Billiluna Station is a pastoral lease that 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 stat ...

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 of Balgo and south of

Halls Creek Halls is a plural of the word hall. Halls may also refer to: People * Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician * Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress * Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player * ...

in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The name of the station is taken from a pool in Sturt Creek found and mentioned by

Alfred Canning Alfred Wernam Canning (21 February 1860 – 22 May 1936) was a Western Australian government surveyor. Born at Campbellfield north of Melbourne, he started work in New South Wales as a cadet surveyor and in 1893 joined the Western Austral ...

when he mapped out the Canning Stock Route in 1907. The Billiluna Pastoral Company Limited, previously known as Sturt Creek Pastoral Company Limited, was registered in 1920. In 1922 the station manager, Joseph Condren, was shot dead and an employee named Tim O'Sullivan was shot in the thigh by a Bilingara youth, in retribution for the fact that O'Sullivan had abducted his wife for sexual purposes and refused to allow her to return to her husband. O'Sullivan later died and by the time Mr Barry, the manager of nearby Sturt Creek Station, had arrived to investigate he found two graves and the homestead looted of all firearms and ammunition. A young boy was sent with a threatening message for any white men who attempted to follow the perpetrators. A few months later a policeman, Constable Flinders, attempted to apprehend the suspect at his camp on Boolka Creek on Bohemia Downs Station. The suspect, named Banjo, was shot and killed during the arrest. In October of that year, more than a dozen Aboriginal people from the Kutjungka region were killed by police in the Sturt Creek massacre in a punitive expedition led by Constable J.J.Cooney in response to the attacks on Condren and O'Sullivan. The property was placed on the market in 1925 as part of a deceased estate. At this time it occupied an area of and had two wells in addition to good surface water sources. Buildings included a two-room house, beef house and harness house. Four sets of yards had also been built along with a fenced horse paddock. It was stocked with 2,500 head of cattle and about 40 horses. An

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

was the first car to be driven to Billiluna as part of an trip through the Kimberley. The vehicle was landed at

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

and driven to the shores of Lake Gregory at Billiluna via Sturt Creek Station over of trackless country. The Canning Stock Route was closed early in 1925 after falling into disuse as a result of stockmen being attacked by Aborigines. Stock from Billiluna had to be transported via Wyndham instead of

overlanding Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal ...

using the track. The Billiluna Pastoral Company requested the track be reopened but the government claimed it would cost £5,625 and take six months to repair and refused. In the early twentieth century, Billiluna stock was moved through and along the Canning Stock Route to the south. In 2013 the lease was held by the

Aboriginal Lands Trust In Australia, an Aboriginal land trust (ALT) is a type of non-profit organisation that holds the freehold title to an area of land on behalf of a community of Aboriginal Australians. The land has been legally granted to a community by the governme ...

and managed by Mark Gordon.

References

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

See also

References