he built - the oldest man-made structure on the island.

Thomson, his wife Caroline and eight of their 12 children arrived in WA on one of the first boats carrying settlers in 1829.

In about 1831, he moved to Rottnest, seemingly in mortal dread of mainland Aboriginals.

He was given 199 acres (80.5ha) on the island, including two town allotments. Their 81-acre (33ha) inland farm stretched from Serpentine Lake, through to the salt works to somewhere above Oliver Hill Fort north of Lake Baghdad.

The foundations of the homestead are still intact and some of the fence posts in the area may also be his.

The Thomsons stayed on Rottnest for eight years until it become a jail for Aboriginal prisoners.

Caroline died in Mandurah in 1863 and Robert decided to visit his daughter in Adelaide and to go seal hunting with his son, who had taken up land on Kangaroo Island.

While on the island, Thomson died of fever on January 11, 1865. He was 72.

Rottnest Island Authority's product development officer Teagan Goolmeer said the 4km walk trail provided a unique perspective of Rottnest's lakes.

Beginning at the Vlamingh Lookout, the trail twists between the Herschel, Baghdad, Vincent and Pink lakes before swinging around to Little Parakeet Bay.

A raised boardwalk ensures that walkers can get close to Lake Vincent without damaging its fragile ecosystem.

"It's a really interesting new section of the island's walk trails, which now total more than 52km," Ms Goolmeer said.

"It provides a sense of adventure as you walk through parts of the island that, until now, were rarely visited.

"You also get the opportunity to see some of the island's amazing birdlife and get a sense of the pioneering spirit of our early settlers, like Thomson."

The author is a great-great-great- great-grandson of Robert Thomson