{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2013}} {{Infobox Australian place | type = town | name = Roelands | image = | caption = | lga = [[Shire of Harvey]] | local_map = yes | zoom = 10 | coordinates = {{coord |region:AU-WA_type:city({{wikidata |property |current |P1082}})_dim:{{wikidata |property |qualifier |raw |P625 |P2386 |format=%q}} |name={{wikidata |property |P1448 }} |display=inline,title |format=dms}}{{EditAtWikidata|pid=P625}} | est = 1890s | postcode = 6226 | pop = <!--leave blank to draw the latest automatically from Wikidata--> | area = {{wikidata|property|raw|P2046}} | dist1 = 165 | location1 = [[Perth]] | dist2 = 26 | location2 = [[Harvey, Western Australia|Harvey]] | dist3 = 23 | location3 = [[Bunbury, Western Australia|Bunbury]] | fedgov = [[Division of Forrest|Forrest]] | stategov = [[Electoral district of Collie-Preston|Collie-Preston]] | state = wa }} '''Roelands''' is a town in the [[South West (Western Australia)|South West]] region of Western Australia on the [[South Western Highway]], between [[Brunswick Junction, Western Australia|Brunswick Junction]] and [[Bunbury, Western Australia|Bunbury]]. At the {{CensusAU|2011}}, Roelands had a population of 620.<ref name=Census2011Y>{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC50685|name=Roelands (State Suburb) |accessdate=22 June 2015|quick=on}}</ref>

==History== The name Roelands relates to a property of the same name granted to the [[Swan River Colony]]'s first Surveyor General in 1830, [[John Septimus Roe]], as part of the {{convert|5000|acre|km2|order=flip}} to which he was entitled for bringing considerable capital to the colony. Roe spoke highly of the area and its potential value for agriculture. The first pastoralists and shepherds arrived in the area in the 1880s seeking improved pasture for their stock.

In 1893 a railway station was built here to service the railway line from [[Pinjarra, Western Australia|Pinjarra]] to [[Picton, Western Australia|Picton Junction]], and was initially called Collie Siding after the nearby [[Collie River]]. However, after the gazettal of nearby [[Collie, Western Australia|Collie]] in December 1897, and much public argument in the region, Collie Siding was renamed to Roelands. The first big quantity of coal from Collie was carted by road to the Collie Siding and then railed to Perth. The demand on the area from the timber and coal business led to the construction of the Colliefields Hotel.

A school was established in 1903, and in 1916 a private subdivision was undertaken surrounding the school site. In 1963 the subdivision was gazetted a townsite at the request of the Shire of Harvey.<ref>{{LandInfo WA|c|R|17 April 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harvey.wa.gov.au/council/history-and-statistics/roelands/rowlands|title=Roelands|accessdate=22 June 2015|author=Shire of Harvey}}</ref>

From the 1940s until the 1970s the [[Roelands Aboriginal Mission|Roelands Farm and Mission]] housed [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] children whose families could not look after them, and also children who had been [[Stolen Generations|removed from their families]] by the government. Harry Lupton ([[United Aborigines Mission]]) and Ken Cross started it. UAM and later Churches of Christ missionaries served here. An estimated 500 children stayed here during the life of the mission, some of whom spent 16 years of their life there. The land was purchased for [[Australian dollar|A$]]1.92 million in August 2004 by the Indigenous Land Corporation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilc.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/LandMattersIssue19.pdf |title=Land Matters Issue 19 |author=Indigenous Land Corporation |date=December 2005 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821035031/http://www.ilc.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/LandMattersIssue19.pdf |archivedate=21 August 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilc.gov.au/IndigenousLandCorporation/media/Items/Content/Media/Media%20Coverage/Our-Place-Breaking-Ground-West-Weekend-Magazine-11-April-p1.pdf|title=Our place: breaking ground|author=West Weekend|date=11 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilc.gov.au/Home/Land-Purchased/Land-Purchased-WA|title=Land Purchased WA|author=Indigenous Land Corporation|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621172916/http://www.ilc.gov.au/Home/Land-Purchased/Land-Purchased-WA|archivedate=21 June 2015}}</ref>

==Present day== Roelands is a small township nestled at the foothills of the [[Darling Range]], and is the meeting point of the [[South Western Highway]] (Highway 20) between Bunbury and Perth via Pinjarra, and the [[Coalfields Highway]] (Route 107) to Collie, [[Darkan, Western Australia|Darkan]] and [[Arthur River, Western Australia|Arthur River]]. Roelands has a small [[Independent school|school]] called Hope Christian College located on Government Road, established in 1999, with approximately 500 students currently enrolled.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hopecc.wa.edu.au/index.php/about-hope/history|title=Hope Christian College – History|year=2013|accessdate=11 April 2013}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * Talbot, Judy. 1998 ''Historic Roelands School''. (closing after 95 years) ''South western times'' 12 November 1998, p.&nbsp;24.

==External links== *[http://www.harvey.wa.gov.au/council/history-and-statistics/roelands/rowlands Map of Roelands] (Shire of Harvey)

{{Towns South West WA}} {{Shire of Harvey towns}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Western Australia]] [[Category:Shire of Harvey]]