Ashburton Downs Station, often referred to as Ashburton Downs, is a pastoral lease that once operated as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

and presently operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

. It is located about west of Paraburdoo and south west of Tom Price in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The property occupies an area of with a stretch of the Ashburton River running south west through the property. The station once adjoined Peake Station on its western boundary. Other properties that it shares boundaries with include

Kooline Kooline Station, often referred to as Kooline, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about south of Pannawonica and south east of Onslow in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Kooline occupies an area ...

, Amelia, Wyloo,

Rocklea Rocklea is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Rocklea had a population of 1,595 people. Geography Rocklea is located 9 kilometres south of the city. The west of the suburb is bordered by the Oxley Creek. The ...

, Mininer, Pingandy and

Turee Creek Station Turee Creek Station, often referred to as Turee Creek and also known as Turee Station, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. It is located about south east of Paraburdoo and south west of Newman in the Pilbara region of W ...

s, as well as areas of vacant

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

. Established in the 1880s by a group of investors from Northam, including

George Throssell George Lionel Throssell (23 May 1840 – 30 August 1910) was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February to 27 May 1901, during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics. Georg ...

, by 1890 the property was struck by

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

, with the flock size being reduced from 16,000 in 1890 to 5,300 the following year. In 1892 Throssell sold his interest in the property to John Frederick Hancock and later the same year the property manager, Denis Bresnahan, retired from running the station. Ashburton Downs occupied an area of approximately . The station was flooded in 1899 when of rain fell in less than a month. John Frederick Hancock died in 1902, aged 61. The property was retained by Hancock's sons John, George and Richard, all of who had been managing the station. John Fredrick Jnr was the last of the Hancock brothers to own Ashburton Station, In 1911 the property had a flock of 30,000 sheep and produced 475 bales of wool. In 1918 the property was passed from Hancock Brothers to the Ashburton Downs Station Ltd. At the time it occupied and was stocked with 19,000 sheep and 320 horses. In 1949 the property was carrying a flock of 30,000 sheep, but by 1951, following a severe drought, shearing had to be cancelled as the stock were too weak to be droved to the shearing shed. In 1979 the property was stocked with 300 cattle. In a good season the station is able to carry a herd of approximately 5,000 head of cattle.

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Pilbara Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture)

See also

References