StateLibQld 1 77162 Buildings and gardens at Currawilla Station, Western Queensland, 1929

Currawilla Station 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 currently 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 stati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. It is located approximately west of

Windorah Windorah is a town and a locality in the Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. It is one of only three towns in the Shire of Barcoo in Central West Queensland. In the , Windorah had a population of 115 people. Geography Located downstream fr ...

and east of

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

. The property adjoins Palparara and Narradunna Stations. It is situated in the

Channel Country The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region ...

and is well watered by numerous creeks in the area. The

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

is found along the Currawilla waterhole on the Torrens Creek. Farrar's Creek also runs through the property. Established at some time prior to 1878, by Jack Farrar on

Karuwali The Karuwali were an indigenous people of the state of Queensland. Country Norman Tindale estimated that the Karuwali's lands extended over some of territory. This took in the area about Farrars Creek near Connemara southwards to Beetoota, Had ...

tribal lands. Farrar had worked at McGregor's Mount Margaret Station and kept his own herd. Farrar later left and followed the

Diamantina River The Diamantina River is a major river located in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia. The river was named by William Landsborough in 1866 for Lady Diamantina Bowen (née Roma), wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Govern ...

down the channel county and took up a block about on Farrar's Creek and named it Currawilla after the

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 ...

name for a waterhole. Farrar later sold it to Mr Cotton who substantially increased the size of the holding. In 1881 it was sold by Messrs Cotton and Malpas to Messrs Martin and Johnston. At this time Currawilla occupied an area of and was stocked with 4,000 cattle and 60 horses. In 1887 the heaviest flooding known at the time following exceptionally heavy rains in the area, Currawilla recorded over a two-day period. In 1887 the property was managed by William Henry Watson. The owners of the station in 1889 were Messrs Edward Martin and Company of Melbourne.

Drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

struck in 1897 but it was less severe at Currawilla compared to many surrounding properties. Eventually in 1889, Watson, who was still managing the property, bought it outright. In 1914 Currawilla was sold by Watson to the Bergin brothers. The property was stocked with approximately 6,000 head of cattle and 150 horses. The property currently occupies an area of and is owned and run by Roger and Debbie Oldfield.

References

{{Reflist Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in Queensland Central West Queensland

See also

References