Bencubbin, Western Australia

Bencubbin is a town in Western Australia in the North Eastern Wheatbelt, 275 km north-east of Perth. The town lies within the Shire of Mount Marshall and is home to approximately 294 people as of 2011. Surveyor General John Septimus Roe first surveyed the region in 1836 and he was followed by sandalwood cutters and stockmen, but it was not until 1908 that the first permanent settlers arrived.The name "Bencubbin" comes from the Aboriginal word for "place of the snakes" and is now applied to the rock to the north of the town. The aboriginal word is generally spelt "Gnylbencubbing" and is not the rock known as Mount Marshall. Mount Marshall is south-east of Bencubbin, whereas the rock known as Gnylbencubbing is at the northern edge of the township. Mount Marshall is named after Captain Marshall MacDermott, who was the first manager of the Western Australian branch of the Bank of Australasia. These two rocks and Wiacubbing Hill are three of the largest outcrops around Bencubbin.The name was suggested for the railway station at terminus of the Wyalkatchem to Mount Marshall railway line, by J Hope, the Chief Draftsman, in 1913. The townsite was gazetted later in 1917. The first Bencubbin police station was founded in 1923.