Pastoral Stations

PASTORAL STATIONS

The following are the pastoral stations and holdings in the Banana shire. Much of the information was supplied by the Shire Clerk, and we are indebted to Messrs, J. Archer of Gracemere, and C. House at Charvel for much of the earlier history of the several holdings:-

BANANA - In 1878 the Banana Station was divided into two parts. One was included in the unsettled list and was held by Mr. G. F. Want, the other, in the settled district was held by Messrs. Nott and Blair. In 1882 Banana was held by Mr. F. W. Wright whose family owned Bickham at Blanford near Murrundi in New South Wales. Mr. Wright sold Banana to Messrs. Homer and Co., the then owners of Moura. Mr. A. Wright of Nulalbin in the Duaringa district was a brother of the owner of Banana. The latter sold out on accountof his failing health and went to England where he died. Previous to purchasing Banana, Mr. Wright owned Rio. Banana station is at present Owned by Mr. E. Farmer, of Voewood. It has a pastoral lease of 50⅝ square miles and a freehold area of 1076 acres.Cattle raising occupies the attention of the owner.

BAKFIELD STATION - Freehold 320 acres, Pastoral Lease 47½ square miles. Occupation License 196 square miles. Grazing Selections 35,501 acres. Ownedby E. T. Homer and Son. Cattle Station also draught and saddle horses bred.

BLIGHTY - Prickly Pear Lease 12 square miles. Grazing Farm 7101 acres. Owned by D. Heuitt. Cattle.

BRACKLIN -Grazing Farm 33,500 acres. Agricultural Farm, 307 acres. Owned by William Scott and Sons.Cattle.

BURNSIDE - Prickly Pear Lease 14 square miles. Selections 19,722 acres. Owned by S. C. Becker. Cattle.

CALLIDE - Mr. John Mundle owned the Callide station in 1878. In 1882, the property was in the hands of Mr. Will Bell, known throughout the district as “Callide” Bell. He was a member of the Bell family, a branch of which owned Dumgree. On his death Mr. John Bell of Dumgree took overCallide.

CALLIUNGAL - This is now incorporated with Rannes, and is held by Messrs. Wilson and McDowall. Of its early history Mr. Archer writes:-

Prairie adjoined Calliungal on the south. The Managing Partner on Calliungal was E. G. Wood, and his partner was, I think, named Robinson. In common with all the other country mentioned, Calliungal was originally stocked with sheep. The sheep after a time did not do well, and it was thought they might thrive better if turned loose in paddocks. Heavy expense was incurred in erecting sheep proof fencing, but the experiment was a failure and the firm never recovered from the heavy liabilities incurred. Mr. Wood, after 41 years, left the place, ruined. Mr. Wood, I think, was a Hunter River native. He had travelled overland from Sydney in the early days and used to say that the Calliungal and Prairie country was the finest area of country for close settlement between here and Sydney. The original Calliungal Leases included Mt. Morgan, and were bounded on the north by the original Gracemere Leases, which then included the country of which Westwood is now the centre.

CAMBOON-In 1878 Camboon was held by Messrs. Bell and Hyde, and in 1882 the properly was still in their hands. The former resided there in thecapacity of manager, but afterwards acquired Cochin Cochin in the Brisbane River district and went tolive there. Mr. W. Price then managed Camboon. Following him came Mr. K. Rowbottom, and some time later Mr. Bell acquired Hyde's interest in Camboon and the former's sons took overthe management and still retain it. The station has a pastoral lease of 145square miles, a freehold area of 320 acres and a grazing farm of 10,000 acres. lt is held in the name of the Cochin Estates Ltd.

CHARVEL -Grazing Selections20,579 acres owned by C. House. Cattle.

COOLIBAH - Pastoral lease 15,277 acres. Prickly Pear lease 28 sq. miles, owned by C. A. Barnard of Coomooboolaroo, Duaringa. Cattle.

COOPER DOWNS - Occupation License 5 sq. miles, Prickly Pear Leases, 14¾ sq. miles, Grazing Selections, etc., 8870 acres, owned by W. L Nott. Cattle.

CRACOW STATION -Leasehold 48½ sq. miles. Grazing Homestead 26,960 acres, owned by G. K. Jeffrey. Cattle station.

DARLING PLAINS - Grazing Selections, etc., 11,376 acres owned by F. G. Nott. Cattle.

DINGLEY DELL - Used to be portion of Thranger before that property was sold, 10,908 acres. Grazing farm, owned by Mrs. H. A. Oldfield. Cattle.

DRUMBERLE and KURRAGONG. Freehold 200 acres, occupation Leases 77 sq. miles, owned by S. A. Barrett.Cattle.

