Erlistoun Station is a pastoral lease that has operated 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 ...

and more recently 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 ...

. It is situated approximately to the north of Laverton and east of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

in the Goldfields-Esperance region. Borodale Creek runs through the property from Davis Pool on the northern boundary meandering through waterholes to Namendarra Lake on the southern boundary. Erlistoun was known as a district in the area before the station was established. The lease was first taken up by Butcher and Uhr in 1904, originally on a block extending northward from Laverton for a distance of with a width of . The company was initially running cattle at Erlistoun, 1,000 head of which they had overlanded down from the Kimberley. The Emanuel brothers owned the property in 1911 when it was sold to Kalgoorlie-Boulder Firewood Company. At this time the property occupied an area of and was still running cattle. In 1924 the property was estimated to be carrying 5,500 head of cattle. By 1925 the size of the property was estimated as being and was stocked with 4,000 head of cattle. Sheep had been introduced to the property by this time and in 1926 it was stocked with 7,000 cattle and 5,000 sheep. Shearing the same year yielded 31 bales of wool per 1,000 sheep. Another 4,000 sheep were due to arrive at the station in late 1926. Erlistoun was the initial location of the first feature-length film shot in Western Australia; scenes for the film ''

Down Under The term ''Down Under'' is a colloquialism which is differently construed to refer to Australia and New Zealand, or Pacific Island countries collectively.Oxford English Dictionary (Electronic), Version 4.0, entry fordown under. The dictionary ...

'', directed by

Harry Southwell Harry Southwell (born 1882, date of death unknown) was an Australian actor, writer and film director best known for making films about Ned Kelly. He was born in Cardiff, Wales and spent a couple of years in America, where he adapted some short ...

, were shot at the station in 1926. The area received heavy rains in 1929 with Erlistoun recording over in 24 hours and over in total for the month. The normally dry creek ran for a length of over through the property. In 1930, the property was running a flock of 13,000 sheep. In the same year the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Firewood company changed its name to the Erlistoun Pastoral Company; the directors were Alex Porter, J. McCalmont and E.H. Jolly. In 2003 the property was being plagued by wild dogs attacking the sheep. Other properties in the area were similarly affected. The area is popular amongst

gold prospector Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospe ...

s. Guest accommodation is available on Erlistoun in the shearers' quarters.

References

{{Stations of the Goldfields-Esperance Western Australia Homesteads in Western Australia Pastoral leases in Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Goldfields-Esperance

See also

References