Chirritta Station, most often referred to as Chirritta or Cherratta, 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 ...

operating 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 ...

. The property is situated approximately south of Roebourne and north east of Pannawonica in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...

region of Western Australia. A portion of the

Maitland River The Maitland River is a river in Huron County, Perth County and Wellington County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Shows the course of the river highlighted on a topographic map. The river is in the Great Lakes Basin and empties into Lake Huro ...

runs through the property. The property was established by

Donald Norman McLeod Donald Norman McLeod (10 June 1848 – 25 October 1914) was an Australian pastoralist and politician, a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. McLeod was born on Borhoneyghurk station along the Moorabool River near Portland in Victoria ...

in 1872. He returned to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1882 and purchased Yannarie Estate near

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, and later returned to Western Australia, acquiring

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 ...

. In 1884 Chirritta was reportedly sold for £18,000. By 1888 the property was put up for

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

on behalf of D.N. McLeod and Company; the property was stocked with 17,000 sheep along with about 200 head of cattle. The property was owned by Richardson, Edgar and Gillam in 1893. Gillam introduced

merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

rams into the flock in 1899. A

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

passed through the area later the same year depositing of rain at the station and tearing the roof from the old homestead. Gillam became the sole owner of Chirritta at some time prior to 1905. He sold it in 1907 to the Withnell brothers, who owned the neighbouring Karratha Station. At the time the property supported about 16,000 sheep and

shearing Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or ...

that year produced 288 bales of wool. Cases of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

were reported amongst the Aboriginal people who were living at Chirritta in 1912. The Withnells sold Chirritta in 1920 to Clarence Meares, who paid an estimated £30,000 for the property. The property was stocked with about 22,000 sheep when Meares took possession.

References

{{Stations of the Pilbara Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) 1872 establishments in Australia Shire of Ashburton

See also

References