DUMGREE-Freehold of 5558 acres, occupation license 8 square miles, se- lections and special leases 5971 acres. Held by T. S. Bell as a cattle run. Of the early history of this Mr. Archer writes: Dumgree lying to the east of the Prairie and including all the country between that station and the Dawes Range was, I believe, originally taken up by members of the Bell family, whose descendants still own portions of the country. Much of the country wasabandoned as a cattle run about 30years ago, owing to the prevalence of rickets in the herd caused by feeding on the zarina palm.

EVERGREEN-Freehold 18,456 acres, prickly pear leases 18 sq. miles. Grazing selections. Agricultural farms, etc., 12,596 acres owned by A. G. Laurie.Cattle.

FOREST HILLS - 69,065 acres, grazing selections. Mr. C. Cannan. Cattle.

GLANDORE- Grazing farm 20,000 acres, owned by Mrs. E. Palmes. Cattle.

GLENMORAL STATION-Pastoral lease, 63 sq. miles, owned by Mrs. M. deWinton. Cattle.

GREYCLIFFE- Pastoral Iease 25sq. miles, grazing farms, &c., 21,635 acres, owned by Greycliffe Estates. Cattle.

GYRANDA- Pastoral lease, 53 sq. miles, grazing farm 11,400 acres, owned by F. Joyce. Cattle.

HAINAULT -Grazing Farm 20,000 acres owned by Hamilton Brothers. Cattle.

HARCOURT -This property is held by the executors of the late Duncan Urquhart. The Urquhart family have, owned Harcourt for almost 50 years. Mr. Urquhart, the original owner long since dead, came from the Highlands of Scotland and worked for some years as a shepherd for the Bells of Dumgree in the Gladstone district. He and his son purchased Harcourt and, four generationsof this fine old Highland family have in turn owned the property. The station comprises a pastoral lease of 77⅞ square miles, occupation licenses covering 13⅞square miles and selections comprising 14,800 acres. Mr. W. F. Walton owned the station in1878.

INVERNESS -Occupation Licenses 37¾ sq. miles. Selection 2102 acres owned by W. B. Campbell. Cattle.

KIANGA -One portion of Kianga in the unsettled area in 1878 was held by the A.J.S. Bank. The portion in the settled area was held by Mr. A. C. Barton. In 1882 Kianga was owned by Mrs. McNab, whosefamily were among the oldest settlers in the district. Mr. McNab was killed, by blacks and after his death Mrs. McNab carried on herself. She appears to have been a most intrepid woman and it is relatedof her that when the blacks were dangerous and shepherds unobtainable she would look after the sheep herself armed with a revolver. Mr. W. Scott was overseer for Mrs. McNab. Some years later he purchased Glenmoral where his family still reside. He was superseded at Kianga by Mr. John Southerland, who afterwards became part-owner and eventually owner of the station when Mrs. McNab died. On Mr. Southerland's death the Kianga holding was divided, the Kianga portion being sold to Mr. Norman Farmer, the present owner. TheUncle Tom portion was retained by the Southerland family where they still reside. Kianga has a freehold of 3065 acres, selections amounting to 8738 acres and a pastoral lease covering 42½ square miles.

KIA-ORA-Prickly Pear Lease, 14 sq. miles. Grazing Farm. 6703 acres. Owned by W. Young. Cattle.

KILBURNIE-Occupation License, 48 sq. miles. Selections 6391 acres. Owned by J. Campbell. Cattle.

KOOINGAL-Mr. Archer writes:At that lime, 1885, Mr. Anderson was leasee of Kooingal. Previous to that the lateJohn Bell of Dumgree had owned it as a sheep run and also the adjoining country on the west side of the Leichhardt Ranges, known as Barfield station. The Kooingal country was firsttaken up by my late uncle, Colin Archer, in, I think, 1854. He formed one of the party which travelled from Cunambula on the Burnett and took up Gracemere. On that journey he inspected the country now known as Kooingal and took up a lease of it. He did not stock it, however, and later disposed of the lease. His elder brother, Charles, was in charge of the party and named Mt. Scoria and The Callide.

KROOMBIT STATION – Occupation Licenses, 440 sq. miles. Owned by the Executors of the late A. A. Stirratt (deceased). Cattle and a few horsesbred.

The Prairie was bounded on thesouth-east by Kroombit Station, owned by the Cadells, who also owned Ideraway on the Burnett. Mr. Carige, now the owner of Neandoo, near Banana, managed Kroombit for many years until it was purchased by the late Harper Stirrat, by whose estate it is stillowned.

MOOCOROOBA-Grazing Selections, 27,408 acres. Owned by Walsh Bros. Cattle.

MOURA STATION-Pastoral Lease,76 sq. miles, owned by N. Farmer.Cattle.

MULTY-Prickly Pear Lease, 16 sq.miles. Grating Homestead, 8983 acres. Owned by J. Young. Cattle.

