13/01/2025
Prince of Wales Hotel Bunbury Fan and Gig Page
Buller the Railway Dog.
An interesting tail.
We have all heard of Bunbury's "Hunt Club," consisting of riders on horseback with hounds who would gather to hunt for kangaroos and such around the early 1900's. This is an interesting story, as I learned while researching the Hunt Club members. Matt Wallis, a well known Bunbury citizen, housed the club's dogs at his Carey Street property. The pack consisted of at one time "no less than 28 beagles," that would accompany them on the rides. We know this as newspaper briefs from 1906 detailed complaint reports about the kenneling of the dogs on the property.
The story goes that one of these beagles became separated and was lost in the bush near Collie during one of the club's hunts. The dog found its way to the Collie Railway Station where it stayed, and became, over time, known as Buller the Railway Dog. Buller became a typical railway dog and it seems was embraced by the town of Collie. He was described as a "public pet". Buller never returned home to his master in Bunbury. He was a victim of poisoning in Collie in 1914, along with a number of other town dogs at the time.
Pictured is the Hunt Club outside The Prince Of Wales Hotel courtesy of the Bunbury Museum and Heritage Centre's collection...
