Dunbar 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_ ...

, Australia. The homestead is located on the

Burke Developmental Road The Burke Developmental Road is a Queensland (Australia) developmental road. It links Cloncurry and Normanton in a south–north direction, then turns to the north-east north of Normanton for before turning south-east till Dimbulah, where it ...

, Maramie in the

Shire of Carpentaria The Shire of Carpentaria is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia on the Gulf of Carpentaria, for which it is named. Geography The Shire of Carpentaria covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity sinc ...

Description

It is located approximately south east of

Kowanyama Kowanyama is a town and coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia. It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission (established not far away on Tops ...

and north east of Normanton in the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

. The property is situated within the

Nassau River Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

catchment with both the Nassau and the Mitchell Rivers also flowing through the property. An additional 13 creeks and 8 lagoons are found on the property all useful for watering stock. The country is composed of flat open plains with the soil being grey clay loam derived from the

Cainozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

age, sands of Quaternary age with other alluvium. The vegetation is low open

eucalypt Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', '' Corymbia'', '' Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

savannah surrounded by coarse grasses.

History

The property had been established at some time prior to 1883 on Ngundjan tribal lands and was owned by Thomas Hungerford and sons. The Hungerfords placed the property on the market in 1889. It was stocked with 10,000 head of cattle at this time but it was estimated that it could carry up to 30,000 head. By 1913 the property had been put up for auction by the mortgagees. At this time it occupied total of and was made up of the Dunbar, Clark's Creek and Meranginna Leases. Stocked with 12,297 cattle and 236 horses the property boasted a homestead, three branding yards, 12 tailing yards and two horse yards. The station was sold in 1929 to J. S. Love of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

for £50,000. At this time the property encompassed an area of and was stocked with 18,000 head of cattle. Love had also recently acquired other properties in the gulf area; Gainsford and the

Valley of Lagoons Station Valley of Lagoons Station is a pastoral lease that currently operates as a cattle station in Queensland. It is located approximately west of Trebonne and south of Mount Garnet. The property is located at the headwaters of the Burdekin Riv ...

s. In 1954 the property was still owned by J. S. Love Estates and was being managed by John McRae. The was stocked with approximately 20,000 cattle, all profits from the station were given to charity. Don McDonald, the eldest son of Jim McDonald, acquired Dunbar in 1991. In 2007 Dunbar was still privately owned by the McDonald family and managed by Peter and Debra Hagan. The property occupied an area of and was stocked with 35,000 head of

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...

cattle. Dunbar is currently owned by MDH, owned by the McDonald family, and is one of the company's 11 cattle stations throughout Queensland.

References

{{Reflist Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in Queensland North West Queensland Shire of Carpentaria

Description

History

See also

References