Charles William Tapp, best known as Bill Tapp (2 June 1929 – 22 May 1992), was a pioneer and cattleman from

Killarney Station Killarney Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Victoria River District of the Northern Territory of Australia. The property is situated approximately south east of Timber Creek and south of Darwin. History ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia.

Early life

Tapp was born in Sydney on 2 June 1929 and grew up in

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Scots College in Bellevue Hill. A champion sportsman and scholar, he represented his school in many sports, swimming, cricket, football, rowing, diving and played tennis at a state level. It is said that he played with, and against, Australian tennis champions

Lew Hoad Lewis Alan Hoad (23 November 1934 – 3 July 1994) was an Australian tennis player whose career ran from 1950 to 1973. Hoad won four Major singles tournaments as an amateur (the Australian Championships, French Championships and two Wimbledons ...

and

Frank Sedgman Francis "Frank" Arthur Sedgman (born 29 October 1927) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Over the course of a three-decade career, Sedgman won five Grand Slam singles tournaments as an amateur as well as 22 Grand Slam doubles ...

. He was known to be agonisingly shy and had a pronounced stutter. While at Scots College, Tapp read the

Ion Idriess Ion Llewellyn Idriess (20 September 18896 June 1979) was a prolific and influential Australian author. He wrote more than 50 books over 43 years between 1927 and 1969 – an average of one book every 10 months, and twice published three books i ...

book 'Cattle King' about Sir Sidney Kidman who owned large cattle stations in the Northern Territory. The book had a lasting effect on him and he decided that as soon as he finished school he would become a cattleman. His mother Sadie secured a job as a jackeroo-bookkeeper on

Elsey Station Elsey Station is a pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about east of Mataranka, Northern Territory, Mataranka and north of Larrimah, Northern Territory, Larrimah. The R ...

near the tiny township of Mataranka 400 kilometres south of Darwin, made famous by the book ''

We of the Never Never ''We of the Never Never'' is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn first published in 1908. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she ...

''. Tapp settled into station life learning everything he could. He left Elsey Station a few years later to manage

Rosewood Station Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...

on the Northern Territory-Western Australian border. Two years later he established a droving business in the early 1950s, moving cattle from

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

through

Tennant Creek Tennant Creek ( wrm, Jurnkkurakurr) is town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the seventh largest town in the Northern Territory, and is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western termin ...

and Elliott along the

Murranji Track The Murranji Track or Murranji Stock Route is a stock route in the Northern Territory of Australia and it runs between Newcastle Waters and Top Springs, Northern Territory, Top Springs. The track was primarily operational between 1904 to the lat ...

. In 1952 Bill Tapp and business partner Bill Crowson bought Montejinni Station. With Crowson's family, the business partners transported all their worldly possessions and their plant of horses up the Murranji to Montejinni. With them was Aboriginal stockman and a young sixteen year old deaf man, Kenny Wesley. Simultaneously, Paul and Mick Vandeleur acquired

Camfield Station Camfield Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is situated about south east of Timber Creek and west of Daly Waters. The Buntine Highway cuts through the property for a ...

and Leo Izod and Ivor Townshend Hall drew Killarney Station. These names formed the initials for the brands of CTT for Montejinni and ITH for Killarney. Following a break down in the relationship with the Crowsons, Bill Tapp began talks with Izod and Hall about buying Killarney Station and reached an agreement in 1960 to pay £90,000, a

record price for a cattle station at that time. He received title to Killarney in 1962.

The Cattle King

Tapp's empire began under a bough shed at Mayvale Bore with a sign swinging off a post saying "COCKRAG DOWNS.' His first stock camp consisted of brothers Jim Forscutt and Boko Forscutt, Joey and Alfie Russell, and Kenny Wesley. He worked tirelessly, mustering and building fences to contain the wild cattle. They lived on salted beef and black tea. Tapp met his future wife June Clements (née Forscutt), a divorcee with three small children

Toni Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

, Billy and Shing, while staying at her mother's house in Katherine. After their first meeting, Tapp stated that he wanted to marry her. The courtship was short and sweet and June soon found herself out at Killarney Station living under a bough shed, a structure made from four tree posts with fencing wire slung across the top and branches thrown over to make shade. The bough shed was the kitchen, the office and doctors surgery. On 2 August 1962, Tapp wrote in his diary, 'Day off – got married today'. Bill and June Tapp went on to have seven more children, Sam, Joe, Ben, William, Caroline, Daniel and Kate. Tapp went on to purchase Maryfield Station, Roper Valley Station and Mountain Valley Station.

Later life

Bill Tapp and June divorced in 1985. After years of mismanagement of credit extensions by agricultural company Elders, the Tapp family properties went into receivership in 1991. All three properties owned by the Tapps were advertised for sale. After a battle in the Northern Territory Supreme Court between the Tapps and Elders, Killarney Station and Maryfield Station were sold, but the Tapps were permitted to retain Roper Valley Station. Tapp died on 23 May 1992 in his own bed on Killarney Station at the age of 62. He was buried at the station on 3 June. A plaque on his grave reads:

Killarney stands as a monument to his vision and contribution to the Northern Territory horse and cattle industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tapp, Bill 1929 births 1992 deaths Australian stockmen Australian pastoralists