Alfred Durlacher (1818 – 1869) was the fifth resident magistrate to be appointed to Toodyay, Western Australia, serving between 1861 and 1865. Durlacher was born on 30 May 1818. As a young man equipped with a sound education, he left for the Swan River Colony on the Shepherd, arriving at Fremantle in 1838. He was immediately employed with the Survey Office, and worked as a surveyor until 1841, then again in 1843. In that year he led the Lefroy brothers, Gerald de Courcy and Anthony, who were searching for unleased pastoral land, on an expedition to the Moore River district. He then left the civil service and tried various occupations, including a failed attempt to join the Anglican ministry. When he applied to be a candidate, Archdeacon John Ramsden Wollaston placed him under Reverend Char