Gabyon Station, commonly referred to as Gabyon, is a pastoral lease that operates 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 about west of Yalgoo and east of Mullewa in the Murchison area of the

Mid-West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

region. The station has as part of its southern border the Geraldton-Mount Magnet Road, and its south western border is close to

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

. It lies in the south eastern catchment area of the

Greenough River The Greenough River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Course Greenough River has its headwaters near Woojalong Hills on the Yilgarn Plateau. It runs in a south-westerly direction through deep valleys for approximately ...

. The station to the west is Tallering, and to the north east of its borders are Jingemarra and Dalgaranga stations. It also has two public roads pass through the station – Gabyon Tardie Road and Yalgoo North Road. The current owners of the property are Michael Trant and Gemma Cripps, who have opened a farm stay business to supplement the station income following the collapse of the live sheep trade. The property is still running a flock of over 12,000

damaras The Damara, plural Damaran (Khoekhoegowab: ǂNūkhoen, ''Black people'', german: Bergdamara, referring to their extended stay in hilly and mountainous sites, also called at various times the Daman or the Damaqua) are an ethnic group who make ...

. Established prior to 1890, the property was owned by Mr. Lacy in 1891 and was on the route from

Geraldton Geraldton ( Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...

used to travel to the Murchison goldfields. By 1893 the property was supporting a flock of approximately 16,000 sheep. Mr. H. M. Molony, who had a half interest in Gabyon, died in 1903. The value of his share was estimated at £5,250. On instructions from the executors 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 ...

in 1904. It was advertised as occupying an area of divided into 20 paddocks with of fencing and stocked with 11,000 sheep Improvements included a stone homestead, 16-stand

shearing shed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds a ...

, 14 windmills and two water storage tanks. Wainwright and Company held the lease to Gabyon, Barnong and Pindathirna Stations in 1898, when the area had a good year's rain with pools filled to overflowing and good feed available to stock. In 1910, Arthur Charles Gillam purchased Gabyon after he had disposed of Chirritta Station 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 g ...

to the Withnell brothers for £20,000. The station was sold in 2009 by Rob Gillam, whose family had owned the property for 100 years. Gillam had been producing

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

from

merino sheep 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 breed ...

. In 2011 the area was devastated by

bushfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

, with Gabyon losing of grazing land to the flames. A large number of sheep were also lost.

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Shire of Yalgoo Stations in the Mid West (Western Australia)

See also

References