PARANUl-Prickly Pear Lease, 99 sq. miles. Grazing Selections, 12,630 acres. Owned by C. A. Becker. Cattle.

PASSCHENDALE-Grazing Homestead, 10,504 acres, owned by K. Tanwan. Cattle.

PLAYFIELDS-Occupation. 6,968 acres. Grazing Farm 5650. Owned byD. McCornley. Cattle.

PRAIRIE- Freehold 559 acres. Occupation License 233 sq. miles, now held by the Beak Pastoral Co, Ltd. Of this,station Mr. Archer says: The Prairie was owned by Morton and Street. Street, was, I think, a lawyer in Sydney. I fancy they were the original lessees,

At any rate, Mr. Morton, the managing partner, had been there 30 years or more when they sold out about 1890, I think to George Skyring, who afterwards sold to the Queensland Cattle Co. They in turn sold to the Beak PastoralCo., who still hold those portions of the country that have not been taken upunder the Callide-Burnett Settlement Scheme.

RANNES-In 1878 there were two small stations of this name, one of them being included in the unsettled list and held by Mr. M. W. Cunningham. The other was in the settled, area and was held by Messrs. J. B. Watt and M. W. Cunningham. The latter station was managed by Mr. Cunningham and after his death it was sold to Mr. H. A. Stirrat of Euroa in the Calliope district. Later on the station was sold to the owners of Calliungal, Messrs. Wilson and M’Dowall. Calliungal and Rannes stations are now incorporated and are a freehold of 19,599 acres and selections amounting to 13,984 acres.

RAVENSCRAIG-Grazing Selection, 22,381 acres. Owned by Horne Bros.Cattle.

REDBANK-This property is in the Burnett district and was for many years managed by the Hamiltons. Very little is known of its early history except that in 1878 it was divided in thesettled and unsettled areas, the former being held by Mr. Henry Mort and the unsettled area by Mr. G. H. Lloyd.

ROUNDSTONE STATION-Pastoral Leases, 129 sq. miles. Owned by R. I. Darey. Cattle, and a few horses bred.

THOMBY STATION - Prickly PearLease, 718 sq. miles. Owned by J. Anderson. Cattle and a few horses bred.

TORSDALE-Occupation Licenses, 57½ sq. miles, and grazing selection. It is I held by Messrs. Archer. Bros, in conjunction with their stud, cattle business at Gracemere and Matcham.Writing on the subject, Mr. J. Archer, says: “My, personal knowledge of the Dawson country only goes back to '85, when my, brother, the late Robert Archer, and I took up selections on Kooingal, which, we named Torsdale, at the suggestion, of our old friend, the late Mr. Byerley.The name was suggested by several isolated stoney hills on the property reminiscent of the Devonshire Tors.”

FURMISTON–Occupation Licenses, 12 sq. miles. Selections 17,474 acres. Owned by J. Cunningham. Cattle, Bulls and draught horses bred.

TYNEHOLM-Occupation Licenses, 62½ sq. miles. Grazing Homestead, 609½acres. Owned by J. Martin. Cattle.

ULOGIE PARK–Grazing Selections, 20,184 acres. Owned by E. W. M'Camley. Cattle.

UNCLE TOM-Used to be portion of Kianga before that property was soldby the Kianga Estates. Freehold, 4517 acres.Selections 8761 acres. Owned byUncle Tom Estates. Cattle.

WALLOON - This station, now owned by the Walloon Pastoral Company, has a freehold area of 4717 acres and grazing selections amounting to 7295 sq. miles. There is also a pastoral lease of 154 square miles. In 1878 Walloon was in the unsettled area and was owned by the Commercial Bank. In 1882 the property was in the hands of Mr. Augustus Barton, who also owned Moolbooloomon and Mes. Repos, in the Burnett district. The property was managed by Mr. C. Forth, who died after a short illness and was buried in the Banana cemetery. Mr. E. Price succeeded Mr. Forth in the management and after his death the property was taken ever by Mr. Maurice Barton, onlyson of the owner, and he managed the station until he sold out to the present owner, Mr. J. Shaw.

WANDO-Grazing farm, 15,962acres, owned by H. Carige.Cattle.

WOOLTHORPE - Which was owned in1898by Mr. W. G. Woolrych, waspurchased by the State Government for theIrrigation Scheme of Theodore. Thearea was 33,617 acres. There is also 380acres resumed from “Blighty”owned by H. D. Hewitt, for irrigation purposes. The town of Theodore is situated onReserve 15, parish of Woolthorpe, at the junction of Castle Creek withthe Dawson River.

WOOLTON STATION - Grazing homesteads and farmstotaling79,626 acres, owned by Hutchison Bros. Cattle and a few horses bred.

“Morning Bulletin” 31 January 1929 pp 11,12