Bowes Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located in the

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

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 ...

. It is approximately to the south-east of Kalbarri and to the west of Mullewa. The station was established in 1850 by brothers

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Lockier Burges, when they applied for land in the newly discovered Champion Bay district. William Burges moved from his original property, ''Tipperary'' (near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

), and by 1857 was grazing sheep on 93,000 acres. He subsequently bought rams descended from the royal flock of

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

, settling them first at Bowes and later taking them to

Yuin Station Yuin Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Situated approximately to the north-west of Yalgoo and northeast of Mullewa, the property occupies an area of and has a maximum carryin ...

. In 1859,

Thomas Burges Thomas Burges (July 1830 – 7 August 1893) was an Australian pastoralist and politician who was a member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia on three occasions – from 1874 to 1878, from 1885 to 1887, and from 1890 until his deat ...

, William's nephew, took over Bowes Station. Thomas' son William Burges was born on the station in December 1865 and following his schooling returned to the property to manage Bowes. He retired in about 1912 and died in 1942. In 1869, 15-year-old Edward Wittenoom worked as a jackaroo at Bowes, and was joined by his brother Frank in 1874. The Wittenooms went on to acquire over 2 million acres in crown leases including

Boolardy Boolardy Station is a remote former sheep and cattle station in the Mid West (Murchison) region of Western Australia, about north-north-east of Pindar and west-south-west of Meekatharra. It is within the Shire of Murchison and situated on ...

, Murgoo, Nookawarra and

Mileura Station Mileura Station is a pastoral lease located in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Description The station occupies an area of approximately and is situated approximately west of Meekatharra. The property adjoins Nookawarra Station. ...

s. Following good conditions in 1869, rams cut out at an average of 18½lb. of wool each on Bowes. Feed was heavy on the ground that same year causing

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s to breed up in large numbers and act as a pest to the

squatter 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 ...

s. Mr J. A. Wellington managed the station from the 1870s for Burges and remained in the area until his death in 1904. Burges and his wife left for a 15-month holiday to Europe and the United States, returning to the property in August 1908. In 1874 the Wittenooms took 15,000 sheep from Bowes to establish Yuin Station. A

shearer A shearer is someone who shears, such as a cloth shearer, or a sheep shearer. Origins of the name include from near Bergen in Norway 1600s weden of that periodas ''Skea'' (pronounced "Skeg" meaning "beard") and Heddle (meaning market place) as mig ...

, William John Pearce, went missing in 1896 after going for a walk in the bush. Mr W. Burges informed the police and then the constable, an Aboriginal tracker and several other shearers formed a search party to find him. After three days no trace of Pearce was found. Large bushfires swept across the area in 1900 with many paddocks at Bowes being lost to the flames. In 1902 the Land Board resumed a total of , split into at least 6 blocks, from the station area for other selectors. Burges applied for Block 1 but was unsuccessful and the block was given to E. Sims who had an adjoining selection. S. L. Burges sold 7,000 sheep from Bowes in 1914 following a very dry season in the district.

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Homesteads in Western Australia Stations in the Mid West (Western Australia) State Register of Heritage Places 1850 establishments in Australia

See also

References