Balline Station is a pastoral lease that operates 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located approximately north-west of

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and south of Kalbarri in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

region of Western Australia. The property has coastal frontage and is found between Lynton Station and the mouth of the Murchison River. The

shearing shed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds ar ...

is largely built from spars and planks washed ashore at nearby Lucky Bay. John Thomas acquired the property some time prior to his death in 1895. He was among the first

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

in the area. The property and surrounding area were shaken by an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

in 1909. Later the same year, a bushman named Palmer was taken to

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

Hospital and placed in isolation with a suspected case of

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

, from which he later died. Bushfires swept through the area in 1913, leaving little feed for stock. The property stocked with 3,000 sheep was put up for auction by C. H. Counsel in 1924 and sold for £10,000. The Forrester family owned the property in 1930 when they built the heritage-listed residence, known as Stone House, in the town of Northampton. They remained at Balline until at least 1943. By 1945 the Hose brothers had acquired the property. In 2004 the lease was held by R.J. & H.M. Hose and Sons.

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Stations in the Mid West (Western Australia) Homesteads in Western Australia

See also

References