Callagiddy Station, commonly referred to as Callagiddy, is a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

that operates as a cattle station in the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

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 name Callagiddy is a

Kimberly Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a c ...

name picked up on a droving trip by the original owner Dansy Powell. It means, like many

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

place names, "plenty water" and is pronounced with a hard G (J). Why the name Callagiddy was significant to Powell is unknown, however he named his seventh child, "Amy Callagiddy Powell". The original homestead on Callagiddy was located in the north-east section of the property known today as "Old Callagiddy". It was later relocated "

lock, stock and barrel "Lock, stock, and barrel" is a merism used predominantly in the United Kingdom and North America, meaning "all", "total" or "everything". It derives from the effective portions of a gun: the lock, the stock, and the barrel. History The term wa ...

" to the centre of the property, when the lease was expanded in 1918, where it stands today. It is situated about south east of Carnarvon, north east of Denham and east of Great Northern Highway. On the north and west boundary is

Brick House Station Brickhouse Station, formerly spelt Brick House Station, is a pastoral lease in Western Australia. It once operated as a sheep station but now operates as a cattle station, with some turned over to mango cultivation . It is located north ea ...

, north-east boundary Meeragoolia station, eastern boundary Ella Valla Station and southern boundary Edagee Station. The Gascoyne River is north of the northern boundary and the coast west of the western boundary. The long term average rainfall is 214 mm and the median average is 194 mm.

History

In 1867 Dansy Powell (aged 5) arrived in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Australia with his mother and sister Sarah to meet up with his father George Powell, from

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

, England, who had been sent out as a convict (convict no 7821) for sheep stealing. In 1882 Dansy Powell arrived in the Gascoyne District with a survey party and shortly afterwards took up Meeragoolia Station. He then sold Meeragoolia to Dan Matheson and took up the Callagiddy country, which was the first portion of the area between Carnarvon and Wooramel to be taken up and stocked. In 1894 Powell married Ellen Matilda Bird, and their first child James was born at Callagiddy in 1896. They had nine children, all of whom except the last, Jessie, were born at the station. After the sale of Callagiddy in 1909 the family moved to Wagin, where they farmed over the generations until 2018. Records show in 1905 the property was owned by Messrs Powell and McNish, who were running sheep on Callagiddy. The partnership was dissolved in 1906 with Powell taking full ownership. Powell sold the property in 1909 to Messrs Jackman and Balston for £16,500; at the time it was stocked with 11,000 sheep. H. Farrar was appointed manager in 1910 of Callagiddy after three years at

Minilya Station Minilya Station, most often referred to as Minilya, is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station that once operated as a sheep station in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The property is situated approximately south of ...

. Later the same year 10,000 sheep were shorn, producing 168 bales of wool. A large portion of the property was burned in 1923 by bushfires. Surrounding properties, including Jimba Jimba,

Boologooroo Boologooroo Station, commonly referred to as Boologooroo, is a pastoral lease that operates as a sheep station in Western Australia. Description It is situated about north east of Carnarvon and south of Coral Bay in the Gascoyne region. T ...

, Brick House, Minilya and Wandagee, also lost large areas of grassland in the blaze. More bushfires swept through the area in 1927, with Callagiddy, Brick House,

Doorawarrah Doorawarrah Station, commonly referred to as Doorawarrah, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Western Australia. It is situated about east of Carnarvon and south of Coral Bay in the Gascoyne region. Doorawarrah is boun ...

, Ella Valla and other properties all losing large areas of feed to the fires. Jackman sold the property in 1930 for £37,000 to the Waite family. The property was stocked with 16,000 sheep at the time. In 1969 Jim Waite sold the property to the Johnston family. Peter Johnston took over management of the family station in 1985 and had full ownership by 1987. The property was running

Dorper The Dorper is a South African breed of domestic sheep developed by crossing Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian sheep. The breed was created through the efforts of the South African Department of Agriculture to breed a meat sheep suitable to ...

and Damara sheep along with cattle, and had diversified into growing sweetcorn,

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

and sunflowers. The property was placed on the market in 2010 and sold to David Chown in May 2011; it occupied an area of with a high carrying capacity, 99.2 percent of the property being rated either very high or high under the government's rangeland ratings. The property suffered little damage from the

2010 Gascoyne River flood The 2010 Gascoyne River flood was regarded as the most severe flood to take place along the Gascoyne River in Western Australia on record. Triggered by record-breaking rainfall, amounting to over 6,000 percent of the monthly mean, and respect ...

, or fires in 2012 (700,000 hectares of the Gascoyne burnt), but had substantial damage to infrastructure from

cyclone Olwyn Severe Tropical Cyclone Olwyn was a strong tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage across the northwestern coast of Western Australia in March 2015. The twelfth tropical low, the sixth named storm and cyclone, and the fourth severe tropical ...

in 2015. In 2017 the western Gascoyne was in severe drought, with the lowest rainfall in recorded history. The property currently carries sheep as well as cattle and has area suitable for horticulture with good artesian water supply having a salt content of only 219 gr/gal or 2812 mg/litre.

References

{{Stations of the Gascoyne Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in Western Australia Shire of Carnarvon

History

See also

References